Tom,
Just went through this myself - In my case, the driver door had, in a
prior ownership, been dented by the edge of the front fender,
indicating the strap had failed. When I got the car ('74 TR6), the
fitting in the A-post that the strap rides through was broken.
As part of frame-off, all was disassembled. I bolted (small bolts) in
a new fitting in the A-post, crease in door was repaired, etc.
Assembled the empty door (window guts, interior panel, etc, still
out.) a few weeks ago and noticed a vert pronounced BANG when door was
starting to be closed.
I investigated and found that in the two tabs on the jamb of the door,
the holes had been elongated (likely from whatever event broke the
A-post fitting and resulted in the crease in the door skin).
What I concluded was happening was: As the strap is being pushed back
into the A-post, the "W" shaped portions of the check strap are pried
over the top and bottom of the A-post fitting. In my case, as they
neared the inside of the fitting, the beveled edge of the two "W"
shaped pieces rapidly pulled the strap towards the A-post. It was
obvious as I could see the strap jump forward at the BANG. This was
due to the play in the elongated holes in the tabs on the door jamb.
I have since cut out the tabs, fabricated new ones out of 3/4" flat
stock, fabricated a bracket from 1" angle that fits inside the door,
and re-assembled the lot with a new strap from TRF. Loud BANG is
gone; there is only a minor snap sound. That is still due to some
play in the connection between the new tabs and the new strap. New
tabs have 1/4" holes, new strap has a very slightly larger hole (metric ?).
I figure the only way to eliminate all noise is to ensure the holes in
the tabs, the hole in the strap, and the pin passing through them (was
a rivet, is now a grade 8 1/4" bolt shank) are all sized so there in NO play.
Hope this is useful....
Stan
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