Haunted Ashtray Door Fix - DIY w/pics
 

OK - I was bored today and decided to look into this...

Start by popping off the door by sticking a small screwdriver between the door and the side of the compartment and carefully pry it out of the hinge...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...86/door1-1.jpg

After removing the door and studying all of the associated parts, it appears that the culprit is the relationship between the door striker and the latch. The latch is not gripping the striker tight enough to hold it in place.

Door and striker assembly...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...rstriker-1.jpg

Location of the latch assembly...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...triker1a-1.jpg

This is the latch assembly - there is no reason to remove this, I just thought a close-up would give you a better idea of how it works...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...latch2a1-1.jpg

The striker on my door had considerable "flash" around the plastic fingers, but even after I removed that it didn't grip tight enough to hold the door in position.

I glued a couple very small pieces of plastic to the striker to build up the points and then filed them down until I got the grip I desired. You can see the built up areas if you look closely at the second picture. The added material is light gray.

I doesn't fit much better, but it does close nice and tight...
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...286/door-1.jpg

And before the critics start with the "why didn't you just take it to the dealer" - my dealer is about 50 miles away - I had some time to kill today and I like to tinker...

Geo

Good analysis, and congratulations on the fix.

Any tricks needed to get the door spring back in the correct position when reinstalling the door?

Well done. Good pics, good description. Thanks for the post. Plus you have the satisfaction of "I did it myself!"

The door spring goes between the latch assy and the left compartment wall.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-...6/spring-1.jpg
With the spring installed on the door, I started the spring in the little hole between the latch and compartment, then slipped the left side of the door in until it popped into the hinge hole, and then pushed the right side into it's hole. It did take several attempts before I figured out the combo...

Geo

Very good info. :flag:

Good job. :thumbs: Thanks for the detailed explanations.

:cheers:

Excellent analysis, Geo. :cheers:

Since you had the door off & apart let me ask: Do you think taking out some of the tension out of the spring -- via bending it -- accomplish the same end as your build-up of the latch? :bigears

That was my original plan, but once I got it all apart I realized that the spring was not the problem (I even removed it altogether, at one point). But, it all boiled down to the fact that the striker was so sloppy in the latch it just wouldn't hold it. Once I beefed that up, I could put a screen door spring on it!

Thanks for the thought - Geo

Thank you, my friend.
NOW I know why Chevrolet's replacing the entire assembly.
They know what you learned. :thumbs:

:cheers:


-TTT-

Good job. :thumbs:

My hat's off to you!

Who says Vette owners are anal! :cool:

Excellent post! Thanks for taking the time to share.

Good post. Mine has the same issue, and this is what I summized the problem to be when I looked in there (without taking the door off). Since my local service center hasn't gotten back to me in like forever after initially ordering the wrong replacement door, I am about ready to take matters into my own hands & fix this little sucker myself.

Nice job on the DIY. Great write-up and pics. Thanks for sharing.

Paul :cheers:

:thumbs: Great investigation, diagnosis and treatment. Thanks for the DIY info. :cool:

Mine has been fine and not opened once under hard acceleration or bumps... If it does start popping open I know how to fix it thanks to you! Good write up and a clever inexpensive fix..... :D

Great Post & repair, Now I have a roof problem for you to work on since GM cant get it to stay on. :cheers:

Thank you for great information!

You smoke in your vette http://bestsmileys.com/nono/1.gif?

Duct tape!
Just kidding. Thank you for the fix.
ralphj