Printed in The American Tri-Five magazine in Volume 6 : Issue 3

Ever feel like the doors on your tri-five just don’t open or shut as good as they possibly could? They might take an extra slam, door bounces back when it should latch, have to lift/push on the door to get it to open or shut? Many times, the problem is easily rectified with 5 minutes and one tool!

Most folks who’ve never had one of these cars apart may not even realize that the door strikers, the flat plate that sits on the B-pillar the toothed gear on the latch mechanism rolls against, are adjustable on a Tri-Five. Oft times, these pieces are well overlooked as far as adjustment when a car has been painted, new doors hung, or anything of the like. As long as the door is adjusted correctly at the hinges to make no contact with the body itself, striker adjustment is a quick and easy process.

Striker plate is located on the b-pillar, no matter the model. Three taper-head screws attach the striker to threaded nutserts captured inside the b-pillar, which move around in order to allow adjustment both up/down and left/right.

On this particular example, when looking in through the door jamb, you can see the latch is making contact with the striker, which has made the door “sticky” on both open and close. Therefore, striker plate needs adjusted upwards.

A large phillips head screwdriver is the only tool needed for adjustment. Yes, its really that easy!

If you’re just adjusting up/down, or left/right you can simply loosen the striker up until you can move it freely by hand. If it needs shimmed in or out (towards or away from the door), you’ll need to remove it all the way.

If you’ve adjusted these before, and they keep moving around, it’s not uncommon to find the serrated lock plates that go behind the striker MIA.

If your striker plates set too far away from the back of the door, there are shims available to fix this. The car in question only needed slight adjustment upwards, so no shim necessary.

This will simply be a trial and error type of adjustment. Move it in the direction you think it should go, cinch it down, and give the door a shut. When you’re happy, apply the final torque, and you’re good to go!

As you can see compared to our first picture, the striker plate no longer contacts the roller gear housing. The door now shuts freely and smoothly, as it should. Adjustment complete!

Another helpful tip for door operation: Lubrication! The roller gear on the latch mechanism is prone to gunk and buildup. Good lubrication will keep both parts of the latch system moving freely. Aerokroil is my weapon of choice here.

Now, go enjoy doors that open and shut as they should!