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Originally Posted by 93097004xx
Might be a really dumb question but is this hard on the door hinges to leave the doors open like this?
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It wouldn't hurt the hinges.
If you replace the rubber door gaskets you can make them hold their original thickness and shape or keep them from becoming squished by leaving the door latched only part way.
What I mean is when you close the doors the latching mechanism goes through two steps.
The first step will keep the doors semi closed but they are not closed and latched all the way to the point the doors sheet metal is flush with the sheet metal around the door.
Anotherwords the doors will be semi latched and at the door handle end the door will still be around 3/8" to 1/2" away from being completely closed and latched.
People with collector cars in an air conditioned museum will do this so the rubber door gasket doesn't sit fully compressed all the time. That will keep the door gasket looking new and working as good as it can.
I'm surprised the door striker plates were as expensive as you said. I guess they'll just keep charging more for them.
You could send your old ones to a place that replates them with yellow zinc. Some people call it gold cadmium plating too. That would make them look nice and should increase their resale value more than the cost of having them plated.