Can anyone help me figure out how to unstick door latches on my 78 and 82? I've had problems with the passenger door latch not wanting to uplock on my 1978 and have now had to exit my 82 through the t-top since the driver's side door lock will not unlock. I've searched all of the manuals and restoration books I've collected over the last 15 years and can not find much on how to make the door latches operate better. I have been able to remove the passenger door latch on my 78 and plan on cleaning it and would like any suggestions on the best way to clean this without damaging the plating on the latch or causing rust to form later. Any ideas? On this door latch I can create the problem of the latch being locked and then only coming unlocked part way with the outside door key or by pushing up on the linkage. Has anyone had similar problems? I don't want to break off the door key or destroy the latch.
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Re: door latches
calvin-----
This is a fairly common problem with C3 Corvettes. Usually, it has to do with worn or out-of-adjustment lock connecting rod ends or a defective lock mechanism. Rod end wear is VERY common. GM sells the rods only as complete assemblies and the long one is quite expensive at $55.49/each. However, recently I've seen that someone is reproducing just the rod ends and selling them quite reasonably.
The left and right lock assemblies for 78-82 Corvettes are still available from GM under GM #20067167 and 20067166, respectively. They GM list for $218.00 each.In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Re: door latches
Calvin,
I just did this on my '66 Coupe and '72 Bronco. On both, the symptoms were that I could not unlock the door from the outside. I could turn the key partially but it felt like the key was going to break. It turns out that it was hardened 30 year old grease/dirt on both vehicles.
On both vehicles, I disassembled the entire lock/latch and removed all the parts from the vehicle. I dunked all of the parts in a can Berrymans carb cleaner. After about 30 minutes, I removed and cleaned with brake cleaner. I relubed the latch with some spray white lithium grease, reassembled, and now both doors work as good as they did when they were brand new. Both of my latches were coated with some sort of gray phosphate(?) and the carb cleaner didn't hurt it. Test to be sure though, that Berrymans is nasty stuff.
HTH, Alex '66 AC Coupe #22298Comment
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Re: door latches
Thanks for the quick response Alex. I've also heard from Joe Lucia and he has some thoughts on cleaning the latches. I'll take a look at the rods and see how things look. I didn't see any shiny wear marks on the latch so I don't think parts are rubbing. None of the linkage looks bent, so I may just be dealing with dirt and grime build up. When I removed the latch from my 78 it was very sticky so I'll probably try cleaning it with parts or carb cleaner and see if that loosens it up. If not, I'll start looking for a new latch but I would rather keep the orignals. My 78 only has 66,000 original miles and we are the third owners of the 82 with 118,000 miles so I would like to keep them as original as possible. Has anyone ever rebuilt the door latches on their C3's? I don't remember reading anything in the Restorer Mag but someone may have rebuilt their old door latches and that may apply to this case. And ideas? Thanks again.Comment
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