I have yet heard of a positive experience with reproduction door latches. Perhaps those who have had a good experience with them have not been motivated to share this.
1952 5-window - return to "as built" condition | 1950 3100 with a 235 and a T-5 transmission
I too read about experiences of others and I decided to see if I could fix what I had. Believe it or not, I started by rebuilding my door hinges. Drilling-out and installing oversized hinge pins. I finally got the doors to align decently. Replaced the weak springs that allowed the door handles to sag. The last problem was that the door latching was not consistent. Sometimes I had to slam the door and sometimes the door would pop open by itself. If you look at the picture (I used new repop hinges for example), the arrows show the pawl or ratchet edge. These are nice and sharp. Mine were rounded off. Nothing there to catch the teeth. I used fine wire in my MIG welder to fill in this edge. Dremel tool and file to shape the profile. It worked better that I expected. I still don't like the GM design but this solution was cost effective.
Last edited by buoymaker; 06/12/20211:57 AM.
"Adding CFM to a truck will only help at engine speeds you don't want to use." "I found there was nothing to gain beyond 400 CFM."
Most common to replace is the handle return spring. A quick search found the rotor and safety springs here: (https://www.ebay.com/itm/164553784922). Even with the good Altman latches, if the door hinges are worn out so too will be the new latches.
"Adding CFM to a truck will only help at engine speeds you don't want to use." "I found there was nothing to gain beyond 400 CFM."
Long before there was an Altman bear claw kit we got them from junkyards. Usually cost about $10 for a pair. On projects with a mechanical release we put the latch in the door and the striker in the pillar. On ones with electric release we did just the opposite; latch in pillar and striker on door. With the latch stationary one could run an emergency release cable out the bottom of the pillar in case battery went dead.
