The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Drivers side door latch

Not sure if this is the right forum......
but, I am having a lot of problems with the drivers side door latch of my '51 chevy suburban. It seems that the latch is quite worn, the parts are loose, and the striker toggle does not return to the right position to relatch the door after the door has been opened, without a little "help"

I was wondering if there was a repair procedure for these latches, or if new latches were available?

I replaced the striker plate on the door jamb, but this did not seem to help. It may also be that the door hinges are loose.

Thanks for any advice, or a tip as to the correct forum.

Kurt

I have a door latch for the passenger side door that you could have but I don't think that would help you any. I do have a set of door hinges you can have if you need them. The hinges are used but they are pretty tight still. I think one of them has a little play in it but not to bad. Here is a link to a door latch for $35.00. http://www.ebay.com/itm/50-51-Chevy...ries&vxp=mtr&hash=item43abc9a9db . I have not seen any rebuild kits out there for door latches, not saying there isn't any. But for what you can buy a new one for. And the peace of mind knowing that the door will open and close properly. You might be better off just buying a new one.

Thanks for the reply. PM sent

Kurt

It has been my experience with the repro driver's door latch that they don't operate or latch the way they should. I had 3 defective driver door repro latches that didn't work. The passenger side repro latches do work very well. I don't know why the driver's side latches are inferior. They all come from the same overseas manufacturer. I suggest rebuilding your original latch, that's what I did.

What kinds of things issues did you find with your latch that you were able to fix?
I have ordered a drivers side latch from chevy of the 40's, but I am prepared to send it back if it dosn't work -or- I can fix the one I have.

Thanks for any advice.

Kurt

Don't buy any reproduction latches, period. They may work but from my experience they are junk. NOS latches can be found on ebay. They run between $25.00 - $65.00. You will not be sorry to have spent the money on the NOS parts.

Here's some adjustment tips from Alan Horvath

'BTW: You were close to the proper section I think it belongs in Doors a sub section of the Paint and body.

Great advise on the NOS door latches. I bought reproduction door latches for the drivers door on my '55 1st series. I bought one and had problems. Sent the first one back and bought a second one. Had the same problem with both latches. The door latch worked fine on the outside. Had problems on the inside. Door did not open using the inside handle. I found a NOS latch on eBay. Got the NOS latch and installed it. The door latch works great on the inside and outside.
Larry

I ordered the drivers side door latch from Chevy of the 40's before I read the above warning. It arrived a few day ago, so I decided to try it. It in fact did NOT work right. It would latch, but not unlatch.

My existing lock is so bad that I really didn't want to put it back on.

So I studied on the new lock for about an hour, got out my Dremel tool, made a few cuts, and gave the lock a few good whacks in just the right place with a ball peen hammer.

Blew it off and oiled it up. Now it seems to work fine.

I thought the quality of construction was not bad, but there were a few sharp edges that needed to be trimmed, a cutout that needed to be deepened, and the angle of the two sides of the lock body needed to be "adjusted" with the hammer so that they would fit the door right.

Think I'll look for a NOS one anyway.

Kurt