The doors on my 59 Ranchero do not latch shut when I close them. The little sprocket ⚙️ seems to be floating when I would think they should be keyed in position. Before I dig into it and drop half the pieces into the bottom of the door, does anyone know of a common cause for this condition?
My 59 wagon did this years ago, there is a spring loaded trigger that drops down into the opposite side of the sprocket you mention inside the door latch mechanism. One was very corroded and the trigger wasn't dropping due to the corrosion, lube and working it up and down a couple dozen times fixed it. The other one the spring was broken. Just a guess. EDIT: I posted a picture of the trigger and spring on the back of the latch on a seperate post. Mark
I have a loose Edsel door if you need anything out of it. I believe that part is still in it, I will look since I'll have my car out later on today. Odd since it impacts both of your doors.
Ok that gives me something to work with. Clean and lube and maybe a spring. Thanks Bob I appreciate that. I’ll try and get it apart and see what’s going on in there
I took a fast look at it, I still have to move a ton of stuff around it. I tried to feel around the door to see if the piece was still in there. I forget what went into my door, parts we didn't use were dropped into the bottom of the door. I'll have the car out as soon as my new battery comes in and I do the switch.
I have to get into that corner. I hurt my lower back somehow last week, I'm crabbing around with a prescription pain patch on. I did get my battery installed with some effort.
Sorry to hear about your back, hopefully you recover quickly. I just spent two weeks recovering myself. At least once a year “I forget” and, well usually it takes 3 weeks to get back to normal. Be well
No fun... if I drop something on the floor, it has to stay there for a while. My best position is in the recliner with my feet up. I don't think I can raise the garage door right now. I think it is something muscular. The pain patches (prescription) work well, I have had them a while. The area is easy to put one on.
Ok I adjusted the hinges on the p***enger side, lubed up the sprocket & striker and it works great. The driver’s side… that’s another story. The sprocket is a bit loose and the latch mechanism was a lot more sticky. I had to remove it to really understand it and that’s where I needed to say the serenity prayer. The window and window frame gave me a lot of trouble. Long story short, I cut a neat access hole to get the latch & lock back together. I cleaned and lubed with dry film graphite and now it has a nice feel to it. The sprocket still had some rotational movement so I removed the rubber stop. This allowed the pawl to set into the gear just a bit deeper and I’m happy with the result. I still haven’t reinstalled the window frame and gl*** but this is a good opportunity to do some restoration work. I need to find the window channels and clean up some corrosion. Thank you to everyone and I hope to be on the road before summer.
I'm still on the mend and hope to get out to the garage on the next warmer day and I'll drag the Edsel door out to see what is left of it.
Damn I’m sorry to hear that. My back is 100% better and I’m nursing a swollen knee lol. Maybe I’ll see you at the Brentwood swap meet on May 5
Yeah, I should be up for it. I'm not bringing the Ford for sure. I tend to get in and out, it is more of a garage sale than anything else. Unless you like Hot Wheels and die cast cars...
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