Door restraints

Don"t know the prper term however My doors having notyhing to stop them from opening to far. By to far I mean so the leading edge of the door dings the innner portion of the body in the door cavity......(don't know how to explain it better.
Has anyone got siuggetions for a fix. I was told by someone I don't remember who (might have been Gordon)that he used the restraints from a jeep door.
Anybody got suggestions with pictures of the installation?

Pieces of nylon webbing available at a Hdw. store

Piece of a seat belt

Self adhesive rubber "button" stops mounted in the inner body-fender...this is the easiest as you don't see anything and takes just a couple of minutes to install

Performance Products has a rubber door stop for the 356, but I've got to agree with the piece of a seat belt for our cars. The doors just aren't that heavy, and webbing works like a champ. I could make a couple leather straps for you, if you like, but the seat belt idea is a really good one.
If you go that route, an easy way to cut the seat belt is to heat a knife up on your stove, put an oven mitt on your cutting hand and apply the hot knife in a slow and deliberate stroke across the nylon. It seams the edge and prevents having to sew the strap when you're done. Same for the screw-hole; use a hot nail or ice pick.
Just make sure you've got the webbing stretched tight when you cut it.
My car (CMC) came with vinyl straps with inset grommets so you could screw them right into the fiberglass of the doors and body, and were placed a few inches up from the bottom. I never liked those.
I'll be using pieces of an old RCI lap belt this time, since they're no good to me after two years' use.
If you want/need something fabbed, lemme know.

In the pictures, you can see the hole in the fiberglass (first photo) where the strap was. It's the one with the round rust scrapings around it. Putting the strap between the hinges probably was intended to keep the door fiberglass from becoming fatigued over time -- maybe. Speculating.

The second photo shows the placement in the door skin, above the first screw from the bottom in the leading edge and splitting the difference to the second screw up. You might or might not have corresponding holes in your car, but my CMC had the straps installed when I bought it. Sorry the photo is so blurry, but I took it as we began my hack-job (many moons ago).

Uh ... Alzheimer's moment. The first photo is not the one I intended. Howsabout ...

Stuart, I used suspension stops, both on my Speedster and on the Cabrio to perform the task on the advice of somebody on this forum. I don't remember who suggested it, but it works great. See the attached link:

http://www2.cip1.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=suspension+stops&Search12=Search

The part number you are looking for is C16-311-191. It's an easy fix that won't take long to accomplish. Here's how to do it:

1. You have to cut off the stop at the seam (the line that goes around the stop) so that it will be approximately the right length

2. I used an ice pick stuck into the rubber to move the stop around inside the door jam to find the location that would effectively stop the door from opening too far but not be too restrictive. Note: don't assume anything....do both doors individually

3. I used a good quality, strong glue on the base after the right spot is located and using the icepick place it and open the door to apply clamping pressure.

4. Use something (I used a bungie on each side) to hold the door open and allow the glue to set. I waited over night.

Presto, instant door stops, no holes drilled and virtually invisible. It does the job very effectively and prevents those nasty little door leading edge chips in the paint.

Hope this helps.
Hoss

Hoss,
That is the best idea I have seen yet. I'll order the parts today. Thanks very much.
Troy

Stuart,

Take a look at this idea. I will be using this set-up in my speedy.

Gabe

John)

Is it possible you could e-mail me some Pictures of the final result?
You are ass always a wealth of ideas!

I like the looks of Gabes but I think your concept is probably the easiest to execute.

Hoss:

Hate to be daft but if I understand your instructions properly the leading edge of the door is what hits the rubber jam? I figure it would have to if you used the door to hold the jam while the glue cured? Am I correct. Hard to envision with the car 2
1,800 miles away.

Stu,
What you want to prevent is the leading edge from striking the door jam when it opens too widely. What you do is create a barrier that keeps this from happening. See digi-pic.

Hey Gabe, similar setup to what mike carter did on mine...only mine is up higher on the door. works great.

Nice shots, fellas! I think I'll re-think the straps myself and go with stoppers. Nobody's mentioned a down side to them -- is there one? Can a six-footer still open the door far enough to get in and out?

Corey, if you do it right I don't think you will have a problem. The amount of travel you want to restrict is minimal. My advice would be to buy several when you order so if you botch the cut you have spares. The piece I am using in my current ride is drastically different from what I used in the Speedster, so I had to experiment to get the bumper to fit right. The end result is working fine.
Hoss

Hoss:
Outstanding shot. Got it. Very simple and very smart fix for the problem.
You da MAN!!!!!

The 356C came with a rubber wedge that acted as a door stop. They bolt right in, easy peasy.

It's item/image #7:

http://www.stoddard.com/shop/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=104&cat=Door+Parts

Maybe go "stock" ?

Wow TC; that looks great! Seems like even Porsche had the same predicament on the originals.

My car has a block of high density foam stuffed in there, works
great. Approx. 8" tall by 3" wide.

Yeah Ricardo,

Especially on the B and C models with the metal speaker pockets intruding into the door jam area. Without the rubber wedge, the edge of the door would smack into the metal "bowl" that comprised the outside of the pocket and distort badly.

The straps are an excellent fix for this problem. If any of you are looking for the little flat loops shown you will find them at SOME hardware stores but at most leather supply houses. In the saddle trade we call them "footman loops". I just thought this might help you all in locating the needed parts.
Drive safe and smile a lot!
Dusty

In the land of British Cars, they're called "staples" . . .

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=28950&SortOrder=69

Check out the exploded view and look at #81, then scroll down to the number for price. Pretty low price fora quality piece. I picked up a set last year (MGB-GT interior luggage straps and "staples") for short money.

When in doubt, ALWAYS check the British Car Catalogs . . .

I know it's been a while since any new posts in this thread, but does anybody have any other photographs of their strap door restraints?

Thanks.

I don't have any pictures but I used straps with the end bits from a Suzuki Samurai that I had chrome plated.

Jeep Dealers have both the straps and retainers in stock.

Jeep Dealers have both the straps and retainers in stock.

But Stuart mentioned that in the very first post in this thread....

Small self adhesive rubber bump stops mounted in the forward vertical door jamb you don't see them when installed) less work, time and money.

I used about a 4" piece of foam pipe insulation inside the jam. It has the sticky stuff right on it and it took about 30 secs. to install. Works great because it has a lot of give, but still protects the door from crashing into the jam. The only problem is that it is black and on a light car it might be too visible, but on my dark blue car it can't be seen. I don't know if it comes in white or any other color.
Troy

Thanks for that advice regarding the door-stops. I already have chrome staples (bought years ago) and plan to use tan webbing. What I'm interested in, is where on the door-jam and door Speedster Builders/Owners who have chosen the check-strap method, find best to fit the staples.

I've been driving this thing since 1989 and am refurbishing her in preparation for a long Road Trip down into Austria and Switzerland next Summer.

I have some other requests for help, however I'll start new threads for those.

Regards.

Stuart,

I used a leather strap and chrome door check strap ends purchased from Sachse Rod Shop. Ph 972-495-1557. I used a piece of scrap I had left over from making the straps for my luggage rack but I plan to change them to black to match my interior the next time I get to the leather shop.

Good Luck, Rich

A door stop isn't rocket surgery... Empi sells an aftermarket one for about $8 that's basically a rubber stopper at the end of a little cable.

If you want to go uber-high tech and spend a lot of money, this is the most expensive way I could find to do a nice job. $70 buys the backing plates and the Porsche stopper.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/PORSCHE-911-912-911sc-930-Door-Stop-&-Brace-Repair-Kit_W0QQitemZ220499581813QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20091029?IMSfp=TL0910291810002r33973

So you could spend $8 to $60. You coulod even do it for less than $8 emulating the Empi design.

angela

Angela. I think my cost was about $0.50. I think you mixed your metaphor, but like you said, "it ain't rocket surgery."

I think she meant to say '...a rocket door isn't surgery science'!

The mixed metaphor is a joke, Troy. As in "it's not Rocket Science" added to "It's not Brain Surgery" aka - "not rocket surgery."

Sometimes in the pursuit of coming up with ideas we forget the incredibly obvious point that they are many readily available and very affordable solutions. We (and both Steve and I have done this many times) start running down a rabbit trail to build something our car needs, like door stops, when there are THOUSANDS of versions already on the market. Versions with proper backing plates, rubber insulators, stainless mounting fasteners, some with springs that KEEP the door held open. Pretty much anything you want, built to any standard that your heart desires.

Keep your eyes open and look around. Think outside the box. Many times that means fabricating, but other times it means applying an item from a different source (a ford, a jeep, a porsche, Empi, whatever) during your build.

angela

i have mountet these leather straps in mine - made from the same leather as the interior

Ok. I wimped. Took Merklin and Troy's advice and went for the rubber-blocks in the door-jams! Quicker obviously, but also I wasn't happy on where to mount the staples ............. Mock-ups weren't that great. One issue was that with the door on, getting them into the space was a pain. I had no hope of glueing them in place, so I just poked them into the correct area and after a month of use, they still seem ok. I'll let you know how it goes........

Thanks for the help.