GMC Door Recurve

[Ken H.]

Periodically, someone asks how to recurve their GMC entry door. I
just stumbled across a Google album I created years ago and had forgotten.
Someone may gain something from it:
bit.ly/3dCceMJ
or
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMZzi-ZLlIfaBIvssKla9noRLdg28GKb29ZXG7klJ48zlzHRmJxFr0hx83YFPxAHQ?key=YnlENXBtMDlSdC16RTJWOFpiRFBTYlhza2llRURR

Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI & EBL,
Manny Brakes & 1-Ton, Troy-Bilt APU, etc., etc., etc.
www.gmcwipersetc.com

 

[mark sawyer]

Thanks for this, Ken....

Quick question: On my coach, the door is in perfect alignment except for the upper right corner. Would it make sense to drill the 2 holes for the
all thread in that location and use the jack near the top of the door? Was thinking of this or possibly using one of those "bar with a chain on one
end" tools to pull just that corner in.....
--
Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
Manny 1 Ton Front End,
Howell Injection,
Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
Fort Worth, TX

 

[Ken H.]

Mark,

I've never needed to try anything like that, but it sounds reasonable to
me. I'd be very careful, however, for fear of cracking the window. As for
the "come-a-long" idea, I wonder what you'd use for a hard point to pull
toward? Have you tried adjusting the upper hinge inward?

Good luck!

Ken H.

On Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 3:10 PM Mark Sawyer via Gmclist <

> Thanks for this, Ken....
>
> Quick question: On my coach, the door is in perfect alignment except for
> the upper right corner. Would it make sense to drill the 2 holes for the
> all thread in that location and use the jack near the top of the door?
> Was thinking of this or possibly using one of those "bar with a chain on one
> end" tools to pull just that corner in.....
> --
> Mark S. '73 Painted Desert,
> Manny 1 Ton Front End,
> Howell Injection,
> Leigh Harrison 4bag and Rear Brakes,
> Fort Worth, TX
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

 

[Matt Colie]

> Thanks for this, Ken....
>
> Quick question: On my coach, the door is in perfect alignment except for the upper right corner. Would it make sense to drill the 2 holes for
> the all thread in that location and use the jack near the top of the door? Was thinking of this or possibly using one of those "bar with a chain on
> one end" tools to pull just that corner in.....

Mark,

I did that to our door, with one MAJOR difference. I was bending the lower left of the door. That is the part that does not have a window.

Matt
--
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit

 

[corey]

Ken,

The wife and I did this last year using those instructions. Worked great. Thanks
--
Corey P /

Hilliard, OH /
1974 Glacier 26' /
3.70 FD /
ION Wheels

 

[tom geiger]

Thanks Ken, looks like this is a good method. Been needing to do this on the bottom of my door. The top of the door seems to be flush to the
opening. Is there other things to do to assure everything seals up well? Like maybe a new rubber seal set for the door?

Thanks,
Tom
--
Tom Geiger
76 Eleganza II
KCMO

 

[Ken H.]

Tom,

Obviously, a good resilient rubber seal is essential. Not so obvious is
the effect of the striker which the latch engages. It's not obvious to the
casual observer, but the OEM striker is a 3-part device: 1. The base
plate with a stud welded into it. 2. The ~5/8" diameter "pin" around the
stud which the latch engages. 3. Between the stud and the pin is hidden a
rubber isolator.

That rubber has deteriorated over the past 40+ years, allowing the "pin"
(really a small cylinder) to move inboard when the latch strikes it during
door closing. Then, after the latch is engaged, the "pin" moves back
outboard, relieving some of the pressure on the door seal. Adjusting the
striker for tighter closing cannot eliminate that "loosening movement".

The solution to that problem, as shown to me by Bill Bramlett several years
ago, is to make the striker a 1-piece device by replacing the small
diameter stud with a solid one the diameter of the "pin". With Bill's
striker in place, the latch engages and holds the door in the single
position to which it's adjusted. Wonderful improvement! (Note: Bill gave
me one to install at a GMCMI convention. At the next year's convention, he
found that I STILL had not installed it, so HE installed it then and
there. I was astounded at the improvement! And embarrassed by my
negligence.)

Applied GMC should have the solid strikers -- 'tho' they were recently
having trouble getting them produced. JimK may chime in here with the
current status.

Ken H.

On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 6:38 PM tom geiger via Gmclist <

> Thanks Ken, looks like this is a good method. Been needing to do this on
> the bottom of my door. The top of the door seems to be flush to the
> opening. Is there other things to do to assure everything seals up well?
> Like maybe a new rubber seal set for the door?
>
> Thanks,
> Tom
> --
> Tom Geiger
> 76 Eleganza II
> KCMO
>
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://list.gmcnet.org/mailman/listinfo/gmclist_list.gmcnet.org
>

 

[tom geiger]

Ken, thanks for the response on the door question. I really can’t recall if my strike pin is a solid assembly or if it’s the original one. I’ll
have to run over and take a look at it at its storage place. I suspect it’s been done already but will check. Will get with Jim K on that as well
as new rubber door seal.

Thanks Ken,
TG
--
Tom Geiger
76 Eleganza II
KCMO

 

[Ken B]

I have had one of those sold striker pins for many, many years. Unfortunately it is still in my glove compartment and I am still slamming the door to
get it to latch securely. Maybe at the next rally I will get Colonel Ken to show me how to install and adjust it. I forget who I got it from. I
believe it was Bert and Faye Curtis.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

 

[Richard RV]

Tom,
I replaced the chewed up door gasket with a similar to OEM gasket from one of the vendors, never sealed well even after recurving the door. Then the
bottom piece came off after a few months, drove like that for a couple of years - it was the bottom so it let the coach drain!

I ended up replacing that door gasket with very flexible 4-bulb weatherstripping from eBay. Universal 10M 14*12mm L Shape Dual Layer Door Seal Sound
Insulation Rubber Strip - $19 delivered. The stuff was a little bit smaller than advertised, more like 12mmx10mm, and I'm glad it was - it would have
been too big at the advertised size.

It's not as wide as the OEM style gasket, and it doesn't need to be, which makes it flexible enough to easily turn the corners with a little radius so
it's one unbroken piece. A little more effort to shut the door but now it's an excellent seal. Also used some to seal at the front hatches.

Richard
--
'77 Birchaven TZE...777;
'76 Palm Beach with 18,477 verified miles;
‘76 Edgemonte

 

[Richard RV]

> The solution to that problem, as shown to me by Bill Bramlett several years
> ago, is to make the striker a 1-piece device by replacing the small
> diameter stud with a solid one the diameter of the "pin".

Ken Frey told me he would clamp the steel collar over the strike pin and tack weld the collar closed along the seam and also weld the striker pin to
the back of the mounting plate. It works much better now.

Richard
--
'77 Birchaven TZE...777;
'76 Palm Beach with 18,477 verified miles;
‘76 Edgemonte