'80 Triumph Tr-7

[TheSilverBuick]

I was banking on dirt being the culprit, but chunk of plastic will do it too. Bravo on the finessely applying brute force. Dan Stokes FTW!

[SuperBuickGuy]

One of my early memories is of my dad getting an ignition switch out of a GM column. One of his cars (a Vega) didn't come with a key, but the switch was in the "on" position - so he just remembered to not turn it completely to lock. Until the last time. He didn't know how to take it out, so he used a drill bit. I must have been 4 or 5 at the time, and the day is still vivid in my mind. I'm so glad you had your son there to get similar memories

[milner351]

absolutely fabulous! sometimes walking away and returning to a frustrating job like this is the best approach - well played indeed!

[STINEY]

In order to prevent accidental closing of the door (and a repeat of the days entertainment) I promptly removed the offending latch for diagnosis.

Hmmm....looks just like the other? Wait a minute, what's that bit of plastic there? Broken off from somewhere, and right in the way of the pawl. Essentially a door stop for the pawl, not allowing it complete travel, just enough to release the normal catch, but not enough to release the safetly catch.

The running-start approach allowed enough damage to the broken part to smash it some and allow the catch to rotate further.

Literally took me 2 minutes to figure out, remove the broke bit, clean and relube the latch and reinstall.

Door works perfectly.





Offending plastic broke part and opened latch mechanism.



Even put the pinch weld back into good shape and reinstalled the welting/weatherstrip. My assistant was removing more tarboard during all this.



Oh, and broke out the slide-hammer too. Now the ignition key can be removed and reinstalled by hand - and even operates the door locks!


(Sorry to disappoint all those hoping for some sawzall action shots)

[STINEY]

Went the patience route, then went brute force, back to patience, and finally ended with a combination of both.

The door put up a valient fight, but succombed to a continued, unrelenting attack. Perserverence indeed.

Took the passenger latch apart to see what is what - learned how it worked, but nothing to help its evil twin. Yes, that is a nylon/plastic the main body is made from.







Put it back together, it still works.



Back to the other possessed side.....

Pulled the weatherstripping and welting on the pinchweld (try that sometime with the door still shut, its good entertainment!), folded the pinchweld down to try to gain more access, or at least be able to see something.





Played for several hours with an assortment of dental tools, long narrow screwdrivers, modified putty knives, etc. Since I had tried the deadblow hammer earlier in the week with no result, I went back to finesse as a method to achieve access.

Fail. The Queens demons don't respond to finesse apparently. Milner suggested Holy Water and believe me, if I had some handy....

In the absense of Holy Water and not having the Queen around to advise me, I resorted to the crowbar. Again.

Fail. The TR7 has no fear of crowbars.

Thinking hard now......I decided to take the suggested approach not tried yet - kicking, but with finesse added.

So I shut the door, used my one hand to hold it closed and off the latch, used the other hand to activate the latch and hold it open with a screwdriver, balanced myself with my other hand. Sitting on the tunnel is too close for my 6' to kick, and I can't reach it if I sit on the passenger floor, so I levitated my body and delivered a mighty kick.

And nothing happened.

So I did it again.

And again.

And gained 1/4" of movement!

Encouraged, I redoubled my efforts. And promptly lost the 1/4" I gained. However, what happens once can happen again.....I was getting butt cramps by this point, so I got out and attacked from the outside, substituting a crowbar for my leg.

Placing it between the B-pillar and the door, I again closed the door and held it off the latch (thinking its like getting a running start on the safety latch part, see?) Hold door shut, apply pressure against holding shut, and suddenly POP the handle, springing the latch.

And I gained more than the 1/4" inch!

Had at it again, and on the 4th attempt using this method the demons were defeated and I was awarded this fine sight.



Ah....sweet victory.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'd get that door open right quick. I do it daily on junkers w/stuck latches to get doorglasses, regulators, whole doors off cars to sell. Patience is the key, time will get that door open..

now you're accusing Chris of having patience?

[tardis454]

sawsall with 12" blade. Tradis has parts if something (eerrrr, when?) goes wrong

I'd get that door open right quick. I do it daily on junkers w/stuck latches to get doorglasses, regulators, whole doors off cars to sell. Patience is the key, time will get that door open..

[SuperBuickGuy]

sawsall with 12" blade. Tradis has parts if something (eerrrr, when?) goes wrong

[milner351]

Stiney - Rhonda admires your van interior carpeting resourcefulness, we'd better start stocking up on cap'n....

[Deaf Bob]

Here's a real good idea... Lean into it FROM THE OUTSIDE, or booty bump it as hard as u can.. Sometimes have to get it to latch fully before it opens? With all effort opening it, maybe CLOSING then opening will do the trick?

Previous owner cut 4 times on both sides of the rear door on the 57, thus if I slam the door too hard (ONE PIECE ) , the latch comes apart..

[Russell]

No worries!

Just ask my wife some times I don't convey my thoughts clearly!

SB I missed your sawsall post. I think that would be my last resort.

[STINEY]

I'll save that for one of the "Locally-Sourced" projects. Should make for a longer rust-shower?

[Bob Holmes]

Dynamite...yeah, that's the ticket.

[STINEY]

Sorry Russell......at that point I was still hearing "take the passenger door panel off and compare inner workings".

Today I heard "take the (perfectly good) latch off" and disassemble it, in order to maybe learn why the one Randall hasn't yet told me how to remove doesn't work.

Just ask my wife, I can be a tad slow at times.



And I am also hearing 2 votes for sawzalling - working intently on ignoring those voices.

[TheSilverBuick]

Keep the heat, I would want ac as well. What was that mix atf and paint thinner? Spray it on the door latch. I would take the passenger side apart in hopes to better understand how it works so hopefully I could get the dr side to work.

Original ideas are over rated I mentioned in the picture thread I wanted to see him perform precision saws-all'ing, which is another one of your ideas