Door Strap repair - revisited

[danyl]

I have a wild idea, and would appreciate some help. I think I have devised a way to repair the door straps on the car!

There is a product available at my local hardware store. It's a rubber dip that vulcanizes at room temperature. It is used to make coated handles for tools. I took a bar of metal (to represent the strap) and made a larger plastic trough that was approximately 4 mm wider on both sides. I suspended the trough around the metal strip and filled it with the coating material. The stuff leaked everywhere, but after it hardened, I was able to shape and trim the remainder. The plastic left a rather nice smooth surface. (I trimmed the ugly parts).

I'm thinking that the rounded ends of the door straps don't really need the rubber coating. The coating is merely there for the travel in-between. I also believe that it may have a "step" in width to cause a half/way stop for the door travel.

If someone would measure for me the thickness of their strap (including any changes along the way, and the distance from the door jam side) I might be able to make this work and share the process with all.

Thanks

[J.PETER]

I fixed my 67 Duetto by making new slightly larger in diameter rollers that replace the existing pinch limiting rollers that are located inside the door.
I made the new rollers out of hard nylon.
Of course all the rubber is gone from the strap.
I made another nylon bushing that goes inside the strap on the fixed mounting end on the door jam.
The sheet metal flexes a bit when the door is fully opened so I have gotten along nicely without the slight rubber cushioning effect of the rubber on the strap.
I fixed them about 8 years ago and I think they will outlive me.