1931 Slant Window Fordor lock problem

D

Don/WI

Senior Member
This past week-end, the Nickle "A" Region car club toured to Hill & Valley Days at Cross Plains, Wisconsin. Had a great time except for one incident. Two of our members have 1931 Slant Window Fordor Model A's. One of the members could not open his door after unlocking it. He took the handle off and tried to use a large screwdriver to open it to no avail. After trying many things unsuccessfully, another member finally took the drivers door handle off and was able to open it by pushing on some part of the locking lever mechanism. What we discovered is that the owner had pulled the inside handle up (on the front passenger door) and locked the door and then locked locked it again with the key. At that time the other Slant Window owner tried to lock his front passenger door with the inside door handle and discovered that he could also look himself out of the car. Is this a fluke or is this standard on the Slant Window "A"s? I would have thought that there would be something in the front passenger door locking mechanism to prevent this from happening. These owners are sure going to look into a method to prevent this from happening again. Don/WI
 
I have a S/W Town Sedan. As I understood it, the latch on the door, as it strikes the plate on the door frame, is supposed to "unlock" the handle if it was placed in the locked position before closing the door. I have not tested it. Easy to test with the window open (so you can reach in and unlock it after the test fails!).

One problem I do have with my drivers door is that it locks itself when I close the door. That's a pain. I have to walk around to the other side of the car and unlock it. I know that there is a detent spring inside the latch and lock mechanism. Mine is probably broken. But it is a bit of work to get it out of the door and replace the spring, so I have not gotten "a round toit" yet.
 
on most or if not all SW cars the passenger inside door latch remote with the outside locking handle when they came from the factory they had a little dog on the remote that would NOT let you lock the handle on the inside. when I rework the door latches I ask if they want to be able to lock it on the inside than all I do is cut off the little dog and you can lock it on the inside. and outside. when you lift the handle up you are dead bolting the door latch. my wife wanted to lock the door when riding in my Victoria so it is fixed that way.
 
jw hash said:
on most or if not all SW cars the passenger inside door latch remote with the outside locking handle when they came from the factory they had a little dog on the remote that would NOT let you lock the handle on the inside. when I rework the door latches I ask if they want to be able to lock it on the inside than all I do is cut off the little dog and you can lock it on the inside. and outside. when you lift the handle up you are dead bolting the door latch. my wife wanted to lock the door when riding in my Victoria so it is fixed that way.
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Would it be possible for you to send a picture or sketch of the "little dog" on the remote? That would assist my fellow club members to undo the problem that they encountered. Thanks. Don/WI
 
Here is a photo of the mechanisms that jw hash posted about. The LH mechanism in the photo is for a door that is locked with the inside door handle. The RH mechanism in the photo is for the RH front door and is locked with the locking outside door handle. Note the small tab on the RH mechanism that prevents the locking of the door with the inside door handle. Chime in John if there is something I missed.

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thanks Don. guys as you can see the little tab, and if you will notice the little tab is bent over allowing the hand to almost lock . if it was straight it would not let it turn so far.
 
Thanks for the replies to this thread and a special thanks to "160B" for the pictures. Is it possible to place a small screw in the place where the small tab is in order to prevent this door from being locked from the inside? thanks. Don/WI
 
160B said:
Here is a photo of the mechanisms that jw hash posted about. The LH mechanism in the photo is for a door that is locked with the inside door handle. The RH mechanism in the photo is for the RH front door and is locked with the locking outside door handle. Note the small tab on the RH mechanism that prevents the locking of the door with the inside door handle. Chime in John if there is something I missed.

picture.php
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I'd like to see the photos as well, but I don't see them herein or any link to reach them. Help, someone - please. Thanks, RLH :confused:
 
rlh37ford said:
I'd like to see the photos as well, but I don't see them herein or any link to reach them. Help, someone - please. Thanks, RLH :confused:
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Are you registered on FordBarn? If you are and signed in, you should be able to view the pictures. They showed up on your quote from 160B. Don/WI
 
Don/WI: Yes I'm registered & signed in as I write this. Still don't see any photos. I don't even see the photo icons that appear when I've forgotten to sign in. I'm seeing nothing but text. Confused, RLH
 
rlh37ford said:
Don/WI: Yes I'm registered & signed in as I write this. Still don't see any photos. I don't even see the photo icons that appear when I've forgotten to sign in. I'm seeing nothing but text. Confused, RLH
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Wow, that must be frustrating! I hope someone else with more knowledge chimes in and helps you. I will copy the picture to my pictures and then send it to your e-mail address. Don/WI
 
The right front door has a left rear door latch in it. On a 160 series 4 door slant sedan, the two rear door latches and the left front door latch can be locked from the inside. the right front cannot. It can only be locked from the key on the outside. The LF and RR can be interchanged, but the RF and LR are different, (but can be installed in either door).

So.....one of two things happened. Either the RF and LR latches were installed in the wrong doors, or the car has @ LR door latches in it- one in the LR door and one in the RF door.

If I did not explain this well enough, give me a call and I will explain more clearly.

Oh......ask me how I know about this? The first slant 4 door I restored, I installed those two latches in the wrong doors and did not notice it until after I installed the upholstery. And, to replace these latches, you must remove the upholsery, glass and glass channels. Not an easy task.

Steve Becker
Berts Model A Center
800-321-1931
 
Here is the difference in one picture. The tab sticking out prevents the handle from rotating when the handle is turned pushing the rod toward the door lock.

I think I got my right and left backwards!!!! Thats what I get for trying pull it together early in the morning on a spur of the moment realization I had a pair of locks apart just right for the picture.

FWIW, the key locking side (I have incorrectly labeled L) you can see the locking tab was removed. So they made the same part for the rear doors and just cut it off for the passenger front door.

Also,
You well notice the top of both of them have a round ground off area. Any lock with this area ground off was for a slant window cabriolet. This cleared an area used for the door window top limit used only on the cabriolet.
 

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