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My 53 Clipper drivers door lock button is not connected to anything. Just sitting in door. I started loosening the door panel to see if I can see the problem. Need assistance in what besides door handles, window crank, and arm rest needs to be removed. It appears that the window trim needs to be removed with the lower door panel. Anybody done this before? I have attached a picture of the bottom of the door button. Maybe one of you knows what I will need to repair once I have access. Steve

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Here are a couple of photos of the latch that I borrowed from a sale listing. One shows a small threaded rod the button attaches to. Note that rod is held by a clip to the moving part of the latch. The clip could have broken or become bent allowing the rod to detach and fall into the door or could have been removed for whatever reason. The second photo shows where everything connects on the latch.

There were two inside knob arrangements and I don't know which they were using in 53. The one style had a hard rubber button which pushed down over a straight piece of metal with barbs on the sides. To install or remove those buttons you had to heat the button so the rubber was soft enough and could be formed or pulled over the barbs. If that install/removal had been done several times the inside of the button was enlarged and could no longer tightly grip the barbs. The other arrangement has threaded knobs and a round shaft. Those just screwed on but the threads may be odd size. Hardtops used the same threaded arrangement except the rod was bent 90 degrees so the knob was on the face of the door panel instead of straight up thru the molding.

You need to remove the window molding to properly remove the door panel. There are some instructions on how to remove things in the body section of the 51-4 service manual starting around page 4.

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Thanks for the picture last. They helped. I found that I have the spade type of button. The piece of metal is busted. See pictures. Where do I find this? Steve

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I can't see inside the knob well but it looks as if part of the bar is broken off inside the slot. Is that correct? How did you remove the bar where it attached to the latch assy or was the entire bar assy broken off?

If there is a broken piece inside, the knob could be heated with a heat gun or a barely warm oven to approx 150 degrees. Using a small needle nose plier or forceps the broken piece may be able to be removed and then repairs made to the bar assy by brazing the pieces together. If the entire bar was broken off the latch then there may be other parts missing so probably not a viable option.

There were replacement rods provided. Here is the listing for front doors. Since the rubber knobs were introduced in 52 according to the tech bulletin, I suspect the 51 used threaded rods like the pre 51 models and 441255 is the flat. The retaining clevis clips are also listed but if the flat bar did not use those clips then that brings up another question.

I don't know if Kanter would have something but it might be worth a shot. He may also have some of the rubber knobs or maybe one of the plastic repro knobs that would match the rubber in your color and work with a threaded rod. If he doesn't and if you cannot make something that would work, probably the best solution would be to see if someone on the forum has a parts car or get a complete latch assy off ebay making sure it had the flat bar and not the round rod. Ross has a lot of the odd 51-4 parts and he might be able to come up with something

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Wow, you have a lot of good info! Ok, it is broke. Off in the knob. I can see it in there. I got it off the mechanism with great difficulty and by sheer luck! It was a chore. Everything else seems to function. I have already PMd Ross in hopes he has something to help me out. He is sending me a care package soon consisting of and OD unit and oil filter setup. Steve