I’m in the process of restoring a '53 FHC and have a question about the door strikers. I’m having to do a lot of sheet metal replacement, including the sills and shut pillars. I’m ready to mount the shut pillars, but am running into a problem with the door strikers. My plan was to mount the male to the shut pillar then latch it to the door to make sure the shut pillar is properly located in relation to the door, but when I push the two together it forces the shut pillar out of parallel with the door face. I looked at the male component thinking it might be bent, but discovered it is manufactured with an angle between the body and the attaching stud. This angle forces the shut pillar out of parallel. If I pull the male piece out enough to allow the pillar back to parallel, the fit is very loose and the latch pin will no longer go into the hole. It looks to me that the stud should be square to the male piece in order for the assembly to be parallel. Not sure how to proceed. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks for the picture. I may have found the problem, and would appreciate it if you might be able to confirm it on your car. I think the problem may be with the pocket in the shut pillar which holds the male hinge piece. If I’m correct, that pocket should be deeper at the rear, which would result in the piece fitting straight into the door member. Mine is parallel to the face. I can’t tell for sure on your picture, but it looks like yours is deeper at the back. I’d appreciate it if you could check to see if that is the case. If yours is parallel, then that’s not the problem, and I’ll have to keep looking. If it is, I can modify mine to correct it.
They are a standard fitting on early jaguars since the early 30s
The female section on the door lock is tapered
The idea being that as the wedge was moved away from the door it would take up free play.
The wedge had shims under it by which to adjust
The 4 screws [ 2 BA thread] are into a captive plate [s] in the pillar . The idea being that you’d nip them up lightly . close the door which would align the wedge and then tighten the screws
new wedges are available as they do wear. The hole can become worn, as do the angles on the wedge
The wedge is cast onto a stud, from memory about 5 /16" and BSF in the early cars.
This is into a silent rubber bush in the housing with the 4 screws and is locked with a star washer inside the pillar.
The whole arrangement is adjustable in all directions .
Jim, you are correct, the striker is set into a rectangular pocket that is deeper inboard than outboard. The inboard depth is about 1/4 inch and the outboard is almost zero.
Thanks to everyone for their help. I’m in the process of modifying the shut pillar to correct the angle on the mounting face. I think that should allow the door to close properly. Kind of disappointing that a new piece like this is not correct.
Did have a couple more questions about this mechanism. Was wondering why the door shut pin is offset from center. Don’t see any structural issues, and it results in requiring a right and left unit. Is there some operational reason for this?
The other question has to do with fine adjustment of the striker. Ed mentioned that you can move the striker to do fine adjustment, but I don’t have that adjustment. The boss on the back of the striker only has .020 clearance in the shut pillar hole, so basically has no adjustment. I’m looking at the picture from Bob’s car and it looks like his is probably the same. The boss is 1" diameter, which matches the width of the flange. If the hole was any larger to allow adjustment it would be visible, which it is not. So, if you can’t move the striker, is there any other way to fine adjust the locked location of the door?
I think the door latch mechanism dates back to the SS era.
The offset might have something to do with the placement of the inside and outside operating handles on various saloon models?
I must admit I don’t know why the pin is offset. However these door catches were not a Jaguar Specific item
They were made by Willmott Breedon and used on other English cars
MG TC comes to mind
The extra section at the top of Robs photos were an addition Similarly appearing on DHC versions of SS/ Mk IV doors.
I think this was a factor of door handles being located in different positions on various models.
When new , they wadge started out with space under it to the shutface and if the door still had movement it was taken up by moving the wadge inwards . Either by removing spacers or the wadge mounting pin being pushed in on the silent rubber bush
Or , alternatively moved outwards if needed.
It’s hard to see int eh pics of the red car but it appears that there is a red ’ spacer ’ under the wedge.
This should only affect the door closure in terms of it rattling[ i.e loose] If the door need to move inwards to align with the rear guard panel . the 4 screws are undone a little and the wadge will move outwards… Or inwards if that is needed
The catch should be able to move up or down also by loosening he same screws.
I suppose if there has bee some issue in the past, one cold cheat and file/grind a little off the problem area off the wedge.
Or … the door may not be correctly placed in the opening Are there spacers under the hinges that have moved it forwards towards the wedge too far .
But the offset itself [of the pin] is not an issue, they were all made like that and it works.
Here are pics of the catch parts on door and pillar
AS you can see the same as many other models
In the pic of the catch on the pillar , you can see the edge of the shim under the catch base plate. Just the edge showing
These are separate shims under and above ’ depending on the accuracy of the pillar.
You can also see that the hole in the pillar is a fair bit over size to allow for movement of the wedge if needed.
The retaining screws are 2 BA
Basically , the closer the wedge to the pillar , the tighter it grips the catch.
