I am planning on driving this 50 a lot, hopefully like a daily. I may want to retain the stock handles but want a more reliable latch system. Anyone ever done this?
HON, trust me I have mulled this over. I am torn. I love no handles but......I kinda like having the old door handles. In a car that you are constantly getting in and out of, it might be a pain. I dunno, I am torn.
This may seem odd, but I actually prefer door poppers to handles because of convience. The door opens just as you walk up. Actually a blessing in the rain, or if you are carrying anything. The wife even had me install shaved handles and poppers on her 65 Mustang. for convience. But I get where you are comming from. Craig
I've thought about putting bear claws on my Fleetline. I had them on my sedan with remotes, but the remotes kept flaking on me, so I don't think I want to do that again... one thing I have thought about on the Fleetline is to use a cam-lock (like on tool chest or cabinets) to use a key to actuate the bear claw. Possibly hide the keyhole in some stainless trim, etc? This way it would always be a mechanical deal instead of worrying about the remote jumping code or battery going dead, etc.
Are there better grades of remotes? Also HRH, does the popper allow the door to fully open if the bearclaw is a 2 stage latch? I dunno, I have never done this conversion. This is my first mild custom.
I can't speak for HRH's deal, but the bear claws I had on the sedan (with no spring-loaded poppers) would open the door to where you could easily grab the edge of the door to pull it open. (Basically open enough to show the thickness of the weatherstrip.) My remotes came from Rocky Hinge Co., and they had "ICD" debossed into them... I've never dealt with any others, but I sure hope there's some better ones out there!
Putting a Bear Claw style latch into a 53/54 chevy door is going to involve a number of problems. The rear vertical window channel does not have enough clearance to allow the placement of the latch in the original position. You will probably wind up doing some major reworking of the rear door frame and lock pillar .
I did this on my 50 Chevy Burb, what do yours look like? Push ****on, or turn-down handles? We have a few bear claw latched vehicles in our fleet at work. Seems they don't hang in there long for daily use. More of a splined friction grip than a solid positive latch mechanism.
It's true that it's a pain. I did the swap on all 4 of my doors (but shaved the handles. No way around having an ugly bulge to get the pin close enough to the latch if you do it in the jambs. In hindsight, I would've put the striker pin in the threshhold and put the latches in the bottom of the door- then the jambs would be smooth.
They did an article in R&C May 2007 ( The one with Rolf's car on the cover) where they put the latch in the door and the striker on the jamb. It looks like a major PITA so that is why I am asking. Would I be better to just buy all new stock parts and use solenoids? The reason I ask is I built a really nice 53 F-100 with all new door latches etc. but the doors never did latch right.
I put bearclaws on my '35 Tudor, used the stock Ford handles inside and out. Making all the linkage work was the biggest challenge since I wanted everything external to remain stock and work like stock (only better). I'm glad I spent the extra time, they work great, are much safer and the car doesn't look any different. I even made linkage to use the stock door lock cylinder in the right door.
A buddy of mine hits the salvage yards for bear claw styled latches. He says the import cars have nice thin latch ***emblies making it easier to install them in doors where the window tracks are close. Be sure to get the striker ***emblies also.
Dodge Omni's are nice ones. I got some from a Yugo, same as Fiat. Very stout, solid all metal design. My doors close like a Frigidaire!
for my shaved handle kits i just use a crimestopper keyless entry module and use ****on one for driver door and ****on two for p***anger door... 4 door models i get a 4 function remote... i have used the crimestopper products for 10 years now doing remote starts alarms and keyless entrys and never had problems...
Some cars don't need a popper. Others do. A lot depends on how it's set up. I know for sure on my F-100 that if the door doesn't pop out far enough on the first try, it will on the second. Two stage latches open all the way on the first pull, but can catch if your solenoid is weak. There is not that much difference from one remote to another (that I have found) except maybe how far away from the vehicle you are for them to work. They all get flaky when the battery gets low. The biggest difference is in the solenoids. With bear claws I tend to like a real heavy pull. 50lbs or so. If the solenoid is too weak, or the spring(popper) is too strong, sometimes you have to push the door in a little when you pop it. I have solenoids in almost all my cars. It almost seems weird to have to open a car with a handle. Some work better than others, but I think if you set it up correctly, you will find them a blessing after you get use to it. Craig
Ditto that. I have always had great luck with Crimestopper stuff. The remote's work from a mile away too. Craig
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