Okay Everyone. This is the lowdown on that %#@*(&$@ Latch! For all who
may experience a problem where the door will not open, and you have exhausted
all adjustment procedures according to the shop manual; read on........ The
problem I had with my 57 Belvedere Conv. was that most of the time the door
simply would not open. You could coax it to open from the inside by
manipulating the latch a certain way with a screwdriver. In order for me to
get the door opened to work on it, I had to insert a very small thin chisel
with a blunt blade inbetween the body and the door inside of the car and tap
the star wheel up while holding the handle in an open position. Of course
this would have been easier with the help of someone, but naturally I had no
one. Once I had the door opened, I removed the latch and inspected it.
There are 3 springs which wrap around 3 latches which engage the starwheel
when the door is shut. Once you pull on either the inside or outside handle,
these 3 latches move out of the way of the starwheel and allow it to roll
over the catch on the body allowing the door to open. Well in my case, one
of these little springs had broken, not allowing just 1 of those little
latches to free itself from the starwheel. I want to take some pictures of
this latch and post it on the site as a guide to anyone having similar
troubles. This kind of trouble can be both a real EMBARASSMENT and a true
HASSLE once you are experiencing it. Hope this helps any of you out there.
George.
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