Bad actor among us !

Dave Castle

Dave Castle

Senior Member
If you had responded to the ad in the" Swap Meet", listed below, would you have expected to receive a "drivers side" 1940 pickup door latch ? Well I did also.

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1935 to 1940 Pickup Drivers Side Door Latch NOS
City: Corinth
State: Maine
Price: $125.00

NOS locking door latch for 35 to 40 pickup. Swiss brand. $125.00 shipped to lower 48. Also have a very good clean used one$85.00 shipped. I'm not able to put pictures up so if you e-mail me I can send you pictures at ***************@gmail.com

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I received a passenger side door latch & the seller's only response was, "I do not understand the problem"!
I am trying to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, maybe he made a honest error, but I still do not have what I purchased & do not need what he sent! He now refuses to answer my e-mails, any suggestions ?
 
Yes I did get a pic, it looked correct in the pic he sent. I have no idea if the one in the pic is the one he sent, but the ad says " drivers side' !!!
 
This can be a problem with right hand and left hand drive vehicles being out there. You literally can't ask too many questions when purchasing sight unseen. The internet is full of images of all sorts of stuff. Many manufactures had a lock only on one side and it wasn't always the left side.
 
Just a guess here and reading between the lines of JSEERY's post (AND IF I remember correctly)......IF it is a locking handle then isn't it always passenger side??? I.E driver side locks from the inside only??
 
All door latches "lock" from the inside. Ford trucks had outside keys on the passenger (right, curb side in the US) side lock. So, a "driver's side" door latch would lock from the inside, but not the outside. I think we have a failure to communicate (on both sides), not a bad actor.
 
DD931 said:
All door latches "lock" from the inside. Ford trucks had outside keys on the passenger (right, curb side in the US) side lock. So, a "driver's side" door latch would lock from the inside, but not the outside. I think we have a failure to communicate (on both sides), not a bad actor.
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DD931
Isn't this what I posted above? There is ALSO a post that just came up here on the barn about a "32-34" Handle which is a "locking" handle that is a "passenger" (at least here in the US & Germany) side handle. Again isn't it the same for cars as trucks, key lock on the curbside only??? Street side is plain and locks from inside only?? Again, The "locking" part of the handle should have been the clue and make you question the side for both the buyer and seller should have realized it too!!!!
 
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This left/right drivers/passenger side issue reminds me of a question that was on my high school physics final exam. "Explain why in a mirror, right and left are reversed but up and down are not"--- Only a few of us got the correct answer--"right and left" depend on which way you are facing, up is always up and down is always down no matter which way you are facing!
 
One of the things drilled into me in the military was right and left are as the pilot is sitting in the cockpit. Pretty important ( I was a firefighter) if a F4 came in with hung ordinance that everyone is in agreement which side is right and left. Ford uses the same system.
 
deuce_roadster said:
This left/right drivers/passenger side issue reminds me of a question that was on my high school physics final exam. "Explain why in a mirror, right and left are reversed but up and down are not"--- Only a few of us got the correct answer--"right and left" depend on which way you are facing, up is always up and down is always down no matter which way you are facing!
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What if you turn your head sideways?
 
I remember wanting to buy the little trim part (called a hockey stick) that goes on the side of a Morris Minor grille. I asked for the right hand hockey stick, pointing to the right hand side of a front end that was on the wall. The counterman told me I wanted a left hand hockey stick. He was right.

I have only heard the term driver's side and passenger's side used by Americans. It sort of makes the assumption that all cars follow the American left hand drive pattern.

It would be very easy for someone not familiar with the quirks of early Fords to assume the lock mechanism with the lock belongs on the driver's side.

So I can understand where the misunderstanding has come from, but it is a little lesson to us all to be very careful to use terms that are unambiguous. Also, I guess, to make sure we communicate clearly when buying something to make sure any potential ambiguity has been ironed out.

Left is left, right is right, from the perspective of the driver, no matter which side he or she is sitting on.

Mart.
 
Left is left, right is right, from the perspective of the driver, no matter which side he or she is sitting on. Mart.

I think of it the same way that Mart does. It does not matter which way someone is actually facing.

On American cars left is the driver's side and the passenger side is the right side
Jay
 
So, let me get this straight. Mart is saying here that the Europeans caused this debacle in the first place by having their steering wheels on the wrong side of their cars?

Just kiddin................................
 
^^^ lol. I am literally laughing out loud. I am fueled by 3 pints of San Miguel though.
 
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