Door Lock on 40 Chyrsler Royal

[Dreamweaver]

New to this car.

 

There is a door keylock on the passenger side.

There isn't one on the driver's side

The driver's door is locked and the only way to open it is to reach inside and pull the lever from the inside.

 

1. Any advice on the door-lock mechanis before I take the panels off and start digging?

2. Why would they put a keylock on the passenger side and not the driver's side?

 

 

 

[DonaldSmith]

In the old drays, some jurisdictions prohibited entering the car from the road side.  Driver and passengers would enter by the right door, and the driver whould slide over.  

So why pay for a left door lock times X number of cars? 

[RobertKB]

My 1938 Chrysler Royal is the same. I'm not sure when they went to a lock on each side. 1941 would be my guess.

[hansen]

My De Soto 1941 is the same

[Bingster]

Is that why TV shows from that era always show the driver getting in from the sidewalk?

[40phil41]

Both of my '40 & '41 Dodges are like that.

Phil

[TodFitch]

Is that why TV shows from that era always show the driver getting in from the sidewalk?

 

I think so. You will also notice it in some of the movies from the 1930s.

[BIGBAND39]

My '39 is like that too. This comes from the factory service manual for a '38.  I'm trying to find my '39 supplement, which should be much more similar to your '40.    Let me know if this helps.

 

 

[DonaldSmith]

From my previous post: "Driver and passengers would enter by the right door, and the driver would slide over."  The girl might slide over to the middle of the bench seat.  Remember bench seats?     

[dmartin_egroup]

My 1945 Dodge pickup only has a key lock on the right (passenger) side door.  When parking parallel on city streets, entering or exiting on the left (driver) side was dangerous, since a passing car or truck might easily hit you!  When I was a young driver in the 1950s, parking on the side of the street was very common.  Many residential areas had narrow lots, so no garage on side of house; no alleys so no garages in back of house.  So the only thing to do was parallel park in the street.  That's why cars had bumpers, and many of them were battered looking.  It was a different world, trust me!

 

Dennis in W. Tenn.

[rb1949]

Back when there was no need to bolt everything down. We never locked our house til I was a teenager. Street parking is still normal.

[Young Ed]

I had one p15 that had a hole in the drivers door but came with a chrome plug rather than the lock cylinder. I suspect that one was an early car as they were switching over to locks on both sides. The trucks didn't get a lock on the drivers side until the 50s

[Andydodge]

The 1941 Plymouth Coupe I had was a factory USA sourced RHD car built in Sth Africa.....it had the same setup as you guys have, but reversed, ie, the drivers side door(your passenger side) was locked via the inside door handle being pushed up...........you, the driver then slid across the seat to the passenger side(your drivers side), got out and locked the passenger door with the door key............an answer to your problem would be to obtain a factory EXPORT rhd door lock and install it on your drivers side but these locks would be very uncommon.......lol..........an Oz RHD setup is DIFFERENT in that it uses a different lock and handle to the USA sourced one.......I found that my Oz rhd 1940 Dodge uses a different lock etc to that which was on the 1941 Plymouth I had........make any sense?...........lol.......the attached pics show the lock on the Plymouth and just the hole where the lock went on the Dodge, and YES they had different key locks, internal handles and door lock mechanisms, winders and window channels .....................andyd

Edited July 18, 2016 by Andydodge

[medium_jon]

What a crazy situation @Andydodge  thanks for sharing -- even if it was a long time ago

Edited August 2, 2017 by medium_jon

[Ricky Luke]

My 40 Chrysler has an Australian built body - the lock is on the LH (passenger side here) door. 

RIck

[Andydodge]

And heres why the Oz Right Hand Drive internal handles and locks are such a mongrel design and won't suit the US cars....the 1st pic is of the large,11/16th external spline that both the internal door handle and window winder have.........the 2nd pic is of the front passenger door of my Oz 1940 Dodge showing the 1948-51 Oz GM Holden internal handle that I use on my Dodge..........there is an internally splined hole that the handle fits into in the lock or winder mechanism, the handle being held into a groove around the top of the internal hole by a spring loaded lug that locates into this groove, you use a 1/8th diameter piece of welding wire to simultaneously push in the lug and gently pull the handle away from the door.......if you are real lucky you'll break off a piece of the grooved top edge, so you just move the handle to a different spot...........of course when you run out of the top edge after breaking it off a few times and the handle falls off in your hand because there is nothing to hold the bastard on any more is when you begin to appreciate the pure logic of this design..........lol ......so........

.....this type of lock and handle was by an Oz company called Linards, these locks and winder mechanisms were used on at least 1939-48 Oz Mopars, 1939-48 Oz Chevs, 1939-mid 50's Oz Fords and 1948-1956 Oz GM Holdens.........their use by Holden on the FX/FJ series cars from 1948-56 has meant that while the Mopar, Ford and Chev handles with their rudimentary plastic moldings and handles have disintegrated over time due to sunlight warping the plastic and the diecast handles breaking because the diecast mechanisms freezing up there has been a good supply of the Holden handles and their slightly stronger internal mechanisms to use as replacements which is what I have on my Dodge.

...When I had the 1941 Plymouth Coupe which was a FACTORY RHD EXPORT car built in South Africa I found that whilst it was RHD it used all USA door internal parts including locks, handles, winders etc so thats why I suggest that the only way to get a door lock etc to suit a LHD US car on the USA Drivers side is to source a factory RHD version as the OZ stuff is just not gunna work without a lot of effort and still won't be correct.........my 1941 Plymouth Coupe is the ONLY US sourced Factory RHD 1940 or 1941 car I have ever seen or heard of here in Oz...............all the other 40/41 cars are either Oz RHD with the mongrel handles or LHD imports with the US lock setup you want to change...............lol.................dunno if any of this helps or just confuses the issue.............and finally Linards no longer exist, going broke apparently in the 1960's, proving that Charles Darwin was indeed right...........lol............regards, Andyd          

Edited August 2, 2017 by Andydodge
more info

[Plymouthy Adams]

ALOLNG THE SAME THINKING  (LHD car) also had the single 'eye' reflector on the drivers side tail light for parking along the street...an export model would have the lens on the opposite side in similar fashion as the door lock placement.  You see a car of this era with dual 'eye' lenses you have an incorrect fitted vehicle.

[chrysler1941]

My 41 Chrysler Royal has locks on both sides

[Adam H P15 D30]

My P15 has a lock on the driver (Left) door for sure and possibly on the right door too but I haven't looked at that side in a while.  It has never been a RHD vehicle.

My 49 Wayfarer has a key lock on the passenger side only.

Explain that one????

 

Adam

[Plymouthy Adams]

53 minutes ago, Adam H P15 D30 said:

 

Explain that one????

 

Adam

if you are not the original owner from day one....how can you be certain what has been changed, added or possibly even done away with over the years.......I know I change things to suit me and not so much the folks in the hobby and definitely not the public at large...am sure others do likewise.

[Adam H P15 D30]

2 minutes ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

if you are not the original owner from day one....how can you be certain what has been changed, added or possibly even done away with over the years.......I know I change things to suit me and not so much the folks in the hobby and definitely not the public at large...am sure others do likewise.

The doors are original to the body unless someone was very careful to cover up a door change (I doubt it).  The hole in the driver's door that got the key cylinder is painted with the original paint.  I was the first person to take the car apart so i can say I am 99% certain....