on my 97 legacy sedan

 

someone hit the rear right panel of the door.

 

and the door is now bent and binds on plastic piece in the door way.

 

what does this plastic piece do? what would happen if i took it off. (temporarily)

 

picture ==> http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6446/photo5gs7.jpg

 

 

 

thanks

That piece is plastic??? It looks like a door striker to me, although I don't know why it would be that low in the door. Is there anything that lines up with it on the door itself. Maybe a pic of the underside....

I believe that piece fits into a corresponding slotted piece on the door, that prevents the door from popping open during a side impact.

95s didn't have that piece. you can remove it, but the door might not latch right if you do. it may be aligning the door so it will latch. guiding the door to close to the right place.

What you are pointing to in the picture just aligns the door upon closing and in some accident situations more agressively attaches the door to the body of the car to make the body of the car have more integrity, I think. Its most likely attached to a floating nut inside the C pillar, and can be adjusted slightly up, down and sideways. I dont know for certain but its worth a try. (I had to do the same thing with a similar lock pin on a 70 Barracuda last week.) You'll need a Torx bit of the same diameter (Try a 150 Torx bit?) as its fitting (the star shaped indentation at the very end of the pin). Loosen the fitting until you can reposition the entire pin in whichever direction you find allows the door to close properly, and retighten it. Good Luck!

is just the door damaged or is the frame damaged as well.?

 

if just the door you can replace it.

its just the door thats damaged. im getting a new door when i come across one. but untill then i took that little nub out... the door closes perfectly now... its just that when the door got hit. it bent out the edge at that spot.. and thats why it contacts...

 

no biggy. thanks a lot