Door adjustment Fiat 850 Spider.

Fiat4Fun

True Classic
Thinking I need to adjust my passenger door. When closed, the back edge of the door sticks out a bit, and looks like it's not closed.
I know the hinges adjust on the door jam, but not sure which way to move them to pull the door in closer., I do have new rubber around the door,
so maybe I need to remove that first, then adjust? I have not had it right since getting it painted, and all the body panels were pulled off.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 
Having attempted door adjustments in the past, I would leave it to a professional. That said, it may be that you can adjust your strike plate and leave the hinges alone.
 
In theory, you can loosen the hinge screws and align. In reality, my hinge screws are seized, and the heads would rather strip out than move.
 
Thanks for the advice. The good news is, when I painted the car, I replaced all the screws for the door hinges, so at least I can turn them ;-)
 
Is the front edge of the door well aligned with the fender from top to bottom? Is the back edge equally misaligned from top to bottom? Based on what is out of whack it should be fairly straightforward to align since there are only 3 contact points to adjust (assuming that the door itself and door opening are not out of whack).
 
This is just one of those jobs where you have to spend some time fiddling about. If the front edge is alright it's fairly easy. First run a pencil line around the striker plate. Loosen off the bolts and move the striker plate in slightly, tighten up and check. There are two positions on the striker plate, make sure you have pushed the door closed enough, the new rubber maybe holding it out on the first bit.
 
I will try to post some pictures. Looks like the front edge is "pushed in" a bit, so maybe I need to pull it out. I have adjusted the striker plate, but can't get it to close all the way. Thought maybe the rubber was restricting it......
 
I will try to post some pictures. Looks like the front edge is "pushed in" a bit, so maybe I need to pull it out. I have adjusted the striker plate, but can't get it to close all the way. Thought maybe the rubber was restricting it......
Do you have new door seals? I had a hard time on a spider I restored with new door seals, they were simply too thick.
Reinstalled the old seals (which didn’t look as good but..) and was able to get a nice shut line.
 
This discussion reminds me of one like it about adjusting the doors on the X1/9. There were some suggestions there that might help:


In that thread there's a particularly good video of how it was done in the Lada factory. :D


Speaking of getting frozen door hinge bolts out, I've had excellent success with a tool like this:


But I made my own version of it. That was discussed in the "tool" thread.
 
Thanks, I will check out those links,
Here are a few pictures......
 

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I would check that the door latch is on the outer catch first. The rubber might be holding it out. Lean on the door a bit more and see if it does actually go in. If the rear edge goes in the font will come out slightly and might be just what you need.
 
Thanks for the replies. The door was not hitting the second "click". Adjusted it a little, and it is better, however the top hinge pin has play.
So, looks like something to play with during the winter months...... took the striker plate off and cleaned it up, adjusted the height, and I can "push" the door closed to the second catch. I did remove the upper door to body seal, which was not there before I painted, and is there now. Might use a thinner piece than the original..
Thanks again,
Now I can work on other items...... Anyone have suggestions for cleaning a cloth top? ;-)
 
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