Question about window crank escutcheons

[Joe Flanagan]

I've been out of circulation for a while, working on my other vehicle (king pins, king pin bushings, and tie rod ends). Back with the Plymouth now and have a question about the escutcheons for the window cranks. I made new interior door panels out of 1/8" masonite, covered them with a thin padding, and used tan suede and red vinyl to simulate what was originally there.

I tried to install the first window handle today. I don't know what's going on but the escutcheon won't go on right. It seems like there's too much space between the handle and the door panel. I can get the handle on to the shaft fine and the pin goes into the hole, but the spring pushes the escutcheon away from the door panel and you can see space behind it. It's almost as if the square shaft is too long. Anyone know of a fix for this? Also, the points in the escutcheon will not sink into the masonite, so I have to figure out an answer for that, too. I believe the original material used for the door panels was thicker than the 1/8" masonite and figured that might explain it, but it seems there's no problem with the escutcheon for the door handle. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

Joe..you are placing the spring between the door metal the door panel right....(small in against the door)....not direcly behind the escutcheon

[mrwrstory]

That's what I'm thinking Tim.  I'm sneakin up on that project and watching to see if any others respond to the subject.  

I'm thinkin the spring against the door steel and behind the Masonite (or what ever material) panel.  The spring pushes the panel out to close the gap you mention.  The spikes on the escutcheon don't readily pierce the Masonite, as they would've in the original cardboard.  So, maybe more padding or trim the spikes.

Edited December 1, 2013 by mrwrstory

[Joe Flanagan]

No Tim, I'm placing the spring directly behind the escutcheon. It goes behind the door panel? I couldn't find a diagram in my manual and I've long since forgotten how it was when I took it apart.

[Young Ed]

No Tim, I'm placing the spring directly behind the escutcheon. It goes behind the door panel? I couldn't find a diagram in my manual and I've long since forgotten how it was when I took it apart.

Yup Joe try it again and I bet it will solve all of your problems.

[DJ194950]

Good to hear your still working on the car Joe,

Getting sooo close!   

Good on ya,

Doug

[Joe Flanagan]

Thanks, everyone. I'll try doing it the right way and see what happens.

I'm also going to take the heater core to a repair shop 'cause it's got a small leak. Just waiting for some door panel clips from Restoration Specialties so I can install the rest of the door panels. Headliner should show up soon from WLS and then it's off to the races. Or something like that. 

[Joe Flanagan]

OK, that did the trick. It worked perfectly. And on the subject of the points not going into the masonite, I just trimmed them to half their length with some snips, then filed them to a point again. That worked perfectly, too.

But here's another question:

are the interior door handles supposed to be in a vertical position? That's the only way the pin holes line up. It looks kind of funny but maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. In fact it looks like if they were horizontal, the handles might hit the window garnish once it's installed.

[_shel_ny]

Yup, up and down.  Not sure if your 49 still does it like the earlier cars, but push handle forward to lock the door from the inside. Pull back to release.

[Joe Flanagan]

Fantastic. Thank you. My 56 Chevy pickup has that feature for locking the doors. Don't know about the Plymouth.

[48mirage]

Vertical is the right position.  Normally the handle points down.  I reversed mine so the handle points up and you push the handle to open the door.