rattles

[souzape]

Ok, I've been driving my car for about a year now and I guess I really need to get back to "finishing" it. Have been chasing several minor body rattles...got the worst one which I thought was coming from under the dash but turned out to be the hood prop rod. Fixed that with a rubber gromment around the mounting point. Still have some noise coming from both doors (passenger side seems to be the worst). Doors appear to fit OK. Installed the weather stripping as per the assembly instructions. There are no visible rub marks in the door jambs but it sounds almost like the latches rattle. (I have gone thru and tightened and lock tighted all the attaching screws). Any one else had the problem and found a cure??

Phil Souza

[gasman]

Phil, Mine does that from time to time, but when I snug up the body clasp, it seems to take care of it. Are your allen hinge bolts tight?

Steve Foushee
Unique #4279389

[souzape]

Steve- I've got the allen bolts snugged down tight. Are there supposed to be washers between the door hinges and the frame mount?? Phil S.

[pgermond]

Hi Phil,

Thinking about your "rattle".... the only thing that comes to mind are the shoulder bolts (alan head) that pass through the hinge. They don't have washers, but I do recall Alan telling me about grinding down the hinge (slightly) to fix a problem I had with fitting the doors. If the rattle isn't in the locking mechanism or jam, then it has to be in the hinge area. If you grab the top and bottom of the door close to the hinge is there play? If so, perhaps washers/spacers (?)

I have a rattle in my dash around the steering column from time-to-time when I'm at a stop.... but I figure the way this things idles I'm lucky to still have my fillings [^]

Good luck!

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[jhaynie]

My passenger door hinge rattles as well. Some times it sounds like its under the dash, but I think its my ears playing tricks. Post it if you get it to quit. I haven't even really tried to fix mine yet.

John

Unique 289FIA #9367
351W Fuel Injected

[souzape]

Phil/John- re: the under the dash rattle....check your hood prop rod where it mounts to the body (pivot point). I would have sworn the noise was coming from under the dash. Used a thin cross-section of fuel line between the flange on the rod and the mounting bracket to take the slop out. Worked fine!

Phil S

[Tony Radford]

I've been struggling with my driver's side door latch rattle for a year and still haven't found a cure. The last time I posted, the answer was to tighten the allen screws. My latches don't have any allen screws that I can find (and there isn't much to them). I put weather stripping in years ago and it didn't use to rattle. I can't figure out any adjustment as all of the screws appear to simply be fasteners.

427SC, Torch Red / white stripes
427 Windsor Stroker from Southern Automotive
Delicious example of Beauty + Power.

[Brent]

Tony I think the allen heads they were reffering to are on the hinge not the latch.

Brent

[gasman]

Tony, Your hinge bolt should be an allen head.

Steve Foushee
Unique #4279389

[Tony Radford]

OOOoooohhhhhhh. So are you saying that you tighten up the hinge bolts and take the up and down movement out of the door? I have noticed over the past year or so that the door drops down a touch when I open it. I always figured the latch had to hold the door from rattling, but I can see how the latch would have much less load on it if it were more stable at the hinge (which I didn't know was adjustable). Is blindness ever a virtue? I know that when dating homely women, the phrase "beauty is a light switch away" carries merit. I guess there's a connection there somewhere.

427SC, Torch Red / white stripes
427 Windsor Stroker from Southern Automotive
Delicious example of Beauty + Power.

[pgermond]

quote:"beauty is a light switch away"

That's a good one.... I have heard of the 2 AM beauties, but not the light switch

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[Tony Radford]

I checked out those allen bolts this morning and they are already tight. The amount of up to down slop in the door is pretty minimal. Maybe I just need to replace the latch on the driver's side.

Alan, are they expensive and should I order from Unique?

T

427SC, Torch Red / white stripes
427 Windsor Stroker from Southern Automotive
Delicious example of Beauty + Power.

[gasman]

Tony, I would agree that beauty is a light switch away, as long as you have a good ground.......

Steve Foushee
Unique #4279389

[clayfoushee]

Nice pic, Gasman, I like the red X in the white box color scheme.

Clay

'98 Unique #9299, 427FE side oiler (454-stroker), top-loader (close), 3.31 rear

Annapolis, MD

[pgermond]

I didn't want to mention that for fear of offending someone............

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[clayfoushee]

Phil, when he said "Beam me up Scotty" earlier on a different thread, he really meant he needed Scotty to beam down to help him out. He's been operating without his warp drives for awhile now....impulse power only!

Clay

'98 Unique #9299, 427FE side oiler (454-stroker), top-loader (close), 3.31 rear

Annapolis, MD

[gasman]

Phil, Don't worry about offending me....I've been taking crap from my brother for 49 years, kinda use to it by now. The picture with the red x in it showed a successful upload. Yet another mystery. Oh and Clay, take another look at my avatar, that ain't impulse power, its warp factor seven....

Steve Foushee
Unique #4279389