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Door opening speed
#1
Hey everyone,

Recently my drivers side door has seemed to open faster and faster, to the point that its giving the gas strut connecting pin (on the body) one heck of a tug everytime the door gets to the end of its travel. The pin actually moves slightly as well. and I have noticed the door is acutally sitting about 5mm lower against the lines of the rear quarter (which it wasnt before) when closed.
Is this normal? I did change the struts about 4 months ago and the front striker pin does catch slightly. I was thinking perhaps the tortion bar needs loosening a notch?

Scott
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#2
if it is the torsion bar, be very careful, as it is very easy to smash the rear screen when adjusting them. Sad

Be carefull too with the pivot bolt where the gas strut goes into the body tub - that snapped on Sorbet last year causing the strut to break loose and the door to come down rather too fast - luckilly the gas strut didnt damage the bodywork as the door came down on it.
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#3
What struts are you using Scott?

It's unlikely to be a torsion bar problem - as that would normally go the other way (weaker struts means torsion bar needs tightening, etc).

Sounds more likely that your struts are overpowered. We've seen a few really powerful struts doing the rounds - and they push the doors up so fast that they wrench on the mountings at the top of their travel. Not sure where these ones come from - they're unbranded.

As Claire says - adjusting the torsion bar is tricky - but it may be easier to get a different set of struts with less pressure. Adjusting torsion bars to compensate for £45 gas struts is a bit risky - get it wrong and break the torsion bar and you're talking hundreds....

Darren
PJ Grady (Europe)
www.pjgrady.co.uk
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#4
yeah, I've seen some pretty fierce struts Darren Shock Its painfull watching the door bounce as they fly up. People have to remember that the components that work these doors and surround them are 25+ years old now, and fatigue will be starting to show. Sorbet's snapped pivot bolt was down to metal fatigue and was tricky to change and required a bit of ingenuity to fit.

My struts are labeled GSE and have a 'break' on them so that they slow down as the door gets to the top. I think they are made by a company in Leicestershire. My old struts lasted 3 years before they started sagging, which I think is about normal from talking to other owners. I cant remember if they came from Rob, DMCH or A N Other vendor in the US - they got shipped over in the car 5 years ago.
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#5
The struts I got were from DMCH and initially seemed to work fine with a nice slowed down stop at the end. Although I havent actually touched the tortion bars im pretty sure its too tight. has anybodys body end strut moutning ever come off before? cause im really worried about it just being wrenched off with the bounce at the end of the travel. for the time being i think im gonna have to make a concious effort to slow it myself. Got one door with needs tightening and the other needs loosening :roll:
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#6
You could try swapping the gas struts over and see if the problem is still there ?
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#7
I tried putting one of the older, less powerful ones on and it still did the same thing!
Its gotta be the tortion bar, just doesnt seem to make sence as ive not tampered with them at all! :?
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#8
Where does the door 'hang' when you take the strut off ?

Its is said that it should hang between 2-6 inches from the edge of the door sill to the lip of the door ( mine was about 2.5" ) Personally i think 6" is a little on the high side. 2"- 4" seems best in my book
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#9
Scott - The only other explanation I can think of is the change in outside temperature.
As the struts are filled with pressurised gas - they tend to be at their most powerful during the hot weather - and then fade as the gas shrinks when it gets cold.
It could be that resetting your torsion bars now will give you the opposite problem in a few months time when the winter weather kicks in.

I'm not sure if there is an immediate solution to the problem - but I suspect that it will depend on how damaging it is to the mountings of the roof - and whether you think those little retaining clips will keep the strut from pinging off and giving you a concussion!

Darren
PJ Grady (Europe)
www.pjgrady.co.uk
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#10
Thanks for the feedback guys. Im actually more worried about the entire mounting for the gas strut coming off the body than the retaining pins. And i dont recall ever readin about that happening to a D owner before :? Will see how it is after a change in the weather and keep you posted....
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#11
Scott, as a thought, just have a look around the pivot bolt where the gas strut mounts onto the top of the bodytub and just check the condition of the fibreglass to make sure there are no cracks or 'stress' marks - better to be safe now then sorry at a later date.

Good luck with it, and keep us posted Smile
Claire Wright  - Club Treasurer
Jul 1981 DeLorean - Flopsy #2292 
Aug 1989 Cavalier 1.6L - Guinney
Apr 2021 Mokka-e Launch Edition - Evie
#170
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#12
i used to have the same problem with my strutts from martin, they are too strong and make shutting the door a job in itself plus the pasenger door strutt leaks even without being used much, so the moral of the story use a reputible source rather than a set that have been knocked up by someone who has'nt even seen a delorean. TT
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