I installed what was sold to me as a NOS drivers door latch on my 37 and it must be as the handle is sitting nice and straight but going to the pass side its drooping some. I presume something in the latch causes the handles to droop so can the latches be repaired.
There are springs the aftermarket vendors sell to cure door handle droop. At least they do for 47-51 trucks, and I'm guessing they're available for earlier trucks.Yep, found them. LINK
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
It's also possible that the square shaft of the handle and the hole it fits into in the latch could be worn. A little welding and filing might be needed to get everything back into the proper alignment. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Kevin, your link does not include 1937 door handles, which are different than the later models. The spring in the '37 is a coil spring inside the latch body. To disassemble requires bending tabs to separate the mechanism and the drooping on my passenger side is not bad enough to risk the damage I might cause. I think Jerry may be correct that the droop may be due to wear on the mechanism that could be corrected with judicious welding. Kent
Sorry Kent, I didn't look close enough at that offering. It was inside their 34-46 section.
Jerry is correct that the square shaft (or the hole in the latch) could be worn. The handle is an easy fix, but it's a bit more difficult to weld inside a square hole. I built up the handle shafts on my 51, but wound up installing repop outside handles because the originals were pitted a bit.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
A friend of mine, an old hand with these trucks, says clamp the shaft in a vise heat and twist, to correct the handle droop.
~Charley 1954 Chevy 3100 with 235 “Bud” Follow along in the DITY 1963 Chevy half ton stepside short box 230 1954 GMC 3 ton 302 And several more Chevy camper and work trucks 1979 1987 1996
I looked through my parts and found a passenger latch and using a spare handle I think it will sit straight. It will get cleaned up and installed. It had a piece of tape on it with 5 dollars on it so I had it a long time and can not get one that cheap now.
I weld up the shaft oversize, file and/or grind it square, and file the hole bigger to be a slip fit on the oversized shaft. Just a few thousandths is usually all that's needed. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
