Howdy,

I just bought this car yesterday and am digging into it already. The passenger door is frozen.

I have removed the panel from the inside, and sprayed a ton of WD-40 on the locking mechanism, and while I was in their I lubed the window mechanism as well. I have tried every angle that I can think of to unlock the clasp that holds the door shut.

I noticed that the driver door was also sticking so I got it lubed before it locked up and the locking clasp is working much better now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Skip,

Can you grab ahold of the rods inside the door and pull them? Does the lock rod go up and down or is it stuck also? Try working the door opening rod(s) up and down and see if that loosens the mechanism up.
Also, dump the WD-40 and try PB Blaster on the mechanisms inside the door. It'll penetrate right through any of the built-up gunk. I had frozen seat tracks and after a couple blasts of PB Blaster, they worked like new within minutes. Something I can't say for WD-40.

Good luck!

I have opened the door up from within the car and I can feel the door opener shaft moving all the way to the lock box just fine. It seems as though the latch that drops over the bolt is frozen. I noticed on the driver's side that the latch is spring loaded for it's opening and will snap open when unlatched. However, when gooped up it may get stuck. The car was stored outside graemlins/sad.gif in the sun in Alpine Ca with tons of dust and the mice that left behind all of them presents on the intake manifold.

My guess is that the dust stuck to some of the prexisting lub on the latch and that it will not snap open when triggered by the door arm. I hope this makes sense.

Remove the mechanisms from the doors, soak them down with PB Blaster and they'll free right up. Don't forget to lubricate them with some decent lithium or synthetic grease afterwards.

That is the problem... I can't remove the mechanism because the door is shut and the bolts to remove the lock are between the body and the door. Since I cannot open the lock to open the door, I cannot remove the bolts to remove the lock. Kind of a cunundrum.

Any specific tips on overcoming this?

:confused:
I thought you said you opened the door from within the car? Did you mean you just got the door panel off? My mistake.

I'm running out of ideas. All I can think of is to keep working the door handle rod until the mechanism works itself free. Either the mechanism itself is broken internally, or there's some serious rust\corrosion inside the assembly.

You should be able to see the backside of the door latching\locking assembly, you'll see there are at least 4 holes in it that you can spray lube through. Soak the living hell out of it. I keep mentioning PB Blaster because it'll eat through anything, but there are other penetrator\lubricants that will free it up. Products that work tons better than WD-40.

I just took a look inside my passenger door.
The door is held shut by a locking paw which rotates around the lock bolt in the qaurter. As een from the inside of the passnger side door, this pawl rotates CW to lock and CCW to unlock.
The Pawl goes over center, so that pulling force on the door in a crash will not open it. Therefore, pulling on the door alone will not rotate the latch pawl. It relies on spring pressure to release it. If there is sand etc. in the door, if may need some rotating.

The back side of this pawl is reachable from inside the door. When the door is shut, the back of the pawl is at the edge of the latch housing, near the lower outboard screw of the latch assembly.

Here is what I would try:

With someone pushing the outside button and pulling on the door, try pushing the back of the pawl towards the inside of the car. That should release the door. If not, you may have a lock rod problem. Try pulling the lock rod up and repeat this step.

Thanks guys... My fault for not being more clear. Sorry about that...

When I put my hands inside the door by the locking assembley, there is a box over it. It feels like it has gaps in the corners of the box where it was pressed together. I can feel the locking mechanism when it slides up and down and it seems to be sliding freely.

Now that Pawl you have been talking about... Is that the larger piece of steel that is moved by the door handle and is what comes into contact with the door latch to engage the lock? Which side of the door lock box is it on? The car side or the outer side?

Another thing I am going to try to day is to put a blanket on the door and bump it with a rubber mallet while I try to pull the door handle.

Thanks again and keep those ideas coming.

I had the exact same problem on the driver side door of my 69 last weekend. After going through pretty much everything you have already done, including removing the door panel with door shut which of course tore the panel, I got in the car, pulled up on the inner door handle and gave the door a good shove with a shoulder. Presto, the door opened. For some reason no matter how hard I tried pulling from the outside, it would not budge, but this worked. I found the latch mechanism was sticking with old lube mixed with grime and slightly misaligned door. Lubed latch with can of garage door lube I had in toolbox and worked it in until it would release smoothly. Don't know if this info will help your problem, but that's how it worked for me.

P.S. make sure there is plenty of room for door to swing open, I came about 2" from slamming door into wife's car when it finaly gave.

The pawl is the part that actually closes over the latch bolt and keeps the door shut.
I'm going to try for some pictures to help you out. (I'm sitting here waiting for paint to dry anyway)

Here are some pictures of the door.
The first is the Pawl from the outside of the door in the locked position.

http://groups.msn.com/Z51BobsCars/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1[/IMG]



The second picture is the inside of the door with me pushing an allen wrench against the back side of the pawl. The outside of the sheetmetal cage for the latch assembly is open, so you can push on the back of that pawl.
http://groups.msn.com/Z51BobsCars/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2

You may find that shaking the door with someone pushing on the outside door button while pressing on the pawl will release it. Just pulling on it may hold it shut.

Was that last picture a picture inside the door? I can't see inside of my door so I cannot confirm what I am pushing on... How did you get such a clear shot? Was the door shut?

I hate to say it but I was prying the sheet metal off of the door lock from the inside today. I am about to go balistic and blow the dam door off with anything I can find. I was pushing a screw driver into the part of the lock box that I pried open and was snapping the locking mechanism to hopefully jar it open. I have also jammed the door rod open with a pair of vise scripts so that I can bang on the outside of the door to jar it open.

At my whits end... :mad: :rolleyes: :mad:

Again, I do appreciate your help.

The last picture was from inside the door. The vertical bar you see is the rear window track.

Prying the metal off sounds a little drastic.

Man, I can't believe it's THAT stuck! The latch pawl must be rusted frozen to the assembly. It'd have to move sooner or later.

I swear if you soak the innerds of the latching assembly with something, it'll break loose. If you have to, attach a long tube to the end of the spray nozzle and drench everything. You should be able to get lubrication inside the assembly. Don't tear up the car!!

Use that PB Blaster like stated before!!!!!

It is awesome. I used it on a rusty van door hinge. I sprayed with WD40 and worked it back and forth for a while with it only mildly loosening up. Then I sprayed it with PB Blaster, tapped it a few times with a plastic hammer, and let it sit for two or 3 minutes.

Moved the door back and forth like 2 times and it's like brand new.

That stuff is great.

...just another thought....

Maybe remove the front fender. Then you could get at the hinge bolts. take the hinges off, and slide the door as far forward as possible.

This will make a big gap between the door jamb and the door, as the latch will slide out on the striker bolt.

You might be able to cut the striker bolt then ith a sawzall.

I keep thinking about the striker also, but there's no pretty way to remove it.

Take the rear seat side panel off and try to remove the cage around the nut holding the striker on. Then you might be able to back the nut off of the striker. Try to keep pressure on the striker so that it doesn't turn when you're turning the nut. Soak the nut with PB Blaster first! Once it's off, it'll let the door slide out after you've removed the hinge bolts.

No damaged sheetmetal, except the door striker nut cage. That won't be a biggy to fix.

OK, I have removed the back seat panel and Boy was I surprised. I serious black Widows nest. I mean it filled the entire fender. I saw the widow momentarily but she scooted further into the fender and I could not catch her in time. Damn I hate spiders. graemlins/clonk.gif

Now I have to find where I can get some PBblaster and some RAID to kill those spiders. Anybody know where to get PBblaster in the San Diego/Poway area?

These cars are like treasure hunts. You just never know what you are going to find.

Man I can't wait to use this icon for real. graemlins/hurray.gif

Maddog, are you saying you haven't had a chance to get the PB on the assembly yet?

I am ashamed to say, No I have not used it yet. I have not been able to find the stuff. I went to kragen, autozone, walmart and couldn't find any.

Ok, Well I found the stuff on the web and they say that it is at autozone and wallmart and nappa so I will try again. Maybe they were out.

By the way, here is the store locator for PB Blaster products.

http://www.pbblaster.com/display.cfm?p=1661405D-3ACB-43E7-89EFB7A4DF1892A9

If you can't find PB, look for KROIL. It's just as good.

I have never used PB Blaster before today but I can say one thing for sure, "This stuff is the best frozen XYZ releaser I have ever used and will ever use from this point forward!!!!". I have been working with WD-40 using an entire can (at least it is gone, good riddens) and it did not open the lock. I put some blaster on there and tried after 3 minutes with no luck. Sprayed a bit more on the lock and came back 3 minutes later and viola, she opened right up. Now I am running around the house lubing up everything that squeeks or that was hopelessly stuck.

Thank you guy for turning me on to this great product. No doubt I will be needing it on some of the other items that I will be removing on this car.

graemlins/beers.gif graemlins/hurray.gif graemlins/thumbsup.gif

WOO HOO!! Excellent!

WD-40 is for removing bumper-stickers, that's about it.
;)

The one thing that I don't like about PB Blaster is the smell. I did this in an attached garage and it smell's to high heaven. Plus, why did they make it a rust color? Not very good for in home preventative maintanance.

Oh well, it rox for removing stubborn bolts, and doors.

Glad that worked for you. I'm a convert from a LONG time ago... anyone else have a recommendation... say, parts cleaner, brake cleaner... you know, the stuff we use all the time in the garage. Suprisingly enough, WD-40 is not even something I ever grab anymore.

Here are some pictures of the door.
The first is the Pawl from the outside of the door in the locked position.

http://groups.msn.com/Z51BobsCars/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1[/IMG]



The second picture is the inside of the door with me pushing an allen wrench against the back side of the pawl. The outside of the sheetmetal cage for the latch assembly is open, so you can push on the back of that pawl.
http://groups.msn.com/Z51BobsCars/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=2

You may find that shaking the door with someone pushing on the outside door button while pressing on the pawl will release it. Just pulling on it may hold it shut.

BUMP

Hi Z51bob1,
I have a passenger door that is stuck closed and came across this thread. You provided pictures to the person you were helping at the time, but the links are now dead. Would you by chance still have these pics of the latch showing where the tab is located on the pawl to push ?

Thanks Very Much,

Mark

PB blaster is great.I have also used" Marvel Mystery Oil" this stuff is good also,the oil treatment not the gas treatment. It comes in pints no spray.

Originally Posted by z51bob1
Here are some pictures of the door.
The first is the Pawl from the outside of the door in the locked position.

http://groups.msn.com/Z51BobsCars/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=1[/IMG]



The second picture is the inside of the door with me pushing an allen wrench against the back side of the pawl. The outside of the sheetmetal cage for the latch assembly is open, so you can push on the back of that pawl.
http://groups.msn.com/Z51BobsCars/s...Photo&PhotoID=2

You may find that shaking the door with someone pushing on the outside door button while pressing on the pawl will release it. Just pulling on it may hold it shut.

BUMP

Hi Z51bob1,
I have a passenger door that is stuck closed and came across this thread. You provided pictures to the person you were helping at the time, but the links are now dead. Would you by chance still have these pics of the latch showing where the tab is located on the pawl to push ?

Thanks Very Much,

Mark

BUMP

One last try....

Does anyone have pictures of the door latch mechanism showing where to push on the pawl to try to get the latch to release ?


Thanks