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1/23/00 -- While I'm waiting for the remaining components of my bead blasting kit to arrive (compressor, glass beads), I decided to tackle another problem that's been bothering me since day one... The left door (in my case, passenger side, being RHD), would not stay latched shut under any circumstances.
The latch appeared to be working correctly, so in an attempt to solve the problem, I tried adjusting the strike plate on the door pillar. No good. In fiddling around with the latch -- or, anti-burst mechanism as it's more commonly called, I was surprised to discover that the catch was not staying in place when the strike plate engaged it. Instead of staying locked tight until the door was opened either by the outside pushbutton or inside handle, it simply wasn't and would pop right back open without much resistance at all!
I decided that I would remove the mechanism from the door and more than likely replace it with another. This mechanism is simply too important to take chances with. One of the first things I noticed is that at least one of the three mounting screws turned in place -- the bolt on the backing plate must have either been stripped (or as it turned out) broken loose of the weld that held it in place.
The first step was to remove the door and window handles, which is really quite easy. Applying pressure on the vinyl door panel while simultaneously pulling the handle outward slightly, I was able to work a very small screwdriver into the hole that holds the pin, which in turn holds the handle to the turning mechanism. Once the pin pops out, the handle comes right off with no bother.
The previous owner fashioned his own door panels out of a black and red swirl vinyl. He did a very lovely job. The vinyl is tight and smooth and was held in with a series of sheetmetal screws that he drove in from the exterior. While it's a good look for the car, I prefer the stock black door panels and will order a new replacement set next week. I had considered painting over the vinyl and screws, but have since discarded that idea. I was afraid that the previous owner had enlarged the original clip openings but was relieved to see that he didn't disturb them at all.
Once I removed the panel and rolled up the window, I was able to take a good look at things. I was pleased to see that the door was in very fine shape with no rust or evidence of previous repairs. There had been evidence that this latch has seen some attention previously -- part of the sheetmetal on the door had been prised outward slightly by the access hole. I soon learned why.
Two of the three nuts that hold the mounting screws had broken free of their mounting plate. One of those two was the original nut -- the other, a square replacement. I was able to work an open ended wrench in on the square nut just good enough to hold it stationary while I used a large Phillips screwdriver to remove the retaining screw. To remove the other bolt on the far side of the opening, I was able to work a socket wrench over it and held the nut steady while I removed the screw from the other side.
Once all three bolts were removed, the connecting arm for the inside handle must also be removed. This is easily done by removing a small retaining clip and wavey washer from the connecting arm and gently pulling the arm away from the latch mechanism. There is also another small part of the latch that fits into a corresponding square opening on the connecting arm that must be separated.
Working the latch mechanism out of the door itself was a bit tricky, because of a long, bent rod which slips into a forked opening connected to the door handle. This part can be seen protruding from the mechanism on the lower right portion of the photo.
TIP: Make certain that you have a lot of light available to really see inside the door while removing and replacing the anti-burst latch mechanism and pay attention to what connects where before you remove it! Don't let this warning intimidate you -- there are only a few points where the mechanism connects with anything and it's very straightforward once you start poking around in there..
I was surprised to have the latch assembly fall apart in my hand as I was working it free of the door. Oops! A small part and a spring fell into my hand. Now what?
Once I angled the mechanism out of the door, I took all the pieces outside and took a picture so you could see what it looks like. Pretty icky, eh? It didn't take me long to figure out where the loose spring and little metal piece belonged, because they were part of a pair within the assembly. I deduced that this tapered metal piece fit opposite its counterpart, which was still in place, thank goodness.
I'm beginning to develop a very healthy respect for aerosol brake cleaner. I gave the entire mechanism a good blast with the brake cleaner, which almost instantly disinigrated the gunk. What didn't come off with the spray, I brushed off. Everything cleaned up nicely. After I was comfortable that the parts were sufficiently clean and had dried, I sprayed everything down with liberal amounts of WD-40. I seem to recall a warning that under no circumstances, should the latch mechanism be greased. Seeing no evidence of grease (just grime) while cleaning the latch, I reasoned that this must be so. I kept working the parts until the movement was smooth and easy. The large center ratchet piece of the latch came apart at one point and I had to figure out how to put it back in correctly, which wasn't difficult at all. I took the opportunity to scrub it down real good and checked the latch still attached to my right door to confirm that I had not oriented this vital piece backwards.
Satisfied that everything was put back correctly, I was pleased to see that the latch was now in fact, staying closed tightly, unless it was disengaged properly. The real test of course, would be when it was fully assembled and refitted to the car.
The final leg in putting the latch back together was quite a challenge. The little sloped metal piece and its accompanying spring were not being cooperative at all. The spring would keep popping out as I would try to refit the latch cover. Finally, after about 20 minutes and all the WD-40 had absorbed into my rubber gloves, I removed them and tried again. As great as those surgical gloves have been working out, sometimes you simply have to handle delicate work with bare hands. The real key was in making certain that the connecting nubs on the lower end of the latch (shown at right) engaged with the corresponding slots on the front cover plate. Closing the cover from the bottom, in effect, making a letter "V" with the plate and the mechanism, seemed to work well for me.
Once the mechanism was closed and in place, I wiped off the exterior and gave the insides another small shot of WD-40 for good measure and set out to reinstall the latch, keeping a good grasp on it to ensure that it didn't come apart on me again!
The first part of the mechanism to go in the door opening was the last to come out -- the long, bent rod that connects to the forked actuator connected to the outside door handle. I had to compress the other parts that go in on the opposite (inside) part of the opening (that connect to the arm attached to the inside handle), in order to shove them through -- this actually went very smoothly and easily.
As it turned out, placing the anti-burst mechanism back into the door was much easier than removing it. I took a look inside and was pleased to see that the long bent rod was already in position within the forks on the exterior lock, which meant that no intervention on my part was needed. I reconnected the arm, placing the curvy washer on the peg first, then shoved it through the mating hole on the latch and reattached the clip to old the pieces in place. I reattached the mechanism with the first screw that still had a functional locked down nut inside the door, then reinstalled the other two, tightening everything down real good.
I closed the door -- and it latched -- tightly. I pressed the button on the door handle -- and it opened easily. Success!
As a final tweak, I repositioned the strikeplate further towards the inside on the door pillar. I was noticing that the lip of the door was sticking out almost a quarter inch when the door was closed. After I made this adjustment, the door closes even easier and in perfect alignment. Well, not perfect but close enough for me.
Project completed! Now, I think I'll clean out the latch on the other side!
Of all the work I've done on the car thus far, this project was the most rewarding since I was able to actually test and confirm the results immediately. Now I feel good knowing that when I take one of my children for a ride, the door isn't going to swing open unexpectedly! I also feel confident that when I finally get to test drive this car in another week or two, I won't lose my door, either.
Yesterday, I also installed a new lower radiator hose and topped up the radiator with antifreeze solution.
I'm still not quite through with the doors. The driver side door sags a bit and needs a "lift" to close properly. I've tried adjusting the hinge mounts to no avail. I've been told that it might be a worn hinge pin. I'm going to see about replacing the pins -- or perhaps both the hinges to try and fix this problem.
1/26/00 -- One of the parts catalogs is having a good sale right now on some items that I wanted, so I ordered many of them today. Replacement OEM style door panels, door clips, seat covers, seat backs and seat cushion foams. While the current seat covers are in fairly good shape structurally, they don't look like the original seats (black with white piping) and the previous owner didn't have access to new seat foams when he redid them, so they're kind of saggy and baggy. I wouldn't mind taking a crack at fitting the covers myself and probably will -- but I'll probably try to line up a decent upholstery shop just in case...
To be continued...
Please. Always wear your seatbelt while driving -- and that goes double for your children if you have any.
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