Yes those impossible to find and impossibly expensive door lock assys. can be rebuilt. I couldn't get enough door adjustment on my 76B because of the worn spur gear, convertibles probably get more wear because of body shake. Had an extra old one so decided to try it. Ground two of the lever pivot pins riveted area to remove to gain access to grind away the riveted areas of the spur cover for removal. I then built up the worn areas of the gear with .024 welding wire, careful grinding and filing reshaped them to match the worn sides. Hardened the spur gear while I was at it. Also built up worn area of cover hole. Grind hole to shape a drill bit will ruin it. I plated the spur gear and cover with Eastwoods tin plating system to look original. Reassembled, don't lose any spring washers on spacers, welded cover, gear and pins back in place. Tom. Will attach photos.
At the Polk Street Cruise last month, Pat Fleishman and I were just talking about how a rebuild could be done, even though we've always been told it couldn't. You just proved out what we were talking about! great job, and great welding skills to lay a bead that small. Very impressive. JFYI, we had talked about boring/reaming the hole out for a bushing, or totally welding the hole shut and redrilling/boring.
I probabbly would have attempted what you did years ago had I not finally found a nos '57 Mercury latch that could be reworked to fit '57's.....after 4 years of looking.
I had also thought about buying another nos passenger side latch, which were easier to find, just for the starwheel.....not sure if the hood also could be switched.
That spacer behind the starwheel you mentioned is important as it acts as a bearing to lift the door approx 1/16 when everything is assembled/adjusted in the correct position.
I brought this up a while back, that the rear door lock assemblies are the same as the front doors other than a bracket that comes off with a couple of screws. Since the rear doors on a four door get a lot less use there usually pretty tight.
I missed that post apparently, and almost missed it this time. Thanks for posting that info....It sure would make sense that they would be close to the same for production purposes.