The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 46 chevy pickup with no passenger door lock

I recently bought a 46 chevy 3/4 ton long bed and as I take things apart find that the passenger door has no slot for the key to lock or unlock the truck. Were there trucks like this made and what are my options for installing some means of locking the thing in the future? Incidentally, the drivers' side door has an internal knob near the latch (which is missing the thumb bolt or knob that turned or locked it .... I am assuming that this what it does) so I am wondering how to lock the darn thing once restoration is finished. Any ideas? Also, what would be a foolproof way to avoid theft with maybe some electronic disabling apparatus triggered by remote control?
thanks in advance!

lane
P.S. - this is my first post/question on the forum so if I am doing something wrong let me know. I went thru the other questions and many pages (but not all 813 or whatever the number was) and couldn't find anything on this topic

You door or the whole truck must be a '41, had pass side handle with key vs in the door.

welcome to the garage, sweetpea .... originally there would have been a key lock on the pass side [NOT in the handle], with the driver side locked from inside - sometime in the last 65 years, yours got lost many of the vendors will have the parts you need, like here, and here .... the only 'foolproof' way to prevent theft is to keep the truck in a locked garage at all times, although a battery disconnect switch can help

Bill

IF your truck is actually a '46 you should have a hole in passenger side door just under the handle for the key. Unless you have a 1941 truck or the door got swapped out. Lots of things happened to these trucks over time and folks used what parts they could find. For instance, with my '46 pickup, turns out a buddy of mine knew the truck and was a prior owner. He explained how they fixed it after THE BIG WRECK! Could not find a 46 so they had installed 1941 fenders on the right side of the truck, sure enough after closer examination I discovered the fenders were not correct.

I have 6 doors.
Two with passenger side key hold under the door handle.
not a single one with a key hole under the driver side door handle.

I have a 46. Why is there no lock on the driver side?
Seems really weird to only have one door lock.

not weird, just standard until the 60's or so - somewhere you'll find this discussed to death, nobody has a documented answer, but it's said to be for 'safety', so folks get out from curbside instead of roadside ... on later series where the lock was in the handle, optional driver side locks were/are available

Bill

I figured with 6 doors there must be something to it... very interesting. Guess I don't need to find a drives side door lock.

Thanks.

Thanks, all of you for the info ..... mine must have a 41 door as the VIN number checks out with a 46' (DR which corresponds to the 3600 series peculiar to 1946, I think I'm right on that as I checked both stovebolt and old ride websites before purchasing the truck), so it must be a 1941 door and the next question is: Can I retrofit a lock on that door? And will I be able to use the existing internal door mechanism?

Unless you want this to be 100% original, I'd install a 41 handle with lock. Good rust free doors are hard to find.
I'd still look at all the differences between the 41 to 46s to make sure you have a '46.
Best of luck
Jim

Jim,

I am convinced that it is a '46 because of the Plate on the firewall (altho' admitting I have made so many other mistakes). My door is not rust free and had planned to do sheet metal work on it's bottom where the major rust exists. I don't care about being 100% original (don't tell anybody that I am not a purist or they might kick me out of this garage). What do you think would trump the plate with VIN numbers that check out with all the various sources I have managed to dredge up? One other thing it has is the stainless steel molding that I thought was peculiar to the '46 grille, you know, those pieces which sort of shield the top of the vertical bars associated with the lower grille? In a previous forum I read where the earlier years didn't have them in stainless. I can't swear they are stainless but they are the only part of the grille which isn't rusted out.

thanks for your words of wisdom ....

Lane

Aren't 41-46 fenders exactly the same? It sounds like maybe they fixed it with heavy truck fenders?

41's have a different parking light socket orientation plus fender braces changed. 41 rear fenders are narrower and have different braces, bed has different number of boards. I've seen 1/2 ton pickups with 3/4 ton front fenders but curve at running boards not same contour. When I was restoring my 46, I'd picked up a few parts trucks, found all kinds of strange things mostly with War time built pickups. Probably would be a shorter list of parts that did not change between 41 & 46. That would be an interesting list.

To address your 'purist' concerns and being 'kicked out', the only thing you need to concern yourself with is, make sure that you receive 'pure' joy from your hobby!

Good 41 locking handles are harder to find than a 46 door. The lock cylinder's for the door below handle are avail from most of the vendor's.

Sweetpealane,
The easy things to check for a '46: rubber rear window seal, two piece headliner, front fender parking light is one piece stamped steel. inner fender brace at firewall-one high and one near the frame. My '46 had a 49 motor in it in addition to wrong fenders.

Just remember-we're dealing with 65-70 year old equipment here. Lots of things could have (and probably did) happen during that time.

As far as being a "purist"--don't worry about that. There are no hard and fast rules. It's your truck. Do whatever you want with it. As long as YOU are happy with it, that's all that matters.

Thanks to everyone for each post/response to my question about the door lock. I particularly enjoyed the wisdom aspects of these posts. Thank you all.

btw-stovebolt.com is a treasure trove

lane

I just bought a 41' half ton and noticed a lock on the passenger side and none on the Drivers; never thought about it locking from the inside - will check that today. I do like the idea of a keyed handle if some can steer me to a source to purchase.

I haven't seen a keyed handle for them at either JC, chevys of the 40's, or the Filling Station but someone probably knows where they can be found for either or both doors .....

lane

I checked my 41' drivers side locking from the inside - not obvious on the how too. Can anyone help? Also, is it a for-sure that 41's did not have a key lock on the door below the handle?

my '46 has a hole with no thumb bolt [probably went missing somewhere in it's long career as a truck] but is connected to the lock down inside and I just assumed that this was how one locks the drivers' side door ..... the thumb piece is available from fillingstation.com on p. 16 of their October catalog which is available online. Seeing this part gives an idea of how the door was locked on these models [from the inside that is] .....

don't know anything else but am sure plenty of stovebolters can confirm or dis-confirm this

lane

Yes, that's a for-sure on the '41 lock.

There is a square "post" on the back of the drivers door on the inside near the hinge. a quarter turn on that post locks the outside handle from turning. You can still close the door but can't get back in. You then lock the passengers door from the outside, in the handle on 41's, and in the door just below the handle on 42-46.

the reason theres no lock on on the driverside is because in the 40's you had to open the door from the curbside for safety reasons and also to open a door for a lady and she would reach over and turn the knob to let the driver in

Not if she's [censored] off at ya! Be good.

As long as we are on this topic I have the keyed handle I was going to use on my 46 on the drivers side but the way it works is sort of a spring loaded cam. And even if you lock the lock it takes so much pressure to cause the cam to turn - the door latch still opens. Has anyone made a keyed handle work on drivers side that did not have one from the factory?

I have made drivers side key locks for the 47-51 doors and posted a step by step on the Classic Parts site. The 52-55 1st can just use two passenger side units. If the 46 under the handle lock just raises a blocking tab in front latch release pawl then one could be made for a left side also. Since I am closing in on 80 I remember the REAL reason for the passenger side only locks. Many of the streets/roads in small towns were not all weather untill the fifties or later and the one side only practice had been continued from the thirties when nearly all roads were dirt. When they were mud you could slide out onto the sidewalk, be it boards or concrete, and lock up rather than having to slog all the way around the truck in the mud.

right on coilover, and especially nice for the ladies frilly dresses!