Door not shutting properly

[xminnis]

i have had 3 g-body cars and this was a problem with all of them, but my new "project" the 86 Monte is the worst, i cant tell if its the latch, the bushing, or what. Anyone know about how much a shop will charge me to replace all that? Latch, bushing, and whatever else.

 

[tonytwelvetoes]

most likely its your hinges g-bodies have some heavy doors and the hinges take a toll

 

[SLICK79WGN]

If you catch it before it egg shapes the holes for the bushings then I say do it yourself as they are a "cheap fix" and there are not enough of those lol. But it is pretty easy to do the bushings and pin if you can get a buddy to help you just open the door and put a rag on a floor jack under the bottom of the door opposite of the hinges jack it up till it touches then knock out the top pin lower the jack a little bit knock out the bushings put in new ones [it helps if you put the new ones and pins in the freezer the night before] then jack it back up till the holes line up knock in the pin. You do the bottom the same way except you jack the door up after you knock out the pin. 😀 hope this helps ya I know it is allot to read sorry but I like to cover it all

 

[xminnis]

ok thanks, what exactly does putting them in the freezer do?

 

[dan2286]

ok thanks, what exactly does putting them in the freezer do?

It shrinks the metal a small amount and will make it easier to install.

 

[xminnis]

i cant find the door latch assembly anywhere online, only a couple listings on ebay, but they are used... 😢

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

It may be a generic latch used on a number of GM cars of the 80's, so go to the junkyard and look at S-10's, Caprices, Camaros, etc. and see if they are the same. If so, it comes out pretty easy. BTW, used is all you have for quite a lot of things on these cars. They are 21-31 years old now, and not popular enough to have a lot of reproduction parts. If you plan to keep this car, you will need to learn to crawl through junkyards and use GM's famous interchangeability to your advantage. You also need to do much of the work yourself as paying others to do it will quickly make driving an old car more expensive than a new car payment. Most of us here do not use mechanics, we do all of our own work. I drive 30-50k miles a year, but the last time I had any car fixed by anyone else was over 2 years ago.

 

[supercrackerbox]

That is the best post I've read today.

Bet you learned a lot about car maintenence running pizzas, huh?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

That is the best post I've read today.

Bet you learned a lot about car maintenence running pizzas, huh?

Well, I do quite a bit more than maintenance on cars. I started doing the basics, but wanted to understand the science and math behind the why. So, I read, and read, and researched, etc. until I learned it. Now, I am trying to finish an engineering degree, but fear that my age makes it (and everything else I do) irrelevant. I'll be in my late 30's by the time I am done and don't think anyone will hire me because of that. Anyhow, I basically am the kind of person who does not like to hear that there is a problem I can't solve or a machine I can't fix. Usually, I am right. Plus, paying $100 an hour to someone else to do something I am intelligent enough to do myself just rubs me the wrong way. I'd rather spend the labor money on more tools. At least the tools can be used again!

 

[supercrackerbox]

I'm in the same boat except a few years younger. But remember, age discrimination is illegal. 😉 I've run pizzas off and on for 6 years now, and my Daytona has been through hell and back. I put 45,000 miles on it my first year doing it full time. By doing repairs and maintenence myself, the job actually became quite profitable. Even made a few bucks on the side fixing other driver's cars too. 8)