door hard to close or doesn't close completely

[David Baugh]

The wedge that I'm refering to is the hard rubber one screwed to the rear of the door shell. It fits into an aluminum receiver mounted in a socket in the lock pillar. The one I received was too thick, and had to have its mounting surface shaved down. It may have been a bit less than 1/8". The door would close without the aluminum liner, but not with it installed. Everything fits perfectly now.

Which other wedge is there?

Dave

[Steve Harrison]

I think I got my rubber wedges from Stoddard. They're fairly soft,...certainly not hard plastic. I can't remember if there was a thickness issue, but if there was, shaving them down thinner like Dave did would be fairly straightforward.

Since I was doing a total rehab I had the luxury of being able to reposition the new wedges. The screw holes ended up moving a bit from the original ones, (but you can't see them because the new rubber piece covers them.) Even with this new reposition, I had to rub a little soap on the rubber each time I shut it to get the door to "snug up" and be flush with the body when I shut it. After a few weeks of sitting closed, but rubber compressed just enough and now it works fine and does it's locating job.

[Brian R Adams]

The wedge that I'm refering to is the hard rubber one screwed to the rear of the door shell. It fits into an aluminum receiver mounted in a socket in the lock pillar. The one I received was too thick, and had to have its mounting surface shaved down. It may have been a bit less than 1/8". The door would close without the aluminum liner, but not with it installed. Everything fits perfectly now.

Which other wedge is there?

Dave

There is a rubber wedge of some sort at the front edge of the door, which goes "bump" slightly when opening or closing. I don't recall now if it is attach to the door post or the door itself, but it's supposed to prevent the door from swinging too freely and allows the door to stay open unattended under normal circumstances. All cars have some sort of "detent" system on the doors.

Someone step in here and save me.

PS

I find this on Stoddard listed as "644-531-751-00 Rubber Door Wedge for 356 Pre-A and 356A".

Brian

[Steve Harrison]

Just looked up on Stoddard site the part number you gave for the wedge. Yes, that's the wedge, but it's not on the front of the door,..it's on the trailing edge,..at the rear, and it fits into the aluminum wedge in the door check.
The front of the door does have a "bump stop" attached but it's only job is to soften the opening of the door when it's opened to it's limit. I'm not aware of any detent or way the door stays open like on american cars.

[Brian R Adams]

Just looked up on Stoddard site the part number you gave for the wedge. Yes, that's the wedge, but it's not on the front of the door,..it's on the trailing edge,..at the rear, and it fits into the aluminum wedge in the door check.
The front of the door does have a "bump stop" attached but it's only job is to soften the opening of the door when it's opened to it's limit. I'm not aware of any detent or way the door stays open like on american cars.

Yeah, you're right. What's the part number for the rubber stop at the front of the door?

Brian

[Steve Harrison]

644.531.741

[Martin Benade]

The rubber "thumper" at the front of the door, bolted to the closing panel gives a detent action to hold the door open if it is adjusted correctly. This is about 6 inches above the previously mentioned bump stop. This part is on T6, not sure about older cars.

[Steve Harrison]

T6 is out of my wheel house Martin.
Thanks for the info though, : )

[Roy Lock]

Martin thank you for posting this. Everyone has talked about rubber, Pre A's and A cars, but no one mentioned T5's and T6's. The original poster did not mention which model of 356 he had, just a general statement about hard closing.
Along with bad rubber, you finally hit on why some doors have a hard time closing. Years ago, I had the same issue with my lock and the latch not aligned properly, the door will not shut properly. I had my screws work loose and I had to set the doors again. This will also change the gap on the doors.