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Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-04-05 9:44 PM (#610719)
Subject: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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As part of my current "Can O'worms" heater core repair and replacement project (the core was fine), I have been opening the "can" more each day (some of it make sense, others not so much). First was replacing the leaking OE heater valve with a new eBay Ranco "Volvo" heater valve (more on that later, in a separate thread). Today's additional can opening was to "fix" the right side "Summer Door", because its rubber gasket was drooping and needed gluing. I thought it would be best to remove the door to do the gluing. Maybe not.

Access to the nuts on the studs that hold the door mechanism to the firewall would never be better so I went about removing those two nuts and the single nut on stud that connects the door mechanism to the "strut" that holds the mechanism to the upper dash. That was easy. Cleaned up the door a bit, sprayed somethings semi-gloss black and others with an "Antique Nickel" (which I am starting to like). Also removed and cleaned the red rubber pedal pad (looks much better).

I thought installation was the reversal of removal but apparently it's not that easy. I have the mechanism attached firmly to the firewall with the two studs and nuts and I have reattached the "strut" to the mechanism but now I can't get the pedal to push the mechanism to go "over center" and lock. I did it once but the force required and the noise it made was all wrong. I backed something off (the strut nut) and now I can't get the door to stay shut at all. Not close to "over center".

I know there is something that I am missing but I don't know what it is.

Help/Hints/Kicks in the @ss will be appreciated. I would like to button this project up and drive the car again soon.

Here are diagrams that show the "Summer Door".









Edited by 56D500boy 2021-04-05 9:46 PM
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'55-3Hemi
Posted 2021-04-06 12:48 PM (#610742 - in reply to #610719)
Subject: RE: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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Hi 56D500boy,

These doors are a pain to reinstall but this procedure has worked for me. Attach the door to the firewall but leave the "brace" unattached. Pull the door handle out and while holding it press down on the top plate (#11in your diagram) see attached picture showing my finger to overthrow the plate locking it in the closed position.  Now install the Brace bracket and you should be good to go.  You may have to do some minor tweeking to get it working smoothly.

 

Hope this helps





(IMG_9837.JPG)



(IMG_9838.JPG)



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Attachments IMG_9837.JPG (234KB - 273 downloads)
Attachments IMG_9838.JPG (224KB - 285 downloads)
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-04-06 1:01 PM (#610743 - in reply to #610742)
Subject: RE: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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Thanks very much. I will try that. I don't want to re-install the heater plenum until I make sure that the right side summer door is working properly.

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56D500boy
Posted 2021-04-06 4:28 PM (#610751 - in reply to #610742)
Subject: RE: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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'55-3Hemi - 2021-04-06 9:48 AM Attach the door to the firewall but leave the "brace" unattached. Pull the door handle out and while holding it press down on the top plate (#11in your diagram) see attached picture showing my finger to overthrow the plate locking it in the closed position.  Now install the Brace bracket and you should be good to go.  You may have to do some minor tweeking to get it working smoothly.


Found this (below) in the 56 Dodge FSM. Frankly, I don't quite understand it. I don't know if it is different or that same as the hints above (which I appreciate).





Edited by 56D500boy 2021-04-06 4:30 PM




(56DodgeFactoryServiceManualInstructionsForAdjustingFreshAirDoors.jpg)



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Powerflite
Posted 2021-04-06 6:12 PM (#610753 - in reply to #610719)
Subject: Re: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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The way I did it on my '57 New Yorker was to keep all the nuts loose, then close the door tight. Press it tightly closed with my hand, and tighten the adjustments. Then when I let go, it was properly adjusted. I can't give any more details than that, because it was too long ago.
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dels56
Posted 2021-04-06 7:44 PM (#610755 - in reply to #610719)
Subject: Re: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed


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Hi Dave, just noticed your thread. The previous responses to your quandary are leading you in the right direction. I had every part of those doors apart, a year ago and remember the task of repositioning was a bit of a bitch. Once the door was in place, I wrestled with the brace to put pressure on the door until it would close. That’s all the input I have.
Del S
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-04-06 10:38 PM (#610763 - in reply to #610755)
Subject: Re: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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Location: Lower Mainland BC
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Thanks guys (including Robert K. (55-3Hemi), Nathan and Del after I posted the FSM instructions). I played with that Freakin' door for the better part of the afternoon. Took it off the car and compared it to a spare one that I had from Big M. No real conclusions except that I started to understand the intricacies of the design and the "over center" function. But still I really couldn't get it to work. Eventually, I got it very shut on the car my using 55-3Hemi's advice about pushing down on the lock mechanism by hand but that was a false "fix" because, after I open it again, it will be a beotch to get it to lock with only the peddle.

I quit for the night but I will try one more time in the AM before I give up (with the door hard shut for now) and move on to the reinstallation of the heater plenum. I decided that I will cut and slot some 1/4" x 20 threaded rod and run them into a few strategic locations to hang the plenum on before I start reinstalling all the bolts.

Bought a Lisle tap socket for the 1/4 x 20 tap that I am using to clean out and/or open and thread virgin holes (somebody slipped up in the LA factory on that one).



Edited by 56D500boy 2021-04-06 10:41 PM
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dels56
Posted 2021-04-07 3:28 PM (#610780 - in reply to #610719)
Subject: Re: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed


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Good day Dave. I had bolt hole that i could not clean up with a tap so I install popnuts (rivnuts) in place.
Del S
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56D500boy
Posted 2021-04-12 2:16 AM (#610929 - in reply to #610763)
Subject: Re: Oops. I removed my 56 Dodge "Summer Door" and now I can't get it closed



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Posts: 9855
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Location: Lower Mainland BC
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In the end, I didn't try one more time. I just closed it by hand by pushing down on that locking plate as 55-3Hemi suggested. It stayed lock so I quit and tried to move on to the next issue.

There were a couple of reasons that I just quit on this (for now):

1. I can still access the two summer door mechanism attachment nuts through the heater fan opening (with the heater fan removed - three bolts and two wire connections).

2. I think that one of the issues is that when I re-glued the OE foam rubber gasket to the door, I moved it from the position that it had been in for many decades. Since the rubber is no longer soft, it put up a strong resistance to being crushed by the summer door as it closed. I am betting that if the gasket was new and soft and pliable, I would not have had the issue that I did.

At least that is my current rationalization.






(56DodgePassengerSideSummerDoorAttachmentBoltsAsViewedThroughTheHeaterFanOpening.jpg)



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Attachments 56DodgePassengerSideSummerDoorAttachmentBoltsAsViewedThroughTheHeaterFanOpening.jpg (182KB - 272 downloads)
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