'53 Ford door latches! Any experts out there?

I have been wrestling with my DS door latch for a while now and am at my wits end. Every other time or every third time when I shut the door it binds and gets stuck. I have to put all of my weight into tit form the inside to get it back open. It is either the star shaped wheel thingy on the door or the latch on the car. When I shut the door really slow and watch with a flashlight the star will sometimes hit the latch straight on forcing the door down wedging the two latches against each other instead of rolling into the latch. Other times it will line right up. The latch on the jamb is worn also, but I am leaning towards the star thing needing replacement. Any advice people?
Thanks Chris

 

My '54 was a little tough to pry open when I first got her. I took the latches off the jambs and cleaned them all up, lubed them up pretty good, and installed them loose. Shut the door gently but firmly, if that make sense, then open the door gently and tightened the screw up. I also rmoved the door panels and lubed up all of the window channels, gears, and door lock/handle mechanisms with LPS and Silicone Spray. Seems to work fine now...even though I have to give them a little "nudge" to open because the bottom of the door sits on the carpet that I glued on the door sills to cover up some ugliness.

 

While I waited until shortly after my drivers side door swung open by itself in a turn to replace the striker plates... in addition to replacing those, and based on what you're describing, I would take a look at the condition of your hinges and the overall door alignment.
The star "thingy" on the door usually doesn't wear too much, so my guess would most likely involve overall door misalignment. And even if the doors appear to be hung correctly and the hinges seem to be bolted tight, if the hinge pins are well worn it could also cause some of your problems.
Lastly, at the very worst, if your rockers are rusting, I would check the area around the post/pillar to see if that has started to rust out, which would also cause the irregular closing problems.

 

The car isn't rusty, but the hinge pins may need replacement, I'll take a look at that. About the star thing, I was not speaking a visible wear when I stated that it may need replacement. I was thinking it was wore internally to the point that it did not stop rotating at the correct position causing it to bind up the hinge upon closing.