door latch suicide door

[pablogustav]

hey folks,
My driver's side door latch has decided to stop working and the door will not stay shut. I took all the interior parts off and I cannot see anything amiss in the mechanism. When I turn the latch on the door edge downward (clockwise) manually, it will not click into a lock-engaged position as when I shut the door on the passenger side. It seems that after the inside or outside handle is pulled to open the door, the mechanism inside the door will not spring back or return to its ready position. I can reach my finger inside and push the door latch mechanism to its ready position and shut the door, but it will not go back by itself. I've tried silcone spray, triflow, pb blaster to loosen anything and the spring looks fine. Any advice would be much appreciated! If I do need to replace the mechanism does anyone know if I need to remove the glass and window frame rollers inside the door for access? thanks for all your help

[rlux4]

What year is your car? The outside handle changed on the '80' cars, and I've had mine ('82) apart for lock repair, but I don't know if yours is the same.
Ron

[mbouse]

Ron, i think the '79 is the same as the '80 on the handle.

sounds like there is a broken spring in the mechanism. it should click when turned down, and release with a snap when the door handle is activated.

I have some spare interior parts from a '74, both sides. if you find that you need any of those parts, give me a shout at mbouse@chartermi.net

[pablogustav]

thanks so much for your replies. The car is a 78' with the flush exterior door handles. I think you are right; there must be an internal spring that is not working. I will take it out and let you know what I specifically will need after I see it. Do you think the window and roller mechanism needs to come out first?

[pope]

Dont make any right hand turns!

[rlux4]

You should not have to mess with the window. With it rolled all the way up, you'll have access to the two nuts that hold a bracket on the back of the handle, inside the door panel. Release the rod that you'll see attached to the inside of the handle and with the bracket off, the handle will come right off. You'll find it very easy to do. The mechanism itself is pretty simple, so it shouldn't be difficult to see what the problem is. You may have to take the other door panel off to compare the handle mechanism. Have you had your door panel off before? If not let us know, it's easy also, if you know how to remove the window crank handle.
Ron

[mbouse]

simple is a relative word.

tedious, yes. time consuming, absolutely. but if brain surgery is a 10, and an engine rebuild is a 9; then this project is about a 2.

I have my door panels off right now, so i may be able to give some pointers. new panels are planned to be constructed next week.

[rlux4]

I'm sorry, I didn't qualify my statement. "Relatively speaking", how's that Mike?
Ron

[mbouse]

yeah, that's better.

we never know who is lurking and not posting questions. wouldn't wanna mislead anyone....


personally, i cannot wait for FFO to get here. All this primping and preening is getting to me.

[rlux4]

Well I'm glad you feel better, but when do I get to say "easy peasey"?
Ron

[pablogustav]

hey there, thanx for your reply. Spring, summer? More like winter here in the low 50s and endless peeing from the clouds. Not top down days yet here in Oregon. I do have the panels off etc. It is not the door handle where the problem lies, but the door latch mechanism on the edge of the door that is held in by three large screws. I'm totally able to loosen the screws; but was still wondering if I can get that whole mechanism out without having to take out the window frame/guides etc. so that I can swap out the latch mechanism. Enjoy the sun!

[So Cal Mark]

you will need to remove the rear window channel

[mbouse]

put a spring clamp on the window glass to prevent it from falling back into the door when that rear window channel is removed.

[pablogustav]

thankyou Mike and Mark; when I removed the latch , there was a small hairspring that had broken and wedged itself down in the mechanism. I purchased a used latch from auto italia and it works perfectly. It's so funny that i only needed that little hairspring but had to get the whole shebang. It's such a weird little spring I don't think I could find a matching replacement.
I very much appreciate your help and advice. Next project is Mark's header system with a Weber 36 adl that I picked up months ago. ciao.

[mbouse]

always nice to put a project to bed