I did what Carl did, weld up the worn part on your latch and finesse into the proper shape. Mine went click click when I was done.
After I was done my father came in. Being quite proud of my "idea" on my latch fix, I showed him how I did it. He then dug back into his past and told me a story:
"Remember Melvin? (How could I forget our beloved neighbour? He was a bear of man, grade 3 educated, and one of the smartest, nearest old guys I had the privelege of knowing.) Well, years ago he had a similar problem, but not on a door latch. His cam shaft was fried on his old International tractor. He pulled it and went to the store to get a replacement. Well the new cam was $300! And being the '70's that was a lot of money. Melvin said, "I'll just fix the cam myself." The guys at the store laughed at him. So he took it home, he put it in a vice and proceeded to weld up the lobes. Then he hand filed each lobe until he was satisfied. That tractor is still going today. The old red 400."
WHAT?! I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I learned to drive tractor when I was 10 on that old 400 international! It always did have a strange sound.
Door latches are pretty easy to build up 😉 And they work better than replacements.
