Hi kids got a question for yall. I just got the vette here and the door is doing something screwy. When closed normally it doesnt latch, or not completely anyway, but when you close it very softly, kinda push it, it latches fine. Also it seems that when opening, it goes down pretty far (the door handle) then pops open. On the inside it takes very little movement to unlatch the door, any ideas?
Thanx
Glenn

I can't comment on the latching, but...as far as the door handle, I had a similiar problem with the outside handle depressing all the way and not unlatching the door, while the inside was smooth as a baby's butt. How I fixed this problem is to shorten the connecting rod from the outside handle to the unlatching mechanism. To do this I removed the door panel. The connecting rod has a threaded "barrel" nut that adjusts the length. The nut is threaded on the connecting rod (which is an allthread for such adjustments) and on the outside of the nut there is a pin perpindicular to the nut that attaches the nut to the linkage mechanism. I had to pull the nut and rod away from the linkage, screw the nut higher up on the connecting rod (shortening the rod so less handle depression needed to open) then reinsert the nut pin in the mechanism. The job was simple except for one trick I had to do...the nut was mushroomed on the end to keep in locked into the unlatching mechanism. I had to cut the mushroom off to get the nut out. Used a hack saw blade as the access was restricted by the door inside sheet metal which I didn't remove...too big of a job. This is a mouthful if it is not clear mail me and I will clarify.

|UPDATED|11/19/2004 6:25:10 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

There is a spring on the latch assy. It helps to snap the latch shut when the door is closed. If the spring breaks, the door bounces open faster than the latch closes, and it does not latch tight if at all. Closing the door very slowly allows the latch time to drop in place with out the aid of the spring.