Door Striker Repair (2 Viewers)

[B y r o n]

We all know that our FJ-40's are not the quietest when it comes to squeaks and rattles. Well I am finally getting around to fixing a couple of mine, the door striker/catches on my '73. We all wish ours looked like this:

But some of ours look like this:

Granted, they took 45 years to get this bad but it's time to tighten things up a little. Now in the past I tried to glue in some plastic to fill in the gap but it only lasted a short time and it failed. I got to thinking about what to use to try and fix these and I settled on J B Weld, steel enforced. My thought is that the factory part is cast in zinc I believe and the J B Weld in this case is basically a two part epoxy with some steel added for extra strength.

After cleaning the part up I created a dam out of painters tape. I put a small piece slightly larger than the area I was going to fill on a larger piece that would stick it to the part, sticky side to sticky side.

It's a simple process just mix equal parts of the steel and hardener together and then scoop it into the void. You want to tamp it in well to avoid air pockets or voids. It's better to get more on the part then not enough.

After waiting about 3 1/2 to 4 hours it had set but not fully hardened so I removed the tape and trimmed off some of the excess with a razor knife. The surface felt slightly tacky but firm. The pieces I trimmed off were flexible but a solid.

I waited the 24 hours for it to fully harden before filing off the excess and ended up with this:

(see next post, reached image limit for this one)

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

 

[B y r o n]

So, time will tell how well this repair holds up but I figured it was better to try than spend the nearly $40 each for new parts. It did take a couple of days to do both sides but only because I decided to try one side at a time as I was uncertain as to how it would turn out.

Now I guess I will have to get after the door weather seals and a couple of electrical gremlins.

Here is a side by side of a before and after:

 

[B y r o n]

So if you look at the second picture in the first post you will notice that the wear is not centered on the rub pad. I just double checked and discovered that my passenger door was too high at the back causing the off-center wear. I loosened the hinge bolt and was easily able to center the latch and striker. It's been like that for who knows how long.

Another thing is, you can file on the J B Weld after 4 hours of drying. I wasn't being aggressive but it did work easier than when I waited 24 hrs. Also, on the tape dam, make sure it doesn't get pushed in. I didn't check carefully enough and ended up with a very slight indent. I also warned about tamping down the J B Weld and was apparently in too much of a hurry and ended up with two small voids, 1 in each of the bottom corners that I was trying to fill.

Other than the minor issues it now seems my doors are tighter even with the dried and cracking weather seals.

I hope this helps others that might be in the same boat.

 

[65swb45]

Unanticipated consequences.

I think your idea is worthwhile BUT...

I wouldn’t do something like that until AFTER I had new weatherstripping on the doors and evaluated the situation.

When I assembled my SWB back in ‘93, I found that I couldn’t shut my doors at all with new strikers. Even with grooved ones there was enough stress on the doors that I was worried that the stress cracks that form next to the window tracks would return

 

[1969FJ]

I will be interested to see how these hold up over time ? Reason is these strikers are made from a soft material and that is why they wear like they do. If they were a hard stainless, they would not wear near the way they do. You will be striking JB weld material. Keep us posted.

 

[FJ40Jim]

New strikers are available in hard chrome plated cast-iron.

Page 124 Land Cruiser Front Door 1963-1974 40 & 45 Series

 

[B y r o n]

Unanticipated consequences.

I think your idea is worthwhile BUT...

I wouldn’t do something like that until AFTER I had new weatherstripping on the doors and evaluated the situation.

When I assembled my SWB back in ‘93, I found that I couldn’t shut my doors at all with new strikers. Even with grooved ones there was enough stress on the doors that I was worried that the stress cracks that form next to the window tracks would return

I think I understand what you are saying but if you couldn't get the doors to close with new weather stripping then I think there was a problem with the weather stripping. There is some adjustment in the strikers so maybe moving them as far out as possible may have helped. I've put off my weather stripping and rubber in general because I figured that it should come after any body repairs are made and a total repaint. Just a little thing of time and money, I now have the time but don't seem to have the money.

 

[B y r o n]

I will be interested to see how these hold up over time ? Reason is these strikers are made from a soft material and that is why they wear like they do. If they were a hard stainless, they would not wear near the way they do. You will be striking JB weld material. Keep us posted.

I'm thinking that the J B Weld should hold up pretty good. What I'm not sure of is how well it has adhered to the strikers. If it didn't adhere well then my assumption is that it will come out in a big chunk from the normal vibrations. If it does hold then I think the J B Weld may act more like a cushion instead of the normal resistance that the zinc parts had. I think the more rigid nature of the zinc may have caused it to wear more.

New strikers are available in hard chrome plated cast-iron.

Page 124 Land Cruiser Front Door 1963-1974 40 & 45 Series

I would worry that these would tend to wear out the doors latch bolt which may cost more to replace than the strikers.

 

[Farmall Dave]

I will be interested to see how this works out. I was thinking about making a steel insert, but I also figured that the latch bolts would start to wear faster. Now I'm thinking of using acetal plastic (Delrin). Attaching the acetal would be the crux move though.

 

[65swb45]

If you machined the side of the striker down, drilled and tapped it, you could screw just about anything onto the strike face. I saw this on a customer’s rig once.

I call it reinventing the wheel.

 

[middlecalf]

...you could screw just about anything onto the strike face.

I was thinking maybe brass plate.

Didn’t even know that indent wasn’t suppose to be there lol. Both sides on my ‘65 have indents. Just recently the driver’s door started to pop open on occasion. Now I know why.

Might even try just JB welding a brass piece in the slot.

 

[bikersmurf]

Years ago I attached aluminum over the striker. It held up quite well. I think brass or high grade aluminum would be the hardest I'd go.

I have a couple of 1" thick Delron pucks... This thread has got me thinking that I should have a go at making new strikers for the rear hatch and doors out of it... If only I had a machine that could make more hours in the day.

 

[cult45]

I faced my OEM strikers with steel and it held good for 12 months til I replaced them with new units. Used a cut down BJ74 rear mud flap prop rod and small electrical nuts and bolts. Wasn't pretty but damn she held.

 

[Turbo45]

I did the same JB Weld repair in approx 1998 to mine and daily drove it until 2005.
the repair lasted vey well

 

[Farmall Dave]

I like the idea of facing the JB weld with brass. I will look for an old striker plate from a house that I can cut up. The brass should be hard enough to not absorb abrasive dust that would wear on the catch. Perhaps I can find time this weekend...