breaking into a 39 pickup

B

bmf

Junior Member
I have two 39 pickups to get into. No doors will open. The one I need into now has all of the glass. Is it possible to remove the windshield from the ourside. I really don't want to break any of the other glass.

Can the steering lock (no key) be worked around or removed?

Thanx,
Ray
 
Personally I would remove the hing pins and take a door off. Likely not the easiest or quickest way, but no damage is likely. Removing the ignition lock without a key is possible, best done with the column on the bench. Rod
 
I had to break in to mine. I was able to push in the back window without breaking it. Used a rod with a loop on it to pull on the inside door handle.
 
I think the only alternative you have to get into the truck is to break a window.. The suggestion to pull the hinge pins might work, however, I doubt it. As a rule you will need a special pin removal tool to get the pins out. If you are able to get the pins out, I don't think the door will pivot out of the opening.
Many years ago, like in the mid '60's, my wife drove my '36 Ford to the newly opened shopping center. She locked the passenger side door when our son got out of the car. Not thinking, being use to newer cars, she pulled the handle up on the drivers door to the lock position and closed the door. The door should not have remained locked when the door was closed, through a fluke, the door locked. The door key would not unlock the door because the interior handle was in the lock position in lieu of being locked with the key.. Two different functions.
Of course several men came to the ladies aid, all of which wanted to break a window. My wife would not let them break a window in the car because she knew that all of the glass was original to the car.. My wife found a pay phone and called me, I grabbed some tools and went to the shopping center. By the time I got there quite a crowd had gathered around the car.
After accessing the situation I got an axle jack out of my truck, I jacked the Ford up enough so I could git under it, I then carefully removed the floor pan bolts from the bottom, unscrewing them back into the interior of the car.. I was then able to push the floor pan up enough to get a coat hanger onto the drivers door handle, pulling it down to unlock the door..
Of course I did not have much difficulty removing the floor pan bolts (1/4x20) because during the years prior to this event I had blown five transmissions out of the car drag racing, the last one only a couple of years prior to the locked door event.
 
Can you open the hood on a '39? If you can try a wire through the firewall to the handle. I broke a window to get in to my '36 without thinking and could of done it that way.

Bill
 
40Ford1 has the right idea. Cut the rear window gasket and remove the back window. Use a coat hanger to pull the door handle. Buy a new rear window gasket and you're done. If it's an old gasket it probably needs replacing anyway.
 
First...check all possible holes. Under hood, big hole where main wire harness goes through...pedal holes in toeboard...if engines and trans are out, probably more ideas underneath. Go to work with a coathanger, with an observer giving directions.
Floorboard is a great idea, but only if those screws are miraculously unrusted...if not, they are a fight to get out the right way!
 
Ford V8's had unusually good locks, pretty hard to pick. These aren't at all like the '50's and '60's locks that a cub scout could open with a nail file.
 
Sounds like a job for a locksmith. Most of them open lots of locked vehicles. It should be less expensive then breaking things.
 
Thanx for all of the suggestions.

One of them has no glass. Neither the inside nor the outside handles will move.

Hinge pin removal is possible. The bottom one will have to be removed from the top.
Has any one actually done this?

I will take out a window from the one that has all the glass. Probably the windshield as it will need to be replaced any way.

Probably won't try to pick the lock as everything seems to be frozen.

I need to find a helper that is a hell of a lot younger and a hundred pounds lighter.

Thanx again,
Ray
 
this kind of reminds me of the old joke when i was a kid . . . i guess it`s NOT a convertible!
tom
 
As a last resort, have you considered cutting a hole in the wooden floorboard and coming in from underneath? I assume that if the doors are rusted shut, the floorboard might be sacrificed. On my 39 pu the exhaust is on the right side so the left is preferable though it will put you under the steering wheel. The younger lighter person would be very useful here.
 
It sounds like these are parts trucks or works in progress not emergencies. Just cut the gasket loose around the windshield and climb in. New gaskets are readily available.
 
This is a 1939 vehicle that has two locking systems. The inside door handles control the inside system and the key lock on the right door controls the outer system. The two systems are independent of each other. if the inside system is locking the doors, cutting the rear window gasket seems like the easiest and most economical way to get in. If the inside system is locking the doors, the best locksmith in the world can not get into the cab by picking the key lock or even removing it completely. If rust has seized the door latches, you have a problem.
 
Having been there done that, I would make book that the doors are not "locked" they are stuck with debris, rust, etc.
A liberal amount of penetrating oil, I like "Blaster", seems to work the best. sprayed down through the window opening with the "straw" that come with the product, might loosen the stuck parts. Let the Blaster soak for a couple of days..
The '39's have crank-out windshields, therefore, cutting the gasket to remove the windshield will not work, the only gasket is around the metal frame.. The rear window is held in place with a rubber gasket that could be cut with a utility knife.
If all else fails a stick of "Dupont" or a "Victor Wrench" will solve the problem.. :)
 
I just removed the hinge pins on a 34 coupe door and I would not have wanted to attempt it on the car! It was extremely difficult with the door off.
 
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