Door opens at 55mph!

[ricosan]

Hey Guys,

 

My first post.  
 

i have a 1933 woodie with a new body by Hercules.  A couple of weeks ago I was cruising on a back road when I suddenly hit a bumpy spot in the road and the driver side door flew open.  Fortunately only a little damage that can be repaired with a few clamps.

 

since that time the door has come open 2 more times,  I wasn’t going that fast and caught  it both times.  Now I am scared to drive it with latching mechanism on the car now.

 

The latches on my wagon are made by Eberhart Manufacturing. 
 

Anyone have any suggestions for a more secure latch?

[JFranklin]

I would look closely at both doors and find out what is different between them. Maybe door gap or latch spring tension. Maybe also the driver side may not be latching fully. The latch looks to have good designing and should stay latched

[ricosan]

Hey J,
if you look real close at the door pin it looks like the latch is grabbing near the end of the pin.  I think that when I hit an uneven patch of road, the latch shifts or moves in some way causing the latch catch to pop off of the end of the pin.  I’ve examined the other latches and they look like they are close to the same condition. 
I’ve been looking for a pin maybe 1/4” longer but 1” is the longest I can fiind.

 Richard 
 

[JFranklin]

Is the other side the same? maybe too much body flex.

[Tom Boehm]

Hercules is still around I assume. Why don't you contact them and see what they have to say about it? 

[NewOldWood]

Hercules has built well over 100 of these cars and this is the first time I've seen this problem. They are still in business, Cecil is a good guy, you should get in touch with him.

[ricosan]

New old wood, that’s a good idea.  Maybe he has a solution. I’ll get in touch with Cecil tomorrow. 

 Richard 

[ricosan]

Thanks Tom, I’m going to call them tomorrow.

 Richard 

[46 woodie]

Street Rod suppliers sell a locking kit specifically designed for '33-'34 Ford's with suicide doors. If there is enough flex in your body the door's can pop open. Perhaps all you need is an adjustment of your hinges but I would like something that offers me  peace of mind when driving my car. I saw a fiberglass, Gibbons Body, 1934 Ford coupe, street rod that had a door open at 70 MPH and the entire car from the door back was totaled. With a Woodie, I would make sure that door is secure before driving it, if the hinges are screwed into wood as in the Gibbons body you can do a lot of damage.

[46 woodie]

Looking closely at your pictures, it looks like the pin might be too short. The top photo shows the latch assembly that looks like an inch or so back from the edge of the door and the pin looks like it is close to that. The second photo shows what looks like marks, very near the end, so it might be too short. I would take some layout blueing and put it on the pin to see where the latch and the pin meet. Any good machine shop can fabricate a longer pin. Perhaps the door was fabricated just a tad too short causing your problem.

[46 woodie]

Another thought is that if you unscrew the pin, check and see how long the threads are. If they are long enough, you might be able to place a few washers between the flange and the body.

[ricosan]

JF, I think body flex may have something to do with it.

 Richard 

[ricosan]

46 woodie, I’m thinking the same as you.  Pin too short.  A couple of washers might be enough.

 

Tom and New Old Wood,  I talked to Cecil at Hercules and he believes that the claw isn’t closing up completely when the door is closed.  This is going to take some more investigation.

 

This surprised me.  He says that he put a device behind the kick plate that pushes a rod through the jamb and into a hole in the door to prevent the door from opening unintentionally while at speed. I found the two holes but don’t see any activator in the area. More investigation.

 Richard 

[46 woodie]

It sounds like he was going to install the Street Rod kit, but did not for some reason. That will cure your problems.

[NewOldWood]

16 hours ago, ricosan said:

 I found the two holes but don’t see any activator in the area. More investigation.

 Richard 

Does it look like it might have been installed at one time and removed by someone?

[ricosan]

NewOldWood, it doesn’t look like it has ever been touched except for the door pin.  Last month I found the door pin loose so I tightened it up.  It doesn’t have a lot of adjustment - less than 1/8” in or out.  When comparing the passenger side door latch it doesn’t appear to be fully engaged.

The mechanism that operates the “safety lock” is apparently covered up by the kick panel.  As soon as I get the chance, I’ll remove the panel and see what is going on.  Cecil said that he put one in every wagon he built.

 Richard 

[46 woodie]

Remember, your car is fabricated from wood, and wood swells and shrinks according to the weather conditions.. It's possible your door could have shrunk a little causing the pin not to engage. For example in 2010 we drove our '46 Ford Woodie from Long Island, New York to Wavecrest in CA and back to NY. The last two days we drove home in rain from Chicago to NY and I couldn't open my drivers side rear door for a week after we got home. The Street Rod safety lock for suicide doors comes in two style's one manual and one electric. The drawback with both is that if you ever get in an accident and are unconscious the door can not be opened from the outside. I have see electric lock's that have been modified electrically to open when the engine is shut off. Just do your homework if you install the safety yourself.

[ricosan]

46 woodie.  I keep my wagon in my garage but it’s not weatherized except when I’m working in there.  The doors are really tight.  I don’t think you could squeeze a credit card between the door jamb and the door at the area of the latch.

 I didn’t get out to the garage today but plan to investigate further tomorrow. 

 Richard 

[ricosan]

Hey Guys,

 

Today I was able to get a socket on the nut that is on the back of the pin.  I held the pin toward the outside of the jamb and tightened the nut with the socket wrench.  I closed the door and it didn’t grab fully.  I tried with a little more force and the claw fully engaged the pin.  No movement at all!  It looks great from the outside too.

 I may need to adjust the passenger side too.

 I still want to figure out what the mechanism is that will prevent the door from unintentionally opening.  Anyone have info about this? A picture?

 Richard 

[46 woodie]

Bob Drake,  www.bobdrake.com, 800-221-3673 sells one kit that I know of part number 40-46105/6-SDL., for $65.00.

[ricosan]

I found the passenger side door pin was loose.  I managed to get a socket on the backside of the pin but it refused to  tighten up.  I screwed it out completely.  It felt like someone had used loctite on it.  I cleaned up both the pin threads and the nut.  Replaced the pin in the jamb  along with the original washer and I added a lock washer to it. I was able to secure the pin tightly against the jamb. 
 

Both the passenger and driver side doors are secure and they no longer rattle AND the doors have never looked better!

 

Thanks to everyone of who.by your suggestions and comments helped me figure this on out.

A special thanks to Cecil.

 

 Richard