The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Door latch repair

Any of you guys ever used the door latch repair spring like the ones sold by Jim Carter oldchevytrucks.com ? It is supposed to fit over the worn latch.

Joe, there was a prior post (attached) about that very thing. I used one on my driver’s door: works GREAT! I’d highly recommend it...
Good luck. Dave

I'm the one that posted those pics. My doors went from hard to latch to like new. Well worth the money.

Thanks for the help

Thanks for the help, guess I’ll order some for my truck.

How did the door latch clips work on your truck?

Why did you put these on your doors? What problem did they fix? Been trying to fix the left door on my truck. From what i can tell the hinges are aligned fairly well. My problem is that when close the door the handle side isn't tight against the body. It latches when the door is tight against the body, then pops out. I could probably fix this by drilling out the holes on the striker plate and move it in about 1/2 inch, but that's fixing the symptom, not the problem. I'd rather use this as a learning experience and do it right. Wondering if I replacing the door latch assembly and striker plate would help. I'd love any comments from anyone with more experience than I have with this.
Thanks,

Rick

Those door springs are for earlier latches (AD series trucks) than yours, although similar ones may be available for your Taskforce truck. [on edit] I see that those are listed for 47-63 trucks. They compensate for a worn rotor. Although your issue might be something else.

You should specify your year model, or add that information to your signature that appears at the bottom of each of your posts. That way everyone knows what year truck you're asking about.

Your issue sounds like a problem with the latch itself, since it latches and then releases. You might need to find a replacement latch. I'm sure someone with a Taskforce series truck will be along to help you out.

Joe,
Will you please post the P/N for clips from JC
Thanks,
Harold

I'm not Joe, but here's a link.
DP128

Rick,
My doors did something similar. Latched and then pushed out. I eventually tig welded some filler rod onto the latch claw, profiled it by eyeball, ground smooth, and they have been good since. My springs weren’t the problem, years of steel on steel wear were. The little spring clip cover thingy would be nice to have as a template to build up the profile of the latch.

I bought the spring clips hoping for an easy fix but it didn’t work for me. I pulled the latches, welded the worn areas and profiled by eye as Fox did. Now they latch great!

Thanks for the input, I'm not as handy as you. My neighbor could build up the latch with his welder, but I wouldn't know how/where to grind them down. I like the idea of the spring clips as a template though. Might be worth getting a couple of the clips. Been rebuilding this thing for about 5 years and am just starting to put the doors and hood on it. Kinda expected to run into issues like this. Nothing that time and my wife's permission to spend money won't fix.

Good to know, Thanks Kevin, It's a '59 3600. I'll add it to my sig.

Perfect! thanks Kevin, for $4.00 I'll give it a shot.

Thank you for the link, Kevin.
Harold

Perfect! thanks Kevin, for $4.00 I'll give it a shot.

It could be that you need to move the striker plate outboard rather than further inboard. I know it sounds backwards, but if the striker is moved too far inboard, the door latch does not work properly, leading to what you have described.
The locking part of the latch never reaches the striker, which only gives you the safety latch function.