The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Issues with import door latches?

Has anyone heard of problems with some import door latches? I had ordered one from Jim Carter for Dad's 51 3100 but they hadn't shipped. When I called, they said there had been some issues with the ones they had, so they weren't shipping any. Since I have to finish my dad's truck in less than two weeks, I ordered one from LMC. It arrived. I installed. It didn't work. :mad: Called LMC and got another one with the same result. :mad: They told me they didn't know of any issues with the door latches. Has anyone else had the same problem, or is just that same old nut loose behind the wrench (that being me)that's having the problem? If I'M doin' something wrong, what is it? I gotta finish this truck in the next week to transport it out the the Back to the 50's gig in Grants Pass, OR... Thanks

I had big problems from several vendors. I ended up putting "bear claw" latches on my '50. Most street rod shops have them.
regmudd

Hmmm, I'm sorry to hear that. At least I know it's not the nut loose behind the screwdriver that's doing something wrong. I mean, it seemed fairly straight forward. Too late for Bear Claws at this late date. I'm going to have to try to find one used in decent shape, I guess. Thanks for the heads up.
Does anyone else have an idea on a fix?

What is the issue with the original latches? Maybe you can repair the wear or swap the parts from the repop latches to your original in order to get it to work.

Can you please explain what the issues with the new latches are?

Yes, I'm seriously considering trying to use some of the parts from the repop to try to get old one to work. The problem with the repops seems to be that the catch that engages in the "ratchet" doesn't seem to want to move enough to cut loose to allow the assembly to move to allow the latch to open.
The problem with my old latch is that the ratchet seems to be worn out and the catch just "slips" and won't engage. Now that you brought it up, I haven't looked close enough to see if I can doctor parts from one to the other. I'll try to check tonight after work. Hopefully, this won't be a full weekend project, but...

I will say these new 47-51 aftermarket latches need to be well greased and have heard some have had success with breaking them in before installation (you kinda got to wear the new off em)in other words you need to ware down the ratcheting system a bit so it will start to slide over the latching parts.
You might give it a try before you tare them apart for parts. Let us know.
Mike

My experience with repop door latches hasn't been all that bad. I prefer NOS and I buy them on ebay occasionally but they aren't perfect either. I am old enough to remember when my father bought a 1950 GMC new, and I think the doors rattled from day one. One must remember, pickups and trucks were built for men to work with. A few rattles were acceptable.

Yep, I did grease it up pretty good when I put 'er in--no bueno. I've been trying to "work the new" off of it, but so far, no luck. I did get the latch to work from the outside, but couldn't get it to work with the interior handle.
I took a good look at trying to use some parts off the new latch on the old. It can be done, but there is a large (hardened?) rivet involved and it seems like it might come out quite the cobbled together mess.
I don't mind the rattles either (I think it adds character!) but I can only get the "first" part of the old latch to catch and I don't want the door to come open while dad is driving down the road.
So far, no luck locating a NOS piece via eBay. Guess I'll do a post on the Parts Wanted section... Appreciate the help, guys!

Old doors not only rattled, but as a kid I was always instructed not to lean on the door because it might come open and sure enough on 90 degree on rough country roads occasionally they did. And this was before seat belts were unheard of. They should work, but they always took some tinkering. They just weren't very good by design. However, offshore repops are known for not being consistent. You may have gotten a bad one. As far as taking it apart, my fears would be that the individual parts would not be close enough to interchange. If Jim Carter isn't shipping, there may be a bad batch out there, and I think one manufacturer probably makes all of them. You might consider a used one. There are a lot of them out there that just need the old grease cleaned out and new grease put in.

Rod,

Alan Horvath's article may be of some help.

Door Latches and Strikers

Also, there's a whole forum section on doors in the Clinics area.

I purchased a new after market for my driver's side door. It never seemed to work right, as stated, door wouldn't open or close tight. At about 6 months it broke and pieces fell out. I found NOS and no problems. The NOS was only about $30.00 more than repop.

Yup, I agree. I had my driver's door on my 57 Big window come open more than once. Course, that was when I was 16 or 17 years old and I was slidin' sideways (on purpose). Luckily, I was hangin' on to the steering wheel... Unfortunately, my pappy is 77 and I'm not sure he'd have the same reflexes I did. 'Course, he probably won't be sliding the truck sideways, either...
Yeah, I agree with you that since Jim Carter isn't shipping them, they've got a bad batch out there and are the only guys willing to stand up and say that there IS a problem with them. God Bless 'em for that. I just figured I might get lucky with LMC and that I MIGHT get a good one.
Now, if I can just find a good used one...

If you have a pre-'51 cab.

You might just try filing new teeth on the ratchet and squaring up the edge on the pawl that engages with it, it looks like there is enough pivot left in the mechanism that it would make it work again. At least mine are that way, but they haven't started slipping yet. I'm going to try that while they are out of the door.

Alan's truck (the subject of the article) is a '54, Woody.

Yea, you're right... my mistake.

Weekend update! Well, I ended up using a fine file on the new latch on the "ratcheting" part to kind of "hurry up" the wear so I could "work the new off it" and it would release as it should instead of sticking. It worked (kinda), but I still can't get it to release from the inside. There IS something with the import latches that just don't seem to cooperate as far as that goes. I reinstalled the latch and I can get it to catch on the "first" part of the latch (the small piece underneath the latch that primarily catches in the striker), but can't get the door to close far enough to trip the actual latch piece that will secure the door/latch in the striker (some of this is due to new weatherstrip). Am I doing something wrong as far as door adjustment? Is it the (import) striker, or is it that nut loose behind the screwdriver again ?
Anyways, just thought y'all might want a heads up...
Since I can't get the door to close all the way, I'm glad I'm putting in seatbelts for my dad...

4onthefloor: Yeah, I looked at that, knowing it was a good idea, but the teeth are pretty much smooth and the pawl just skips right over them bad boys. Since the teeth are heavily riveted to the latch frame, I'm not sure how I'd be able to file new ratcheting areas withoug removing that piece to do it on my workbench. See my last post to see what I did. It didn't solve my "opening the door from the inside" problem, but at least it kinda closes...

I've mixed a metal polishing compound with oil and worked balky mechanisms to get them to free up faster. After they were free, I just cleaned the parts real good with a solvent and then greased or oiled as necessary.

It sounds extreme but it's worked for me.

I might give that a shot, but it'll have to wait until I get the truck out to dad for the Back to the Fifties run in Grants Pass, OR. I've run out of time at this point to do much else at this point in order to do the little bitty detail items to get it buttoned up. Thanks for the info, though. I'll give it a shot...
Chris