Sliding door no slide...

[DjEep]

The sliding door is broken on the 71 deluxe. I took the cover off the track and discovered that the little plastic piece that keeps the roller square on the rail is broken a little. (I see a replacement on BusDepot) This only affects closing. The real cause of it being unable to open is the little latch that latches the hinge/roller thing to the frame. There appears to be no mechanism to retract this latch for opening without taking off the rail cover and manually pushing the opposite side of the latch.

Any Idea what is missing? Should I just start searching the Junkyards for a new roller mechanism?

[Amskeptic]

There appears to be no mechanism to retract this latch for opening without taking off the rail cover and manually pushing the opposite sid of the latch.

Any Idea what is missing? Should I just start searching the Junkyards for a new roller mechanism?

There is a serious spring that pushes the door out. This has a lever at the hinge. Is the door not spring outward when you first push the handle down? I saw a beautiful hinge assy in Spokane, should have grabbed it, perfect chrome.
Colin

[spiffy]

I just re-did my roller and nylon bushing because the bearing had worn so much that it split down the middle...JEESH!! Cool little project though, all those little parts are fun to see what they actually do to get the job done...complex little buggers! ( at least to me)

Ken at the Bus Co hooked me up with the parts and he does have a few full assemblies lying around. Getting a little oil into all those mechanicals will give the door new life as well.

[DjEep]

Yeah colin, I have to drop kick the door from the inside to get it to pop open. Then it will swing back but not roll due to the latch mechanism on the roller car. My guess now is the little plastic guide bushing broke, causing the carriage to not roll straight, causing the latch to hit at an odd angle, forcing the spring to break off.

[Amskeptic]

Yeah colin, I have to drop kick the door from the inside to get it to pop open, then it will swing back but not roll due to the latch mechanism on the roller car. My guess now is the little plastic guide bushing broke, causing the carriage to not roll straight, causing the latch to hit at an odd angle, forcing the spring to break off.

If I ever get back to the drawing board, I'd love to draw up these sliding door mechanicals. They are beautiful precision pieces which will reward you with decades of flawless service if they are well-lubricated.
Colin

[dingo]

I'm having similar problems with the sliding door. After looking at Djeep's, it looks like later Busses have slightly different mechanism. I'm on my second hinge and it has once again seized, despite constant oiling. Perhaps some of the other parameters of the door are at fault. A 'sliding-door rebuild' flow-chart would be awesome...at some point.

[tristessa]

After looking at Djeep's, it looks like later Busses have slightly different mechanism.

IIRC, the design changeover happened with the '76 models. I've got a rear latch/hinge/roller mechanism from a '72 on my '75 and it fits and works just fine.

On my old one, the cast metal (aluminum?) piece that attaches the spring to the U-bar was broken right through the middle of the square hole that fits the bar and was half-missing.. I tried fabricating a new one from a piece of scrap alum I had (cut-off alternator ear), but since my reference was the broken one I missed some design details and it didn't work.

I've seen two or three other early latches that are broken like mine was. It's not a difficult piece to make (only tools I used were an angle grinder, drill and needle files), just time consuming. If I ever get my garage in working order I might take another stab at it.

[dingo]

Ok, i figured out that the plastic 'guide' that accompanies the roller as it glides up and down the outer rail...that guide is broken and thus the roller takes all the pressure and eventually brakes or seizes or jumps the tracks. I kept replacing rollers without realizing that the plastic guide was supposed to 'straddle' the rail

[Amskeptic]

IIRC, the design changeover happened with the '76 models.

1974
Colin

[gmag69]

The sliding door is broken on the 71 deluxe. I took the cover off the track and discovered that the little plastic piece that keeps the roller square on the rail is broken a little. (I see a replacement on BusDepot) This only affects closing. The real cause of it being unable to open is the little latch that latches the hinge/roller thing to the frame. There appears to be no mechanism to retract this latch for opening without taking off the rail cover and manually pushing the opposite side of the latch.

Any Idea what is missing? Should I just start searching the Junkyards for a new roller mechanism?

You're lucky. Mine is broken too, and my lower track is shot. Now every time I open the dang thing it either gets stuck or the door falls off.

Oh well I guess it's time to buy a new track. It's on the list.

Geno