Door Latch Repair

[Jeff Balazs]

Hi Guy's;

This is one of the many......Ok.... hundreds of things that require some attention on my truck.

The drivers door latch mechanism I have requires some TLC. No big surprise there. I know I am not the first person here to have had this problem. It looks like a previous owner attempted to repair it sometime in the distant past. I feel confident I can do a better job this round but I have a question. Are replacement springs available for these? And if so who has them?

 

I am sure I can get the slop out of the action be making a better anchoring rivet or bolt.......but it won't make much difference if I am still missing a spring. Ideally two new ones and this latch should be good for several more years.

 

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[Scruffy49]

Check Dennis Carpenter or similar F1 catalogs. Very similar latch assemblies.

[Jeff Balazs]

Scruffy;

I looked at those.......but they seem a fair bit different to me. If I can't find the correct springs then I may try to fit a pivoting arm to take the place of the missing spring and use some sort of small conventional spring to operate it. I think it is ing to be a trial and error process though.

Jeff

[48Dodger]

If I remember Hank was working on this awhile back. He was trying to get the spring made by someone on the forum. Maybe do a search for past threads on the spring specifically.

 

48D

[Jeff Balazs]

Hi Tim;

Nice job on the BBQ btw........sure wish I could have been there. By all accounts it was a smashing success. Next year there will be another truck.......mine! Painter is picking up the cab today.

 

I did go through the old postings on the topic......and it did not look as though there had been any progress made on this. At least I couldn't find evidence of it. If that is the case then I will try something a bit outside of the box on my repair. If I can get my idea to work I will post photo's etc...and if not the search will go on.

Jeff

[Dave72dt]

Dennis Carpenter in the 32-47 ford truck catalog, part # 11A-702267-PR,  I think are identical to the springs you're looking for.

[Jeff Balazs]

Dennis Carpenter in the 32-47 ford truck catalog, part # 11A-702267-PR,  I think are identical to the springs you're looking for.

Thanks Dave;

I ordered a pair and will report back when they arrive. Guess I didn't look back far enough.

 

Jeff

[Jeff Balazs]

Sadly the springs I ordered from Dennis Carpenter do not fit this latch. They are at least the right general type......but different configuration and size from what is needed. Made in China too. I knew it couldn't be this simple.

Will keep looking for a solution.

Jeff

[Dave72dt]

Sorry Jeff.  Sure looked good in the pictures.  At least now we know they don't fit.  If I had an extra set, I'd send them to you.

Edited April 15, 2013 by Dave72dt

[52b3b Joe]

Sadly the springs I ordered from Dennis Carpenter do not fit this latch. They are at least the right general type......but different configuration and size from what is needed. Made in China too. I knew it couldn't be this simple.

Will keep looking for a solution.

Jeff

 

I was hoping those would work! I ended up rigging up the driver side spring for the outside handle with one I bought from restoration supply. Based on measurements it was right, but it was too thick. I flipped it over so it the spring is working opposite from how it was intended to and it is catching on a different location. It is working, but who knows how long! As far as the spring clips for holding the interior handles in the lock/unlock position  I bought some advertised for a 48 DeSoto on ebay. They worked perfect and the handles snap in and out nicely. 

 

These are the ones I bought for the lock/unlock interior handles: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1941-1942-1946-1947-1948-1949-1950-1951-1952-Dodge-Door-Lock-Latch-Springs-/130880634283?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e7917fdab&vxp=mtr

 

I did over bend them a little to give them more tension. They were also a little trick to install by myself. You have to bend those tabs straight, take it apart, and put the new springs in. Then re-assemble and bend the tabs over again. 

[Jeff Balazs]

Sorry Jeff.  Sure looked good in the pictures.  At least now we know they don't fit.  If I had an extra set, I'd send them to you.

Dave;

No worries........it was worth a try. I emailed the Ebay seller Joe posted......we will see if he comes up with something??????

Biggest problem is that I was missing one of the springs so I don't even know what it looks like. But then if I wasn't missing it......I wouldn't be on a search for a replacement!

 

Jeff

[52b3b Joe]

Look here: http://mopar.pairserver.com/p15d24ph_forum/index.php?/topic/22590-door-latch-spring/page-2

 

EDIT: Post 34 has the measurements for the spring I think you need which is the same one I was missing too. That is the spring that causes the famous outside handle to sag. It is the one in the second picture on the left side. 

 

Hope this helps!

Edited April 16, 2013 by 52b3b Joe

[Dave72dt]

That photo looks familiar.  Those came directly from my door latch off my '51 

Look here: http://mopar.pairserver.com/p15d24ph_forum/index.php?/topic/22590-door-latch-spring/page-2

 

EDIT: Post 34 has the measurements for the spring I think you need which is the same one I was missing too. That is the spring that causes the famous outside handle to sag. It is the one in the second picture on the left side. 

 

Hope this helps!

[Desotodav]

I was going to see if a fella here in Oz could make them, but I expect that he will need to make them in fair quantities and there seem to be many different shapes and sizes to suit the different models. My usual spring-making contact only works with round gauge (usually stainless) wire, and he has now moved some 20 hours south of my place. I'll do some research to see if I can locate the name of the guy that I was going to ask to make some and take him some samples from my spare door parts. I'll report back when I know more.

[Jeff Balazs]

Hi Davin;

Hope all is well with you. I saw where you had your truck apart......hope it is something easy.

 

I have ordered another set from an Ebay seller who specializes in latch parts.......will have to wait to see if these work...or can be made to work.

One way or another I will get something sorted out to solve this. Can't be having a floppy door handle.

 

Jeff

[Desotodav]

Yep, the truck is apart Jeff but nothing that can't be sorted out. I really didn't expect to have to play with engine bearings again with only 1500 miles on the new engine.

 

I rang a couple of spring manufacturer's here in Oz today and it appears that one of them may be willing (and able) to make what we need with regard to door latch springs. I'll drop by their factory later next week to show him samples of door latch springs that I have. This is their website... http://www.natspring.com.au/index.html . Russell said that they may have left over stock and tooling from previous jobs that suits our requirements. They don't have minimum quantity run requirements, but there would be associated setup costs etc. I'll chat with him next week to see if the project is viable.

[Jeff Balazs]

Davin;

Sorry to hear about your bearing problem.

 

Keep us posted on the spring situation. I have something on it's way......but I am not at all certain it will fit properly.

I am sure that there are others who need them as well.

Jeff

[HanksB3B]

I've been there done that.  

 

 

Fortunately, I had a spare door mechanism and was able to salvage the broken spring I needed, but not before buying a couple of springs I "thought" looked just perfect on eBay.

 

What I failed to do, and am asking for help with now is that anyone with spare springs (and I think there are two or three different ones) is to please scan them at 100% and provide a thickness and width of the material.  What I can do is to create shop drawings to provide 

 

 

 

Davin's Spring Maker with the information so that we can get samples made and then a short run of the parts made.

 

Till then, Happy drooping door handles,

 

Hank 

 

P.S. Jeff in the meantime hope the ones you have on order are correct.

Edited April 18, 2013 by HanksB3B

[Scruffy49]

Yet another reason I'm going to modern bear claw latch assemblies... getting ready to cut the latches and strikers out of a junk 90s mini truck in the next week or so, tired of fighting the driver side door, hasn't closed properly in 30 years.

 

If it works I'll make the factory latch units available for whoever wants them.

[Jeff Balazs]

Hank;

The springs I ordered showed up. No big surprise ........ they did not fit. I decided to see what a bit of bending  etc. might achieve. I actually got them in their modified state to work...... but I really don't trust it. One thing is for sure.....if I left it like this and something did not break......the door handle would never be floppy. I am certain it has more "snap" than the original springs ever did.

 

Jeff

[Desotodav]

I picked up 6 or so door latch pieces from my shed yesterday to pull a couple of springs out for me to take to the spring maker's next week. Do these look something like you need Jeff? I have looked at previous posts and they appear similar to ones that people have posted pictures of before. It would appear that the Ford and Chev ones are slightly different.

I'll also ask the fella about the door lock ones at the same time.

My attached thumbnail/s should open up to almost exact size.

 

[Jeff Balazs]

Davin;

 

I wish I could say yes with 100% confidence but the unit I have only had a latch spring and it may not have even been the correct one.

Maybe someone with a properly working unit should verify this. I am not at where I can look at it for a couple of days.

 

Jeff

[Jeff Balazs]

Davin;

The ebay sellers I contacted got back to me and there appears to be no stock here. One of them checked with other suppliers before getting back to me.

 

So if we can get some confirmation from someone that has an intact set it would be great to move forward on this. Assuming your supplier can make the correct items I would be happy to import a quantity and act as distributor here.

 

Jeff

[Desotodav]

I may have good news on at least one of the door latch springs after my visit to see the Spring Maker today. It appears that he has been able to make a sample (photo attached) of the smaller spring - the one that puts pressure on the door handle to keep it in the horizontal position (or prevent 'droopy handle'). The sample has been made from stainless steel wire and flattened out slightly to match original specifications. We haven't looked at costing yet but will do so shortly. He will have a look at the door latch return spring and the door locking spring next for me. I'm hoping that they come back within a workable price range. He would prefer to do a smaller manufacturing run as he has to make each one by hand - so stocks will be limited. I'm also hoping to confirm that the springs are the same as those used in trucks outside Australia. I'll post more info when it comes to hand. The attached thumbnail should open to almost the exact size of the spring.

[ggdad1951]

is there NOTHING your mate can't do?  The guy has mad skills!