The little silver wedge in this picture-



How do you adjust these and how close should the door side and pillar side get when the door is closed? I have a feeling my passenger side is the source of the chirping when I'm driving. Any findings, observations welcome. Also how do you even adjust them if I needed to ?

 

Please note that the wedge in this picture is backwards!
This wedge is more than likely your door chirping issue. I had that problem with mine. The only adjustment is to remove it and add shims or remove shims. My driver door had two shims under it and I removed one. It wasn't a problem for many years, then one day I noticed the chirping. After lots of tinkering, I removed a shim. The problem is that the door is heavy and has probably started to sag at the rear causing it to rest on the wedge. By removing a shim, the door is not resting tightly against this, so no noise. Just keep the shim in case you need to replace the door hinge and want to build it back up.

The wedge does not provide for a gap. It keeps the door edge from impacting the door jamb during body flex and causing paint and/or body damage. It should not be used to maintain the proper gap.

 

Yup backwards.
These are the striker wedges that GM used till 86?
These are on my 84 Z and my 72 convert.


These are used on 87? and up.
Heres a correct install pic:

 

LOL- I just used a random pic from google images, trust me to get one that installed wrong

Great info and sounds like I need to practice no shims- been driving me mad for ages.

Thanks

 

Always wondered why that was there. It's a little scary that the body flexes so much it needs a stopper to avoid touching the quarter.

 

these on firebirds right cause my car doesnt have them its a 87 firebird

 

They are usually only on factory t-top or convert. GM cars.
Hardtops usually don't have them.

 

o well i feel dumb lol

 

No need to feel dumb..............

Many folks and me included don't know everything about these cars.
We come here to find out!

 

thanks and this forum has helped me all threw my car so far and i hope it will in the future when i open a shop

 

My car (1991 TA T-tops) needs door wedges. I think they are different for the later cars - plastic, and look just like a door stop wedge.

Anybody have a pic of what the newer style looks like? Any sources to buy them?

 

I found the one I took off. I need one more for the other side (91 TA t-top car).

Anyone got a lead on one of these?

 

Old thread but you can buy these here:

http://www.camarocentral.com/1982_19..._p/wea-196.htm

 

From the GM T-Top Waterleak Manual:

Door and Body Lock Pillar Wedge Plates

Before adjusting the lift-oft panel or door glass make sure that the door to lock pillar makes contact.

The door side of wedge plate is a plastic material, and the lock pillar side of wedge plate is stamped metal.

To check wedge plate contact, proceed as follows:

Open door and apply a piece of masking tape over the body lock pillar wedge plate. Close door and reopen. Then, check tape.

If tape IS NOT torn, add additional shims as required. Shims are available for door and body side wedges.

Perform the check again, if the tape IS torn, alignment is correct.

 

Dont think they changed the design.......or did they?

 

No. The body side is the metal that's seen in post 1. The plastic is the door side. The link in post 13 are the shims to build up the body side.

 

I am looking for a good way to tighten up the spacing on my door wedges. Looks like wedge shim part numbers 20452860 (is 2mm thick) and 20452861 (is 1mm thick) are pretty scarce. Anyone have any experience making/finding/using these? Right now the wedges on the post don't touch the door wedge at all when the car is flat and level. They hit when the body flexes and rattle or squeak. The service manual says achieve a friction fit and Hal87 had a good reference to a water-leak manual about using tape to get a good fit. Has anyone tried the CamaroCentral "1982 - 1992 Camaro Door Jam Alignment Wedge to Body Rubber Seals". Thanks

 

I just went out to look at my aftermarket t top car, no wedges, would I gain anything by buying and installing them?

 

Note those are rubber seals, not shims.

In the glory days, a trip to a junkyard or two would probably yield a pocket full of shims. Might be worth a shot now, or put a want ad in the classifieds. When all else fails, get ahold of one or a pattern, and get yourself some steel shim stock. Shouldn't be too hard to cut them by hand. Hacksaw, maybe a little file or Dremel action to make em pretty...

 

OK, here is some info.
20452860 (0.041 thick) and 20452861(0.082 thick) are made of plastic not metal.
All adjustment shims mount to the door not behind the silver wedge on the post of the body.
The rubber gasket behind the silver wedge on the post is about .079 thick and is soft rubber.
Because of the soft rubber behind the silver wedge, the screws holding the wedge come loose and will damage the matching plastic block on the door. Make sure to loctite the screws.
As Found, my car had 5 of 20452860 for a total of 0.207 inch shim on the drivers door and 1 of 20452861 with 4 of 20452860 for a total of 0.248 on the passenger door. Two of the shims on the passenger door were broken and fell apart when I took the screws loose. This may have happened because the outboard screw on the silver wedge had backed out from the post and was hitting the matching plastic wedge on the passenger door.
My Fix: I found some rubber conveyer belt material that is .206 thick and cut it to match the outline of the 2045286*. The rubber is pretty firm. Much stiffer than the gasket behind the silver wedge, but not like hard plastic. Pretty lucky huh. I replaced 5 of 20452860 on both doors with the new rubber shims I made. Then added two of 20452860 to the drivers door, for a total of 0.288 and 4 of the same to the passenger door for a total of 0.370. Because of the new shim depth, I had to replace the stock screws with longer ones. Door alignment is still perfect. I was surprised by how much I had to add to get it snug.
The Difference? Now it sounds like an American Car when you shut the doors. Rattle has stopped when I hit bumps. Pics below.
PN 20452860
Broken 20452861
Top is rubber behind silver wedge. Note that the shim screw holes are closer together than the gasket holes.
Tape before adjustment.
Tape after adjustment.
New rubber shim backing up 4 OEM shims.
Damage to door wedge from loose screw.

 

Thats alotta shims!

 

Great details. Thanks Rustynut55.

 

Does anyone know what part number or where I can get the plastic block that Rustynut55 was talking about? I can't for the life of me find that piece, it sits on the door and hits against the silver wedge when the door is shut. Thanks for all the helpful advice in this thread!

Alternatively, if anyone needs a trashcan to throw an extra plastic block in, I can dress up as one.

 

I grab them from 1991-2 f-cars in the junkyards. Those years use plastic wedges on both sides.

 

Thanks so much! I'll check later this week!