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50C8DAN

I was adjusting my passenger side door strike plate I got from Greg Eshelman and when I closed the door and reopened it I noticed that it was broken in 3 places. I took a look at it and the original one and noticed that the "new" one was much thinner metal than the old. I talked to friend with a '49 that used them and he also had one that cracked. Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks

Dave53-7C

I've used ones from K-Gap on a few cars and they fit and work perfectly.

bill a

same experience DAVE. THE THINNER ONES CRACK EASILY BILL ALBLRIGHT

Jon B

....but whether they crack or not, I'm curious: do these NEW-style strike plates make it any easier to latch the doors than the original factory ones?

I've often thought that the force with which one has to slam a StepDown door, is so out of character with the overall quality inherent in the Hudson. The '47 doors clicked shut so easily...

ralpie

I have had the good fortune to own several low mileage Stepdowns. The doors on those cars all "clicked" shut too. The biggest problem is with the striker plate coming loose and the subsequent slamming used to make the door catch... if the door striker plate is properly alighned and the screws tighten with some lock tite used... the wear normally seen on the drivers door striker plate does not happen. 54 strikers are a significant improvement to the door latching design.

Steve E.

When these cars a RIGHT, all that's required to shut the doors is to let go of the door. They will close and latch themselves.

Harry Hill

They got it right by the time AMC got into the picture, my 55 is soft and sure. I think the last owner must have had some temper tantrums as three of the door windows are broke from slamming, I need to get new felts and windows. As easy as the doors open and close though they should have never been broken, I know the Hash isn't a stepdown but it is a Hornet.

Harry

shadetree

Steve E. wrote:

When these cars a RIGHT, all that's required to shut the doors is to let go of the door. They will close and latch themselves.

I'm with you Steve, on my 51 Hornet, roll one window down a bit, open any of the four doors about about 2 feet , let go of the door and shuts nice and tight. adjustment and lubrication are the key. I have demostrated this many times at the car shows. Melvin

51hornetA

Same here alignment and position of strikers is important. One common mistake is to loosen screws and push striker back thinking this will make door closing tighter but it only makes it worse. Have to experiment and make sure they are aligned to door properly. When I first got my 51 Hornet the doors did not latch properly after getting new strikers and following old timers advice doors shut when you let go of them.

Jon B

One reason the 1954 doors latch so well, is that the entire mechanism was changed that year. Correct?

happychris

I had the same issue with Eshelman door strikers. I installed four new parts and two broke into three pieces almost immediately. I put the best of the old originals back on. Eshelman did send me replacements for the broken parts.

So it seems that K-Gap parts do not break - will order from them.

Question - will the 54 design stiker plates retrofit into a 49? In other words, can I order stiker plates for a 54 from K-Gap and use them on my 49?

BST RGDS

GARY ( happychris )

nick s

Gary, the 54's door mechanisms are completely different - they use a ratcheting star wheel.

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