The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Altman Latches on 52/53 3100

Looking for recommendations for a keyless entry (power lock/unlock of doors) for the 52/53 3100's that use a pushbutton handle and Altman bear claw latches. As an example, I called a1 electric for their W01-TW-Key product and the told me that their products do not work with the pushbutton handles of the 52/53's. I then noted Trique (manufacturers of Altman latches) to see if they had any insight. This is what they had to say "Our lock mechanism on the AEL-CT5254 is designed to be operated up and down. Therefore you will likely want to mount the lock actuator low in the door and run a rod up to the lock mechanism. We do not have specific instructions for this, we just provide a locking mechanism to give some customers the option." I just do not understand (yet) whether once you install Altman latches, whether the push-button handles have anything to do with the locking of the doors, since I would not have a locking cylinder in the handles themselves. Hoping someone in the Stovebolt world might have sympathy on my ignorance and enlighten me on this topic. For all I know, the a1 electric solution might work when using the Altman latches... maybe that bypasses the issue with the pushbutton handles? Thanks in advance for any insight you might share on this topic.

I'm just guessing here, but I think any type of push-pull power lock should work, assuming it has enough OOMPH to move the lever. The key in the pushbutton just operates a lever, and there's typically lots of slack in the key mechanism to let the lever operate independently. Think of how you have to turn the key on a house door deadlock a full turn to get the bolt engaged, then have to turn the key back to center position to pull it out.

If you already have the bearclaw latches, study them to see how they work.

Not to highjack this thread but interested if you bought/installed the Altman latches? I am considering going that route but they are pricy, although I need to replace a lot of latch related parts so maybe not as bad as just looking at the Altman price.

I have not purchased the Altman latches... yet, but I am definitively going to do it. Relative to the doors, I have them stripped and I see that I have to replace the bottoms of the doors, both inside and outside. So it will be a while but since you expressed an interest, WICruiser, I will keep you informed when I DO get to the latches. Thanks for the interest.

I have the Altman Latches on my 51, 3100 with the turn down handles. I know you have the push button handles so I can’t answer your question on how to incorporate electric locks.

I chose not to add electric locks. My thinking was, if I had an accident with the doors locked and lost battery power, I would not be able to unlock the doors. I did add a key lock to the exterior of the drivers door so that I can lock the doors if need be while parked.

The Altman Latches are great and I highly recommend them.