I have an 83 camaro, I recently put a used drivers side door on the car which was from a 92 camaro. Had a local body shop do the work. The upper door hinge was replaced with a GM part, and the lower hinge was rebuilt using GM parts. The only other part that was replaced was the door frame weatherstrip. I ordered the weatherstrip from Classic Industries. It's the OER brand and is GM Restoration Parts Certified and all of that good stuff. So I figured I was ok ordering aftermarket parts. Well, now my door is so freaking hard to shut it's unbelievable. Doesn't make a difference if you have the window down or another door open on the car, it's still a pain in the A** to shut. This can't be the way the factory intended the door to shut, nor can it be good for my door. The body shop says it's because I used aftermarket weatherstrip. They say the material is harder and not as soft as the GM stuff. You can tell the weatherstrip is the problem, because where the side view mirror is there is that big molded end of the weatherstrip that crunches up against the body, and it's not molding to the shap of the car. This is where all of the pressure on the door is coming from. The door feels like it's spring loaded. Has anyone else had a problem like this? Do you think the weatherstrip will eventually work it's way softer and mold better to the car? Should I switch to the GM factory stuff, is it going to be better? Any comments of any sort would be very helpful in solving this problem. Any other ideas on what could be the problem besides the weatherstrip would be great. There has got to be a way to make these doors shut easier, anyone know? Thank you for any help you can provide.

 

From what I here some of the aftermarket stuff is to stiff and can make it hard to close for a while but will eventually comform to your car.

The striker bolt can be adjusted a little bit that might make the door a little eaiser to shut, someone may have adjusted it in to compensate for the older seals. How are the door seams does it line up right, even gaps and not recessed or sticking out from the fender or the 1/4 panel is it.

 

I'd suggest heating up the weatherstripping area in question w/ a hair dryer until it's good and hot... then repeatedly open and close the door until it's form fitted to the correct width.
This may take a few tries, but you'll get it w/ some patience.

I agree w/ the door striker being out of alignment also; quite possibly someone altered it "w/ a hammer" to compensate for the FBody 'saggy long heavy door syndrome' at one point or another.

 

Door alignment is questionable at best. It's recessed in a bit at the 1/4 panel. The body shop wanted to put some shims in the upper hinge where it bolts to the body side of the car, but I am worried this will make my window stick out to far away from the weatherstrip and cause some wind noise and water leakes. I will look into the door striker position. Any ideas as far as the door alignment, can it be adjusted better without using shims? Thanks guys.

 

I can't imagine that the weatherstrips are the sole problem, with your last post everything has come out.
The shop should stand behind the repair, sims are only compensating for some other problem. Why did you replace the door to begin with, was it hit?
It sounds as if the upper hinge mis-alignment is the issue here.
Don't worry about the window, there is TONS of adjustment for the glass and the triangular filler, unless the pillar is so far out of whack that no ammount of adjustment will work.

 

First let me make a correction about the last post I made. When I said my door was recessed at the 1/4 panel, that was wrong, it's actually recessed at the front fender where the hinges are. It seems to only be recessed at the top part of the door, and what do you know that is the hinge the body shop replaced. The 1/4 panel alignment is perfect. All of the gaps seem to be fine also. Glad to hear the window can be adjusted many ways. Thanks for all of the help and info so far guys. I will be going back to the body shop next week to see what can be done. Any other suggestions would be great too. Oh, I replaced the door because someone broke into my car and messed up the key hole really bad. Plus, the previous owner of the car had some body work done before on the lower part of the door and it looked like crap. You could see sanding marks, etc. The door was bowed out a bit where the side view mirror bolted to it. So the door must have been hit before. I could not see any other signs of body repair on the car besides the lower portion of that door.

 

Well, I put on the Original GM Factory weatherstrip and the problem is fixed. Shuts as good as new, if not maybe even a bit better. I couldn't believe just how much softer the GM stuff is compared to the OER repo. stuff. Don't waste your time with the OER repo. stuff, stick with factory. Thanks for the help guys.