Door latch

Tom S · 2013-02-16 03:41

Quote from: Ecode70D on 2013-02-15 10:01
I guess that from now on we will have to use green ties to hold parts together or things just will not go right.

Damn! Jay got the quote thing in that post right that time!

Quote from: Zapato on 2013-02-15 11:41
Shoot! I just got about a 1000 red tie wraps not sure now if they're ford compatible.

Zap, I'm screwed too. Ain't got no green twist ties at all. But shouldn't Ford ones be blue? Black would be ok too. I thought the green ones were only for Jag parts. These guys may have made a serious mistake that could result in dire consequences. Next thing ya know they will be putting Lucas, ('Prince of Darkness'), electrical parts in their Fords.

Quote from: RICH MUISE on 2013-02-15 10:37Tom...exactly what problems are you having with your door not latching? Is the door partially latching, so it won't open but still not closed tightly?

Yeah, somethin' like that. Like it's caught at a first step(??) of latching but still far from closed. Really have to slam it hard & maybe try to pull up at the same time to get fully latched & closed. Probably alignment, I know it is off. Ain't gonna get into it until I actually try to fix it.

Still a bit confused on some of the parts you guys mentioned. But it doesn't really matter now so don't spend much, if any, time, answering. I have already spent way too much just time messin' with ya.
The two latches Rich posted a pic of sure do have some differences though. Marked some up in the pic.

Oh, BTW, I know what those saguaro cactus look like. But I don't like cats.

57 Ford Kustom · 2013-02-16 05:03

Quote from: hiball3985 on 2013-02-15 20:52
That's not funny at all. My daughter is building a 57 wagon and shaved everything, I could have killed her LOL

Hiball, Mine is very clean shaven!

As a mater of fact the only thing left is the side trim, and even that has been simplified and shortened. As I said earlier "That's what makes a horse race" Lol.
Tim

Tom S · 2013-02-16 05:18

Quote from: hiball3985 on 2013-02-15 20:52That's not funny at all. My daughter is building a 57 wagon and shaved everything, I could have killed her.

Quote from: 57 Ford Kustom on 2013-02-16 05:03
Hiball, Mine is very clean shaven! ...

Emm.... You guys are talking about the cars, right?

hiball3985 · 2013-02-16 06:31

Quote from: Tom S on 2013-02-16 05:18
Emm.... You guys are talking about the cars, right?

You never know

Tom S · 2013-02-16 08:40

Quote from: hiball3985 on 2013-02-16 06:31You never know

Well, you know how these guys always want pix ....

It was your post & the way it was worded that got my mind going that way in the first place. (Like it had to go far

)

So, I'm blaming you. Again!

hiball3985 · 2013-02-16 08:50

Now you have got me started

, I'm not sure you want to open this can of worms and I'm not ready to get banned yet

Tom S · 2013-02-16 08:57

Quote from: hiball3985 on 2013-02-16 08:50I'm not sure you want to open this can of worms ...

Me?!
Nope, don't wanna go to banned camp either.

RICH MUISE · 2013-02-16 09:17

OK guys..not to change the subject back to the subject, but...
Tom...I replied to this but I guess I forgot to hit the post button, so here it is again. It sounds like your latching problem is a simple fix. If it's only catching one one tooth, the striker plate on the Jamb is too far in. Put some tape on the jamb so you can move it out without losing your height adjustment. The 3 nuts encapsulated in the door jamb sometimes get loaded with crap around them so you don't get all the adjustment that was designed. They may need to get cleaned out, or encouraged with a plastic mallet. As far as height adjustment, there is a roller behind the door latch starwheel that rides up on the lower plate on the striker. It should raise the door by about 1/16" as it rolls in. There is no adjustment in the door latch..it's all in the striker plate. Anyway...moving the striker outwards from it's current position should allow the gear to catch that second tooth.

RICH MUISE · 2013-02-16 09:39

Tom..guys...since I posted the pic of the ford/merc latches for comparison and you pointed out two of the three main differences, I'll post a few more showing the 3rd difference and the fixes.
Nos drivers side latches are almost imposible to find. I bought this nos Merc latch off ebay in the hopes it would work, and with the mentioned 3 mods it will. Fortunatly for us, the merc latch can be made to work in the fords, but a ford latch can't be made to work in a merc.
The starwheel housing/and gear on the merc latch protrudes 3/16 further out than the ford, so I made a nylon plate to install between the inside of the door and the latch.
The arrows you added to my pic(thanks) for the difference in levers that the door button activates was fixed by adding a screw for the button to hit. You can see on the old latch that dark spot on the lever where the door button was hitting.
The circles you added (thanks again) show the bracket that is actuated with the inside door lock button. On our cars by the wing window..apparently on the merc it's above the outside door handle area because the rod attaching point was at the wrong angle. That's the part I had cut off the one I sent to Jay and had forgotten about.

Ecode70D · 2013-02-16 16:54

Rich
How in the world did you ever figure out that the star wheel housing and the bolt pattern of the Mercury latch assembly would line up with the respective holes in the Ford door?
I never would have been able to figure that out just by pictures on evilbay. Good deduction.
Jay

Ecode70D · 2013-02-16 17:02

Quote from: Tom S on 2013-02-16 03:41
Damn! Jay got the quote thing in that post right that time!

Yeah, but I only get the quote thing right in about one time in three or four tries. It will be a loooong time before I can do that multiple quote thing like you did in that most recent post.

RICH MUISE · 2013-02-16 18:27

Quote from: Ecode70D on 2013-02-16 16:54
Rich
How in the world did you ever figure out that the star wheel housing and the bolt pattern of the Mercury latch assembly would line up with the respective holes in the Ford door?
I never would have been able to figure that out just by pictures on evilbay. Good deduction.
Jay

That was the easy part...I crossed my fingers.

Zapato · 2013-02-16 22:18

having read thru all this am starting to understand why bear claw latches are so popular.

Zap-

Ecode70D · 2013-02-17 09:42

Quote from: RICH MUISE
That was the easy part...I crossed my fingers.
/quote]
So Rich
You just took a chance that it might fit and it did with minor alterations.
The good thing is that you opened the door for 57 guys to a possible alternate source for getting that particular part if you can find it, or if it is available. Now we know that we can use the Mercury ones. Did you mention what year Merc.?
Jay

Ecode70D · 2013-02-17 09:47

Tom
I messed up the quote again on that last post. Looks like I might have to back to quote school.
Jay :

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Door latch