Is there a way to adjust the door latch on a 1936 GMC T-14? I have looked and it doesn't seem to have any movement in the latch assembly. They are hard to close without slamming them pretty hard, and are hard to open from the inside. Also the outside door handle droops down, is there a spring or something that keeps it level?
Do not know if GMC and Chevrolet used the same assembly and if so if there were any significant changes from ‘36 to the later years. I do know the later years Chevy trucks used a spring to address the drooping issue. As for the latch assembly movement, my suspicion is the assembly is gummed up and needs to be removed to clean years of accumulated gunk. Slamming the door will likely eventually lead to otherwise avoidable damage or breakage.
Attached is a photo showing a latch assembly for a ‘46 Chevy 1/2 ton. The assembly on top replaced the one shown on bottom.
Last edited by 46Sparky; 04/13/202612:07 AM. Reason: Added photo explanation
My '37 doors were hard to close once I installed all the weather stripping, over time it got easier. Clean and grease the latches, and make sure the catches on the door frame are free of burrs and not worn out and adjusted right. Even when working good, my inside pull knob is pretty hard to pull, but that's better then the door coming open on its own. The door handle has a square rod that engages the square door latch, if either one is worn, the handle droops, same with the internal latch wear, it all adds up and the handles droop. I gave up trying to fix mine, now every so often I change the rubber grommet in the outer chrome trim piece which will holds the lever up while at a show or cruise night, but they still droop while driving.
I though about figuring out just how much they droop, then twisting the square rod enough to take out all the slop so the handle would set level, but I only had one pair and was afraid of what might happen if it went south.
I haven't had time to disassemble the latch yet, to much other stuff going on. I did notice that the body or the door skin at the hinge would start to flex a little before the door would latch. It was worse when the door seals were installed. I will try and take a video and see if I can post it, also some pictures of the door closing with my bore scope so you can see what's happening. Wont be able to do it for a couple of weeks as we are leaving town and headed to Knoxville to see my wife's sister for a week or so.
