Difficult door latches


IHC in the early to mid-fifties.

Rusty Driver
Rusty Driver

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Post Sat Aug 31, 2019 5:15 pm

Difficult door latches

I am pulling my hair out trying to get this working. Drivers side door on my 50 ' L110.I've adjusted latch, and door to no avail. Has anyone dealt with this issue. I have 2 1950 trucks and both of them have the same problem, I'm finding these difficult to fix.

Golden Jubilee
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Post Sat Aug 31, 2019 6:47 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

The hidden hinges of the 1950 was dropped because of sag and tendency to break. I think the hinges are the problem.
If you discover that the hinges are the problem, and cannot be fixed, I am sorry for you.
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Rusty Driver
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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 11:24 am

Re: Difficult door latches

Could I ask exactly what the issue is? My '52L, the doors wouldn't latch properly until I beat my head on the hinge adjustment for a week, once the doors closed properly, the latches worked great....I'm afraid that if the hinges are the issue, Nic is correct( as usual)....

Terrell

Rusty Driver
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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:39 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

The hinges seem ok, I've adjusted hinges, and latch. First notch on latch catches , second one doesn't. Will have to play with it more, but there alot of other things have to fixed.

Rusty Driver
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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:44 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

Terrell wrote:Could I ask exactly what the issue is? My '52L, the doors wouldn't latch properly until I beat my head on the hinge adjustment for a week, once the doors closed properly, the latches worked great....I'm afraid that if the hinges are the issue, Nic is correct( as usual)....

Terrell

The hinges are different on a 50, as opposed to your 52. They are hidden. Bottom hinge on one truck seems a bit wonky, but not enough to hinder the latch. Considering cutting a hole in kick panel to see if it is problematic. That would be last resort.

Golden Jubilee
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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 2:05 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

A few thousandths of an inch of misalignment or droop at the hinges will multiply into a difficult, if not impossible alignment problem at the door latch/catch.
Not IHC related, but to illustrate my point, my 1940 Ford had loose hinge pins. This allowed the doors to droop about .015" at the catches. The droop at the catches at center post was bad enough to allow the front doors to contact the "suicide" opening rear doors at the top corners. Catch alignment could not be done well.
I measured the hinge pins and the worn hinges and found about .002 inch of space. My fix was to drill out the hinges and insert stainless steel bushings then ream them to size for new reproduction hinge pins from Bob Drake. I measured each of the 8 pins for size. . Two pins required less than .0001" (one ten thousandth of and inch) polishing for sizing. I then drilled and reamed the bushings for .0005" (5 ten thousandths) clearance. This took the droop out of the doors, completely. The unwanted movement at the catches is almost not detectable. On a side note, I cut the car left to right at the floor and added a centimeter (.250") extra length. This in combination with the hinge modification mad for a perfect fit and doors that close like a bank vault.
Hinge fitting on the later visible hinge trucks is just as important. I made up different thickness shims for my IHC "L & "R" trucks. I did not want to have the catch lift a misaligned door and thereby increase the wear on unobtainium parts. It has ben my limited experience to see concerning wear on later IHC truck hinges. Rust build-up enough to freeze a hinge is more common. Forcing a door hinge to move may bend the hinge out of alignment. Re-alignment is difficult, but , not impossible. I use a hydraulic press rather than pounding with a BFH.
I am only familiar with the early hidden hinges enough to never buy a truck with them. Therefore, I am not able to give any specific advice. Good hinge fitment improves catch alignment on any vehicle, new of older. Hinge alignment is the first step in door alignment. Working back from the catch will end in frustration.
I may include a few pictures to illustrate what I had to do the make the doors on an 80 year old Ford fit better than new. The drilling and reaming of the hinges is possible, on a later "L" and "R" hinge.
The list of improvements on the later "L" cabs is more than the hinges. If IHC had not recognised the problems they could have become an also-ran 40 years sooner.
Attachments
hinge pressfit insert.jpg
hinge insert ream to .3795inch.jpg
hinge insert mill to length.jpg
hinge bolt plate(back).jpg
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Rusty Driver
Rusty Driver

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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:11 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

Thanks for your input Nikki, I actually got them both operating one better than the other. I cocked the latch to in effect lower it on the post will lube it to help, but for now it is aligned and functioning. I am a machinist by trade so I get your decimal talk.
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:16 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

inside the latch assembly, there is a spring that makes the little latch pop back down after handle pulls it up, it gets all gummed up,
My L-112 panel drivers side wouldn't latch, everything was adjusted right, little catch just wouldn't drop back down enough,

I ended up removing the latch, lubing everything put it back in, worked fine,
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Golden Jubilee
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Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 8:00 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

fordtrimotor wrote:Thanks for your input Nikki, I actually got them both operating one better than the other. I cocked the latch to in effect lower it on the post will lube it to help, but for now it is aligned and functioning. I am a machinist by trade so I get your decimal talk.

Thank Goodness. for machinists. I had a friend who did not know there were sizes lower that 1/4". (.250") I gave him a digital multimeter and a digital caliper for his b'day. He will be just fine after he finishes therapy.
I have a minimum of three different IHC latch assemblies. They each do the same job, and fit. Some of the details of construction are different and not interchangeable. Keep it all original becomes a situation if and when replacement parts do not look like the other.
Here are a few pictures. There are another 20 right side and 19 left side latches. I do not feel like digging through spider infested storage to dig them out, just yet. .
Attachments
door latches 7.jpg
door latches 6.jpg
door latches 2.jpg
door latches 1.jpg
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Rusty Driver
Rusty Driver

Posts: 122

Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:08 am

Post Sun Sep 01, 2019 9:36 pm

Re: Difficult door latches

bedrockjon wrote:inside the latch assembly, there is a spring that makes the little latch pop back down after handle pulls it up, it gets all gummed up,
My L-112 panel drivers side wouldn't latch, everything was adjusted right, little catch just wouldn't drop back down enough,

I ended up removing the latch, lubing everything put it back in, worked fine,

I changed the latch awhile back, at the time I had lubed it. Was working fine then started acting up again. I noticed if I pull back on inside handle it really drops, then tends to retract when released, making me think something is bent inside. Window doesnt like to roll up/ down either. I've yet to tackle that, not looking forward to it. Looks daunting.
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