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Bret Young
Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006
Posts: 756
Location: Turlock, CA
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 Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 7:37 pm Post subject: Cargo door adjustment help needed |
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Okay guys. Need some help with the adjustment of my cargo doors/getting the latches to work correctly.
So I bought a bus that was already disassembled down to a rolling shell and had it bodyworked/painted. They did not remove the doors during the paintjob, and I never touched the adjustment of the doors since I bought it. Well now that I am putting the bus back together, I cant for the life of me get the cargo door closest to the front of the bus to latch closed. I can get it to latch if I put a bunch of pressure on it AND take off the little metal tab that screws into the rear cargo door. I can get it to latch that way, but its not right and I am trying to get it to close/latch properly.
Yes the seals are new, but they are installed correctly (just top and bottom on the body, 3 on the rearward cargo door, and 4 on the front), and I also went through and trimmed/clearanced the areas of the seals next to the top/bottom latch plates on the body/and the indents that go over the hinges. But at the moment, the seals that go in the doors that cover the hinges were taken out for door adjustments.
Anybody with some advice/has had to fix this problem before would be greatly appreciated. Not sure if I should loosen the screws and pull the hinges on one door outwards and maybe the other the opposite way to try and make it fit better. Tried to search for some info, but came up empty handed.
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks guys/gals! |
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BarryL 
Samba Member
Joined: November 01, 2004
Posts: 14271
Location: Casa de Oro, California
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:07 am Post subject: Re: Cargo door adjustment help needed |
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| mrblyoung wrote: |
| Yes the seals are new, but they are installed correctly...Not sure if I should loosen the screws and pull the hinges on one door outwards and maybe the other the opposite way to try and make it fit better. |
Are the seals already glued in? Best way to establish if the fit problem is being caused by too much pooch in the seals is to take them out and see if it fits right. Most aftermarket seals are way too fat.
As far as door hinge in-out-ness they should be relatively flush with the main body parts. |
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Bret Young
Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006
Posts: 756
Location: Turlock, CA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:12 am Post subject: |
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| The seals on the body are not glued in. The only ones glued in are on the doors. Just the tops and bottoms. No seals along where the hinges are yet. |
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joe56vw
Samba Member
Joined: June 24, 2004
Posts: 3202
Location: Olympia wa
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:58 am Post subject: |
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| mrblyoung wrote: |
| The seals on the body are not glued in. The only ones glued in are on the doors. Just the tops and bottoms. No seals along where the hinges are yet. |
there is your problem the body doesn't get seals only the cargo doors do
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fluxcap
Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2006
Posts: 1969
Location: Newnan GA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:12 am Post subject: |
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| joe56vw wrote: |
| mrblyoung wrote: |
| The seals on the body are not glued in. The only ones glued in are on the doors. Just the tops and bottoms. No seals along where the hinges are yet. |
there is your problem the body doesn't get seals only the cargo doors do |
I was under the impression from this thread that the body does get the upper and lower seal as mrblyoung said he had installed.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=382734
That being said, when I installed my new seals, there was no way in the world I would ever have gotten my doors to shut with all the new seals in place. They were just to fat/stiff (and yes, I had also trimmed/shaped them to fit all the bumps). I had to leave the body rubber off, and then I could shut the doors. But even without those pieces, they were still so tight that I sheared off a cargo door handle trying to close them. The seals have finally settled in and the doors now close much easier. Guess I need to finally put the two strips back on the body and see if I can get the doors to shut.
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"It's like, how much more black could this be, and the answer is none.......none more black." |
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EverettB
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69830
Location: Phoenix Metro
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 9:35 am Post subject: |
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Yes, the cargo door area of body gets seals in the upper and lower horizontal channels - that's it.
On the body - The aftermarket seals have to be trimmed to go around the center points where the locking rods go so that they still sit flat, even with the rest of the seal.
Original guy said:
| Quote: |
| Yes the seals are new, but they are installed correctly (just top and bottom on the body, 3 on the rearward cargo door, and 4 on the front), and I also went through and trimmed/clearanced the areas of the seals next to the top/bottom latch plates on the body/and the indents that go over the hinges. But at the moment, the seals that go in the doors that cover the hinges were taken out for door adjustments. |
This all sounds correct.
With new seals I had to really press on my cargo door to get it to shut and then leave it shut for a few days. It was very difficult. It took a few weeks for it to be easy to close. I did not have to remove any seals... It's been a while since I did a Bus so I wonder if the seals are stiffer or different now?
Which seals did you use? West Coast Metric, Wolfsburg West, ?
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Bret Young
Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006
Posts: 756
Location: Turlock, CA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| EverettB wrote: |
With new seals I had to really press on my cargo door to get it to shut and then leave it shut for a few days. It was very difficult. It took a few weeks for it to be easy to close. I did not have to remove any seals... It's been a while since I did a Bus so I wonder if the seals are stiffer or different now?
Which seals did you use? West Coast Metric, Wolfsburg West, ? |
Yeah the seals are tough. I can get the cargo door towards the rear to close fine, its just that i cannot for the life of me get the front cargo door mechanism to latch over the middle plate for the life of me.
Maybe close it for a few days under pressure and then try and mess with it then?
I bought all my seals (amongst many other things) from Ronnie at Bustoration, and if I am not mistaken, he stocks WCM seals.
I can get a picture of the latching problem if that would help with diagnosis. Would that be helpful? |
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Bret Young
Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2006
Posts: 756
Location: Turlock, CA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 1:25 pm Post subject: |
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| fluxcap wrote: |
| That being said, when I installed my new seals, there was no way in the world I would ever have gotten my doors to shut with all the new seals in place. They were just to fat/stiff (and yes, I had also trimmed/shaped them to fit all the bumps). I had to leave the body rubber off, and then I could shut the doors. But even without those pieces, they were still so tight that I sheared off a cargo door handle trying to close them. The seals have finally settled in and the doors now close much easier. Guess I need to finally put the two strips back on the body and see if I can get the doors to shut. |
I hear ya. I havent broken any handles yet (lucky for me, my bus came with chrome deluxe handles in the cargo area and those can take a little more muscle than the white plastic ones), but there is so much pressure on the rods/shears that go through the doors, i feel like they are just gonna snap if i leave them for very long.
How long did you leave your cargo area without the body seals before the door surround seals soften/collapsed down? |
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fluxcap
Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2006
Posts: 1969
Location: Newnan GA
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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Unfortunately it wasn't the inner plastic handle, it was the metal locking outer handle. It was pitted and ugly, so I needed to get a replacement anyways. 
It took a few weeks before I noticed any real difference in the ease of latching the doors. Then, a month or so later, they were shutting with ease one handed.
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"It's like, how much more black could this be, and the answer is none.......none more black." |
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EverettB
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69830
Location: Phoenix Metro
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| Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| mrblyoung wrote: |
| EverettB wrote: |
With new seals I had to really press on my cargo door to get it to shut and then leave it shut for a few days. It was very difficult. It took a few weeks for it to be easy to close. I did not have to remove any seals... It's been a while since I did a Bus so I wonder if the seals are stiffer or different now?
Which seals did you use? West Coast Metric, Wolfsburg West, ? |
Yeah the seals are tough. I can get the cargo door towards the rear to close fine, its just that i cannot for the life of me get the front cargo door mechanism to latch over the middle plate for the life of me.
Maybe close it for a few days under pressure and then try and mess with it then?
I bought all my seals (amongst many other things) from Ronnie at Bustoration, and if I am not mistaken, he stocks WCM seals.
I can get a picture of the latching problem if that would help with diagnosis. Would that be helpful? |
Nah, I know what you mean... Yes, maybe figure out a way to hold it pressed closed but not latched for a day or 2 and see if that helps?
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