aftermarket door latches SUCK

[chincha805]

i spent 125.00 on a set of repop door latches for my 49
, after trying to get them to latch with out slamming the door all day i gave up and i ended up ordering Altmans. i should have listen to the you guys that posted about them. what a friggen waste of money and time on them. live and learn.

[HUSSEY]

That sucks but good to know. My factory 60+ year old latches close with a very gentle swing of the door.

Because of safety issues I hear of, I will likely convert to bear claw latches, that that will be a ways down the road though.

[mr48chev]

I replaced the latches on my 48 in 1973 with new latches and strikers from the Chev dealer a week or two after I bought the truck and they were worn out to the point my wife fell out of the truck when the door popped open in 1978. She had a bad habit of leaning against the door with her back at that time before there were seat belts in the truck.

The original latches got replaced because the driver's door came open on me the first week I had the truck and I was hanging more out than in with my arm over the window sill and my foot grabbing the floor.

[pvienneau]

True dat

[_Ogre]

i run repop stock door latches in my 58, they work fine

[MARTINSR]

I have to say that these latches are funky, no doubt about it. But they shouldn't be that bad. I do know the adjustment of the striker is crucial. And they are extremely touchy just a hair off and the latch won't work properly.


Brian

[msaintg]

yes they do!! Aftermarket door hinges are worse though.

I figured out what is wrong with the aftermarket latches though. As you can see in this pic, there are no groves on the cams of the aftermarket latches, so they just slip.

[MARTINSR]

Wow! Yep I have quoted my friend many times, I'll tell the story again.

My buddy was restoring a '65 Corvette (this was around 1988) and some parts were ordered that came to my shop UPS. He opened the box there in the shop and said "If they wanted to be honest, in the catalog where they say Exactly like original they should put Similar to original, can be used if nothing else is available.

No more profound words have ever been spoken.

I search and have found that there are still NOS stuff out there, I have NOS latches and handles for my truck that I bought on Ebay.

I LOATH reproduction parts, I don't care what it is, I LOATH it. All I buy are rubber parts because the NOS ones don't last. I am making patch panels right now out in the garage for the cowl. I could buy repro ones and have them on my door step in a few days but I refuse. I have spent way more time making them, they won't be "as good" as a nice stamped part but the funny thing is they will probably be more accurate!

Yep, I will do anything to avoid reproduction parts.

Brian

[YukonXL04]

My original ones weren't latching good, I adjusted it and now the latch great. I have YANKED on the door and it won't open unless you turn the handle ALL the way. So I'm good with it, don't really see a reason to replace them.

[OrrieG]

Biggest issue with the stock one is getting the second "click" to fully latch, takes a while for the weather stripping to compress to allow it easily. On the first "click" it acts like it is fully latched, but is not. If you do not know it is a double action latch you can adjust it so it looks closed.