creed86

Hi everyone,

So today at work I was putting my work clothes in the hatch of my 1998 Integra GSR. I had the car warming up and the drivers door open. I had hit lock switch the wrong way when I was about to walk back to the front, a coworker was coming towards me and closed the door.

I was wasn't stressing it to much as long he got it out and it was partially my fault. So he uses a inflatable tool to wedge the door. It kind of took him a while about 10 minutes to get it out.

Now the top corner sticks out a little and from the inside I can see a little sun light. I'm afraid that its going to leak.

Will the door set back on its own. I just got home and its still like that. Will it come down? If not is there any thing i can do to fix this. Any suggestions would help. I just got this car and am freaking out. Thanks in advance

DC2.2_GSR

Don't freak out. lol

It's going to sound strange, but honestly... bend it back.

Put a block in the door near the striker/latch and just lean your weight on the top part of the door bounce a bit. Don't go crazy with it, just do a little 'convincing'. Shut the door and check the fit. Repeat until you fix the problem.

A proper test to see if the door is sealed is the 'dollar bill check'. Take a fresh bill from your wallet and pinch it in the door right at the problem area. Make sure the door shuts all the way. Tug on the bill a bit. If it slides right out, you need to bend the door back a bit more. If it's tight and you can't easily pull the dollar out, then it's good. Do this from the mirror all the way along the top of the door to make sure you have a snug fit the whole way.

A final check can be with water. Have someone hose down the outside of the car while you sit inside and look for drips. Make sure they get the hose right along the weather strip so that if there's any loose spot it'll leak. Again, if there's no water you're good.

If you don't want to do it just swing into any good body shop and explain the problem. Ask them if they can do it for you. They might ask for a few bucks for their time but that's better than having a bent door lol. It's a process that every body guy has gone through at one time or another. Poorly fitting doors are usually an easy fix and this method is usually the way to fix them. Sometimes it's a little frustrating getting every part of the door to fit perfectly, but you'll get it eventually.

creed86

Thanks for the reply. I'll give that a try. Whats the worst that could happen? Its already bent. If I can't get it I'll take it down to a body shop. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

***UPDATE: Did exactly what you said and it worked like a charm. I'll do the hose test when it's not so damn cold out. Thanks for the great tip. Saved me a lot of time, grief, and money.