1968 Ford Mercury - Door Latch Spring Broke!

[Stephenorf]

I have this 1968 Ford Galaxie 500, and the spring that causes the door latch to stay latched on the striker plate when the door is shut broke. So now when I close the door, the latch doesn't grab the striker plate and just kind of bounces back.

Does anyone have any good resources for 1968 full size Ford car parts? This one seems a little obscure, probably a 50 cent part back in the day. I'm wondering if I'll need to fabricate my own replacemennt spring using whatever I can find that fits and provides the appropriate tension.

Here's a pic of the broken spring from inside the door.:

Here's a closeup with the broken spring outlined in green. The inner doors and the car in general are fairly rust free....not sure why the spring is so rusty and broke.

 

[KULTULZ]

GOOGLE - C8AZ 6221813-A For Complete Latch Assy.

The spring may be found at a hardware store or from another similar vehicle.

If the coded cylinder is not on the driver's door, it will be on the pass door.

 

[rotorwrench]

They are refered to as extension springs for the most part. A person need to know the contracted length and coil turn diameter to find an exact match. A person can purchase spring assortments that might have a spring that will work.
https://www.amazon.com/Small-Metal-Loose-Springs-Assortment/dp/B01FOQK252/?tag=atomicindus08-20

A person can purchase a long one and re-fabricate one end for the length needed.