Re: 1948 door latch

Posted by HH56 On 2017/4/22 13:08:22

If a wheel is what is worn on a latch there are kits which can replace that piece. There is one on ebay now which according to the paperwork would also fit some 41-50 Packard latches. That particular kit seems to only have the wheel and cover but some other kits of a different brand which pop up from time to time on ebay have more components. Not sure what replaces the rivets as I never paid that much attention. You could probably do it with a threaded bushing or spacer and use smaller screws thru the old rivet holes into the spacer to hold it all together.

As to doing something via the pillar to release the striker plate I am not sure that is possible. The striker is fastened with several larger screws into a captured threaded plate retained in the pillar by some bent over prongs and slots. Even if you were successful in in freeing the capture plate from the retainers the screws would have to be removed completely to let the striker move more than the oversized holes in the pillar would allow. There is no way to access and unscrew them from behind and some are in there very tight so threads would in all probability be damaged trying to the point screws would become permanent. In addition, some strikers have a small sheet metal position holding screw directly into the pillar which could be challenging to remove. Another problem is with the door present there is minimal space for the extra screw length to go to clear the pillar so unless somehow the screws were sawn in half the striker would still be captured.