How embarrassing is it when you get to a local cruise night or car show and you can't get the door on your Mopar to stay latched? Everyone is watching as you try slamming it several times, each time the slam gets harder. Not what you want your Mopar to be known for.
One of the causes of this situation is that the area around the door striker and latch fatigues over the years and either gets flimsy and allows the mechanisms to move when you shut the door, or the area around the latch simply cracks and gives way. If your Mopar has the latter issue-as our Super Bee project did-there have been some creative but improper fixes done to remedy the situation. In the case of our Super Bee, someone actually welded the striker catch to the door jamb area. While that kept it from moving around when shutting the door, it's not exactly the proper way to do the repair.
1 The striker latch on our...
1 The striker latch on our Super Bee needed some major attention. At some point, the jamb area fatigued, and an ambitious soul welded the latch to the body.
Since we thought we would do things the right way, we decided to try out Dynamic Renovation's door jamb repair pieces and see how well they worked (read: fit). It's a simple concept that requires a little cutting and welding, but it was so easy we had both the door and the jamb area done in just a couple of hours. The concept is that the fatigued metal is removed, and a stamped piece that is slightly heavier gauge metal is welded into place. Now the new piece is stamped in such a way that when installed, it's absolutely flush and undetectable.
Like we said, the job is fairly simple, and even if you're having a body man do your ride, the time they will save by using the Dynamic Renovation's pieces as opposed to either trying to repair the old metal or cutting up another door jamb and hoping it's usable will save you money in the long run.
2 The Dynamic Renovation’s...
2 The Dynamic Renovation’s repair is a simple to install stamped plate that replaces the bad area of the jamb.
3 To properly install the...
3 To properly install the repair plate, a pattern is supplied. Simply line up the pattern according to the instructions. Since our jamb area was haphazardly repaired, we had to do some hacking with a die grinder to remove the old latch. Hopefully you won’t.
4 The repair piece is stamped...
4 The repair piece is stamped in such a way that it is almost impossible to improperly position it.
5 You will need to reuse...
5 You will need to reuse the latch adjuster plate that goes behind the jamb area.
5a Just remove it from the...
5a Just remove it from the old piece of removed metal, clean it up and paint it, and reattach it to the new metal by bending the tabs of the repair piece over it.
6 The next thing to do is...
6 The next thing to do is weld it in place. It’s been stated over and over, but we’ll say it again. Spot weld different areas to keep warpage to a minimum, until you get a full weld around the repair.
7 With the repair piece welded...
7 With the repair piece welded in place, the only thing left is to clean up the weld and then finish it off with minimal filler.
8 We also decided that a...
8 We also decided that a repair to the door striker area was needed. As bad as the jamb area was, neglecting to fix it now could come back to haunt us after the car is painted.
9 Just like the jamb repair,...
9 Just like the jamb repair, the Dynamic renovation striker area repair comes with a template that you mark on the door to show you where to cut for the repair.
10 Just like the jamb repair,...
10 Just like the jamb repair, the cutout is made just large enough for the repair piece to be installed.
11 The welding process for...
11 The welding process for the striker area is the same as the jamb area—slow.
12 After the welding is complete,...
12 After the welding is complete, the welds are cleaned up, and it is almost impossible to tell the repair was made.
13 Inside, the repair is...
13 Inside, the repair is evident but interferes with nothing.
14 The last step is to install...
14 The last step is to install the latch and striker and make sure everything works.
15 It’s better to check it...
15 It’s better to check it now than to wait until after everything is painted.