Striker plate adjustment

[Ecode70D]

Jay... I think I came across some forgotten info that might help you. You had mentioned your door had about 1/2" of slop, and that you had the striker plate moved INas far as it would go. That probably is the problem. That starwheel has to catch on the second gear tooth on the striker plate. That's the safety design built in. By having the striker all the way in, the gear isn't catching the second tooth, so move it OUT and I'll bet your door latches the way it should. I should have caught that sooner, knowing the worn latch wouldn't give that much slop. Hope that works. I probably would never remembered that if I wasn't just out in my garage adjusting the passenger door I just put on, and remembered why I had all the problems I did trying to get my drivers door to latch properly.
Rich
     Rich I moved the striker plate out today there is more slop in it.  I'm just going to wait until your latch assembly arrives and see what happens.  I think that mine is so worn that no adjustment is going to help it.
Jay
 

[Ecode70D]

Rich
     Thank you!   Thank you!    Thank you!

      Your latch assembly arrived late yesterday.  You did a great job of packing it so that it would not get damaged. In spite of the +04 degrees outside, I just had just had to go out to the garage to check it out against mine which I had already taken off.  Yours has  a whole lot less play than mine has. I did a quick fit into the door and everything is fine.  All I have to do now is ,install the little lock lever from mine to yours, hook it up properly and make some adjustments.
       The other good thing is the right side of the car is located just under the overhead heater.  So it wasn't all that cold in the garage.
        I'll be heading to the post office today to make my donation to the 57 fordsforever site as I agreed to
        Some day, you are going to need something.  In the old car hobby ,we always do.
        I do not forget kindness.
       Thank you again.  Jay

     

[RICH MUISE]

Awesome....glad it arrived safely. I think it's really cool that I have parts off my car on other '57's across the country....not just selling at a swap meet or ebay..but to people I know thru here and what cars they're on. I'll have to try and remember all the little pieces I sent out and make a list..it's kinda interesting and fun.
Jay..be careful with that little lock tailpiece..they are not being made any more that I know of and hard to find.
I'm having the oposite problem with my passenger striker plate...pulling the door IN too far. I need to remove it and make sure I've got all the adjustment play in the 3 nuts encapsulated in the door jambthat I should have. The door is in from the rear quarter about 1/16 in places.

[Ecode70D]

"The door is in from the rear quarter about 1/16 in places."

    I'm concerned about those two words "in places".
    When you had your door off, did you have to do some welding on it?  That has been known to change things "in places".  Do you know of any damage repairs to that side of the car?
     I hate to say this horrible thing especially since your car is already painted.  In the old days  sometimes a jig had to be placed on the door and it had to be bent to conform.  I'm pretty  sure that this is covered in the 57 Ford shop manual.  When I had to do it years ago, I jury rigged the jig.
     I'm hoping that all of this is not your problem and that you can get it right with adjustments.
     I  carefully cut out and welded a piece into the bottom of my passenger door, but that conforms to the contour of the quarter panel and the door edge is in line with the B post.
     My major problem was that I needed one of those "Imported from Texas" not worn out latch assemblies.
      Keep me informed Jay     
     
       

[RICH MUISE]

The "in places" I mentioned is actually at the top of the door, and is exactly what you were talking about with tweeking the door a bit. I did it to my drivers door..they actually tweek pretty easily. I don't even worry too much about the area around the window until I get the door in place as best posible at the bottom. There was no welding done on either of my doors..tons of it on both rear quarters to replace lower half from door jamb to tailight. On both sides I left the original door jambs in place, cutting the old stuff off behind the jamb. I think this helped alot with the fact that the doors conform real well to the back quarters. Also, I had decided from the get-go I wasn't going to get real crazy with seam spacing. It ain't no show car, and seams never bothered me that much...factory was and is good enough for me.

[Ecode70D]

".they actually tweek pretty easily. I don't even worry too much about the area around the window until I get the door in place as best posible at the bottom."

That's right ....They do tweek easily.

Another possible problem.
   Over the years I did a lot of 57-58 Fords for customers.  After I get the doors to fit nicely, and then install the door seal, the door edge was crummy.  After a period of time the seals take a set of their own and the door starts to fit again.  This is just a thought if you just installed door seals.

    Case in point  I had my drivers door fitting real good last fall.  I installed the door seal and then  it was crummy.

      Yesterday when I was checking out the right side,  I took   a look at the left side and the door is fitting a lot better than when I walked away from it in the fall.  The left door closes a lot easier now too.

    So if you have installed your new door seals already maybe you should leave it alone and find another project.  Let the new door seals take a set on their own. 
     
     So maybe you should look for another project to work on.
Jay
 

[RICH MUISE]

My drivers side seal was installed before I put the door on. I had a heck of a time getting the door adjusted so the latch would catch. This time around I left the seal off to see if it is any easier doing it in that sequence. I'll know before too long.