Anyone ever found a rod that can replace the cable inside a Beck door? The cable adjustment has been maddening. A hair too loose, or a hair too tight. Can't get it right.
Seems like a rod would offer a finer adjustment.
Thoughts?
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I think my Beck has a rod rather than a cable. Your builder (IIRC it wasn't the Beck folks) may have done something a bit different from normal.
Makes sense, Lane!
I have the book on the car, and the fellow kept every receipt. Looks like he bought it as a roller, and finished it himself.
A coat hanger bent just right will work if you can't find a rod.
I used the OEM rods from the VW bug donor's door. Even used the end clamps from the bug. My CMC door opener handle bracket is mounted on the inside of the door (back side of the inside panel) not inside door surface as in your photo. Pull up copy of CMC build manual to see how CMC says to do (page IV 21 or so).
"A coat hanger bent just right will work if you can't find a rod."
ummm no!!
That's to open the door when you lock your keys in the car!! Trust me I've locked my keys in my speedster a million times.. Coat hanger works great!! Super easy when the tops down!!
CALL CAREY AT BECK!! He is a nice fellow!! HE will help you out with that..
Tebs
Cory, Go to Lowes, in the hardware isle you'll find a rack with various raw metal pieces including heavy 36" straight wire pieces ( it's harder than coat hanger) You'll have to loosen the 2 bolts that secure the inside handle crank and remove the large Phillips screws in the polished aluminum door plate , you may have to remove the large nut on the back side of the outside door handle... Make a tight loop to attach the rod to the crank , bend a Z in the middle of the rod and attach to the latching assembly, reinstall everything making sure everything is tight...now bend the Z tighter or looser this is your tension adjustment.
Teby S posted:"A coat hanger bent just right will work if you can't find a rod."
ummm no!!
That's to open the door when you lock your keys in the car!! Trust me I've locked my keys in my speedster a million times.. Coat hanger works great!! Super easy when the tops down!!
CALL CAREY AT BECK!! He is a nice fellow!! HE will help you out with that..
Tebs
Teby. With the top down it is easier to get that coat hanger in there, but if you also remove the side curtains it makes it even easier. I'm surprised you didn't think of that.
You guys remain the best!
Alan, your solution fits me perfectly...
Lane and Robert and Wolfgang and Tebs -- really appreciate your input!
Alan has my ear for now -- quick, solid, easy solution! I'll shoot an email to Brad at Beck to see about their part, as I'm sure my passenger door apparatus will start to aggravate me before long.
Thanks, all!
Cory McCloskey posted:You guys remain the best!
Alan, your solution fits me perfectly...
Lane and Robert and Wolfgang and Tebs -- really appreciate your input!
Alan has my ear for now -- quick, solid, easy solution! I'll shoot an email to Brad at Beck to see about their part, as I'm sure my passenger door apparatus will start to aggravate me before long.
Thanks, all!
Oh sure, just because someone has "Doctor" in front of their name it automatically adds more credence to their input?!! Don't make me go all Poopiehead on you now Cory or you'll be "under the weather" if you know what I mean.
I'll stick to driving around with Teby.
OEM is 1/8" cad plated mild steel round rod. There is an "S" bent in each end that hooks the door latch on one end and the release mechanism on the other (same shape as the "S" in an OE VW Beetle throttle cable (pedal end).
If your car has the interior door lock knob, be sure to test the door before closing it. Operate the latch by hand and then the lock. If you have too much pre-load the lock will not operate.
Make sure you have enough throw on the interior release handle to open the door up as well. You can adjust this by remaking the bend on one end, or by simply bending a "step" on the rod.
Finally, put the door panel back on and re-test before closing the door. This will ensure that the door panel is not interfering with the rod...
WOLFGANG posted:My CMC door opener handle bracket is mounted on the inside of the door (back side of the inside panel) not inside door surface as in your photo.
Is this door opener mounted on the correct side of the door? I'm with Wolfgang and mounted mine to the inside of the door. It seems that the way this door opener is mounted there would be a large lump under the door card. Maybe I'm missing something?
Yes, our doors have more recess in the pivot mount area and the mechanism mounts to the outer side. Bolt heads on the outside of the inner door panel with nuts on the inside of the door. Spacer on the bolts so that they don't flex the pivot mechanism when tightened. Due to the extra recess there is no lump in the door card.
Umm... I mean, uhhh... you know... if I ever accidentally wander into a poorly-marked time machine, and I pop out the other end into a tank in the French countryside in the summer of 1944, I hope all of you guys are already in the thing, 'cuz if not, I'll be dead pretty soon.
Thanks, Carey, for the help on the OEM part! And thanks, everyone else, for all your knowledge, and for making this site so fun for so many years... It was a blast for the fifteen years I was lurking without a car -- even more of a blast now!
By the way, Robert M, I DO know what you mean...
You watch your step -- I know a retired weatherguy over in Shingletown, and one who THINKS he's a weatherman out there in Flournoy, so you just fly straight. They'll open a barrel of hail on that tub out of the clear blue...
CORY:
SEE I told you Carey would know....
Not to diss "DR ALAN".... "Paging DR ALAN" he should change his last name to MERLIN! hes a wizard himself......
But!!! always carry a coat hanger just in case you lock yourself out of that speedster
tebs
I just try to share fix's that have worked for me on FF and CMC speedsters.......
Is Hokay, Alan.......You'se say da same stuff as dat Carey Dude, jus' with less woids.
And like MacGyver......I always carry a coat hanger, used as the support frame for my "cool guy" water-resistant, Kevlar wallet (wit optional gold chains). Jus' pull dat wire out and, WHAM!...... Instant tool kit to fix 1,001 things dat could evah go wrong wit a Speedstah.
Jus' axe da guys from da Joisey Shore.......Right, Alan?
Had a very satisfying morning, watching a talented friend finish the second stage of the repair on my driver's door mechanism. (Perfectionism continues to elude me, personally, but I greatly admire it in others!)
The new latch that he installed two weeks ago left the door just a hair out of flush with the body. He had adjusted it in every available manner, but it just couldn't quite be brought flush. Today, after he finished replacing a shabby cable with a proper rod (pics below), he was still vexed by the fit of the door. The post on the door frame that accepts the latch mechanism had to be moved in about an eighth of an inch, but there was no room left in the bolt holes to do so.
(Here's what I love about the guy...)
He sat looking at the situation for a few moments, then, without any preamble, began pulling off the door seal and tearing back the carpeting like he was peeling a banana. He reached his hand around and inside the body to the back of the latch so that he could be sure to be able to get a wrench on those nuts when he eventually re-tightened them after he shifted the four holes back 1/8 of an inch.
Anyway, in short order, he had everything squared away, and the carpet and seal back where they belong.
All in all, a very satisfying finish to a troublesome door latch problem. Thanks to everyone for your suggestions on the use of a rod to replace that cable. It all worked out great!
I'll throw in another approach to fine-tuning the adjustment: Use the tightening/loosening mechanism pictured in my post linked below. As you twist the center block, because of the direction of the threading, the screws on either end will either both tighten or both loosen.
You can really experience how sensitive the door release mechanism adjustment is because even half a rotation of the block changes its behavior!
