Door Jamming DIY

mkII Door Jambing DIY
Time: 30-60 min (need 2 people to check for leaking)
Objective:
1. stop rattling doors/hatches/trunk
2. make doors/hatch/trunk close solid and open smooth

After doing this I noticed a few things

1. that my hatch no longer rattled going over bumpy roads
2. all my doors and hatch close with a solid *thump* and open very smoothly! the doors especialy take alot less effort to open

Tools:
1. electrical tape
2. heavy lube or gease (I used silicone)
3. 6mm? alen wrench
4. 15mm wrench
5. garden hose
6. flash light


Striker Movement
First off think of a life time (17 years for my car) of slaming doors, trunk/hatches.. every time the door or trunk/hatch is shut it is moving the "striker" more and more every time. I notice striker on the hatch/trunk having the most movement of all.

how to tell if the striker is out of wack (if it aint broke dont fix it!)
1. if your trunk/hatch rattles down the road
2. close your hatch/trunk and pull up on it.. jiggle it around.. does it have any play in it? if so the striker is most likely moved back.
3. doors dont line up like they used to? (could also be door hinges)
* meaning the latch side of the door is not longer flush with the body but sticking in a little (from years of slaming)

Striker and Latch lubing its a good idea while we are at it to go ahead and put a pea size or biger goob of lube inside the latch. if the plastic peice on your striker is missing go ahead and wrap it in 2-4 layers of electrical tape (to many and its hard to close) go ahead and apply a small amount of lube around the striker while your at it.
note: once this is done open and shut the door a few times and wipe away any excess lube that may end up on an unsuspecting passenger/drivers cloths

Hatch/Trunk
like mentioned above the hatchs and trunks of older VW's most likely have been slamed a little to hard a few times in there life. as a result of this your striker will be moved back making it hard for the hatch/trunk to close solid and stay water proof (check weather stripping if water is a problem also)
DO NOT move the striker unless needed



Doors
"3. doors dont line up like they used to? (could also be door hinges) * meaning the latch side of the door is not longer flush with the body but sticking in a little (from years of slaming)"
^ this can also make doors dificult to open.
if your mkII's handle requires you to really clench down on those handles for them to pop open then your striker has most likely moved.
Note: this would most likely be caused by doors moving out (away from body)
if your doors are fine leave the strikers ALONE



Leak testing
now its time to go grab your little bro and hand him a flash light

1.get someone inside the the car (give them a flash light for the trunk)
2.close trunk/hatch/door
3.grab a garden hose and lightly run water over the seals on the hatch/trunk
start from BOTTOM to TOP
if the person inside see's water have them tell you were its leaking from
4.once your done in the trunk laugh at them and tell them your not letting them out

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if you see leaking its up to you to move the striker to were it wont leak OR THE HINDGES (not covered) hindges would most likely be messed up from the door/trunk/hatch being hyper-extended. if all else fails take a look at your weather striping and replace if needed
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I take no responsibility for anything that happens to your car or another person if your doors fall off, if your car gets water damadge, if your little brother calls the cops on the cell phone you forgot to take away b4 you put him in the trunk. ITS NOT MY FAULT

-Happy Tunning