The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Passenger Truck door does not open - 1948 GMC

I own a 1948 GMC truck and having a real problem with trying to open the passenger door.
For some reason I can not get the door to open.
I have checked the linkage and all looks good .. Lubed the hell out of it with penetrating oil and lube ..
Ended up pulling the door key lock mechanism out of the door thinking it was the culprit .. and still would not open .. Rotated the key locks regulator where the key lock would normally rotate to lock door and it rotates fine.
So apparently its in the striker area not allowing the door to open using either inside or outside door handles .. Almost like the latch between pillar and door is not rotating to allow the door to open.

Really scratching my head on what the issue is .. And checking to see if anyone else had an issue like this and is there a trick to get the striker latch on the door to rotate to allow the door to open.

I think maybe the door part hasn't clocked into the "closed" position all the way or possibly has traveled too far but is closed enough that you can't get it open. I had a similar problem.

New rubber bumpers on the door jamb kept the door from going too far in and the door latch part clocked the requisite amount of movement after that making it possible to open and close the door normally.

Like you suspect, the part hasn't rotated quite enough or maybe rotated too far to properly latch and reset the door handle to keep you from being able to open the door.

I assume your door is shut and there's no way to open it? Try pushing on it to push it farther in or giving it a hard yank to open it.

I'm probably totally wrong but it might work.

Not sure if any of these will help. From the Tech Tip section.

I have my latches out of the doors and investigated a bit. I think you can get the door open with a thin tool inserted from the inside below the latch and push the safety catch upward. That should release the latch barrel and allow it to rotate when you push the door open. This should work even without the handle turned. If that doesn't work, maybe a #12 boot on the inside will.

Good luck

Here are a couple pics with annotations (you may have to zoom up a bit to read them.)

Thanks Otto ... The rubber molding is in bad shape (dry rotted and shrunk) .. And does sound like the door may have done just what you stated. Gone in too far and the latch may have rotated and now has the door locked .. but there again I really cant verify that either. I have tried pushing the door in and while trying both handles - outside and inside. But still nothing while hitting the door hard to jolt it open with no luck either.
I'm sure once I figure this goofy thing out I'll have something to report on this forum about to help someone else in the future with the same issue.

Thanks for the quick response Kevin ...

Really bad inside the cab with all the rat turds ...LOL! .. I wear a mask when in there just incase of airborne stuff, but that's a different story .. Reason I'm trying to get the door open for MAJOR CLEAN OUT >>
However, I will look at the latch again and try a packing hook to maybe push the Safety Release downward .. Really tight inside the door and hard to see all the moving parts.
Tried comparing what I have on the drivers door (which opens correctly) and looked at every aspect of the door latch system .. But never having pull one to look at the operation. You pics certainly gives me a better observation of the operation.

- 1) So with the Safety Release Latch in the downward position, allows the Latch Barrel to free roll?
- 2) The square hole in the two pics .. is that for the door handle or passenger side door lock?


Push come to shove - I wear a #13 boot .. so I may need that additional 1" to help un-jar the door .. LOL

Kevin
Taking a look again at picture 3 ...
The Safety Catch in the released position .. is that tied to the key door lock by any chance?

Thanks Peggy ..
I did take a look at this before I got involved .. Must have used a full size can of Blaster chased with Lubricating oil ... YUP! this dude isn't going to rust anymore or ever again .. I got enough lube in this thing everything should be sliding well for the next 70 years .. LOL ...

Looks like a lot of stuff covered here. 👍

Rusty
The safety catch needs to be pushed upward, not down. The first picture showed that, and maybe can be accessed between the lock pillar and the door. I think it would be tough to do from inside the door shell.
The square hole in the pics is where the outside handle stem goes. But even if that won't move, pushing the safety catch upward would release the latch.
The lock (to the left of the arrow in pic #2) will prevent the safety catch from moving upward. So you need to be sure the lock is released, by moving the tab connected to the bar from the release. I believe on your truck the inside handle points down and pushes forward to the unlock position.

Thanks Kevin ..
OK .. I'll try that tomorrow .. pending on weather (rain in the forecast) .... Not sure if I can actually see the safety catch well enough or not from inside the door.
However,
I might be able to design something to go between the door pillar and the door to lift the bottom of the latch release and see if that works ..
Well let you guys know what I figured out and let you all know as soon as possible. I get this blasted door open I will be happy! .. So I can get all that rat stuff out ... then remove the seat for repair ...

Thanks again!

Yes indeed ... I am pleased with the results of info from friends in this forum ...

OH! I'm sure I'll have other questions as I continue this build ..
The engine in this truck I found out on the block is a 248 thinking it was a 270 from design ... so its imperative to check the engine block number to get the right info ...
Unfortunately this engine is stuck and I have been trying to get it freed for a while now.

Looks like its getting closer to a full engine/chassis change out if I cant get the ole girl to free up. If so it Ill be using different chassis and engine. Looking at possibly using a 2004 RAM Cummins chassis and engine to make the change out if I cant get this engine freed up.

Oh good to hear that. More than likely, you'll be needing other parts of the site. THIS LINK is kind of a "where do I go from here?" reference and gives an idea of what you can find not only in the forums but also in the other parts of the site.

Sounds like, the Engine Bay may be your next stop.

AND ... you are now officially a 'Bolter since you've gotten past the moderation phase. You may find the Private Messages (PMs) come in handy. Be sure to check as there should be a "Welcome" message there already.

OK everyone ! ... I finally got it to open ...

What I did was take a piece of 11ga sheet metal about 1" by 6" long and slipped it between the door and the pillar ... This was to see if the door handles inside & outside was pulling up on the safety catch release using the sheet metal when I would operate the door. Finding when this goes in to the upward direction when opening door by either handle the latch should roll back and forth ... In my case this was not happening when pulling on the door ..
I held the door latch in the OPEN POSITION using a screw driver locking it into place .. Then crawled into the cab and used my size 13 shoe and kicked the door open .. and she opened .. YEA!!!!!!!!!!!


The issue was the latch that was supposed to rock back and forth was not doing so .. I cleaned, and heavily lubricated with oil and penetrating oil to free it to move ... In order for it to move I had to use a rubber mallet to rock it back and forth to free the assembly up until I could move it by hand like on the drivers side. Once this was accomplished I closed the door it latched... and opened the door using outside handle .. .closed the door and opened it with inside door handle. ...

Looks like we now have a winner!

Now I finally get to do the real fun stuff .. removal of all the rat mess and nesting material inside ... This will have to wait after the incoming rain to be over with ... then get the seat removed..

Since I removed the outer door key lock ... I had to break the spring tab that holds it in place just to get it out. Apparently age go to it and now have to find me a replacement for it.

Want to thank everyone for the support and ideas ....

Happy to help out.

Good news. Now you can get out the fire hose and clean out all that rat poop.

BTW, the door lock clip is available from The Filling Station

Thanks ..... thats what I need

That's great.