DA Locking Door Handle

[Bullfrog_eng]

Working on my door handles, getting them ready for chroming.

But the locking handle has me confused. I am still trying to dismantle the lock itself (My local locksmith does not want to know) as it is badly corroded, but I can not see how it should operate. What does the lock do, what moves, what does not.

If anyone had any pictures that would be great, or a description. I have removed the escutcheon and "collar" from the handle.

Any help much appreciated.

John

[Bob Zetnick]

If I remember right on mine when I used the key the outside door handle would just spin when you turned the handle while locked....when unlocked the handle acts like a lever to open the door. Hope that helps.

 

[ply33]

If it is like the one on my '33 Plymouth where the handle spins around when locked, then there is a small hole on the bottom side that you can stick a pin into and press on a little retainer on the key cylinder. If you do that while the key is turned part way then the whole cylinder will slide out when you pull the key. Assuming, of course that the cylinder wafers (not pins), cylinder and key are not too badly worn. If things are worn it is more difficult to get out.

[Bullfrog_eng]

Thanks to both of you for that.

It is the conclusion that I had come to as the only option, unless I was missing something.

This has provided the confirmation I needed to hopefully avoid breaking something.

Now, back to attacking it again (gently!!), it is stuck solid at the moment.

 

[Bullfrog_eng]

As they say, there is some good news and some bad news.

With a lot of gentle persuasion and patience (not something I am normally associated with), not to mention heating and chilling, I have managed to completely disassemble the handle and lock without destroying anything. The sleeve on the handle has been broken, but that was already like that. I have included a photo in case anyone else needs to know. That is the good news.

The bad news is that I cannot get it to unlock. When you move the tumbler to the lock position, turning the tumbler drives the U shaped pawl out of the slot in the handle so it now freewheels . However, turning the tumbler to the unlock position does not drive the pawl into the slot so that the handle can now drive the shaft to open the door. The only way that I can see this happening is for the flat spring (top of photo) to push it into position. Not what I was expecting, and I cannot see how it actually does this. If anyone has an idea of how this should work, I would appreciate hearing. Otherwise I will just go back and have another fiddle.

[Gunsmoke]

It occurs to me that the spring is used to hold the sliding "U" in unlocked position (so door does not accidentally lock) it's role is only to pull slider to unlocked position, the force on the key puts it in locked position. The stud on the end of the lock I presume operates like a cam (I note cylinder is off-center from face of lock), moving the slider to the left or right to lock/unlock. Seems like a pretty simple mechanism, trial and error should get you there.

[Spinneyhill]

My Dodge 8 handle lock is stuck too. I had a lock smith look at it in the '90s to get it going. It appears the die-cast parts are swelling and sticking again.

[Bullfrog_eng]

Gunsmoke, I recon you are right. I just can't seem to make it do that at the moment. Will keep fiddling.

Spinneyhill, yes, handy things these die-cast bits. Not sure if mine was stuck with swelling or corrosion, probably both. But I could not shift it without applying heat. The trick is to apply enough to do the job but not enough to create a little silver puddle. I surprised myself in being able to do that, but was getting increasingly desperate .

[Bullfrog_eng]

Well, I think I have a solution.

The problem was that I could not hold the spring in such a way that it exerted any pressure on the pawl, it just flopped around in the hollow centre of the shaft. I could find no way that it had been held originally. It may be that there is something missing, I wont argue if you say I lost that piece during dismantling!

Anyway, I cut a piece of rod that was a snug fit in the hollow centre, cut a slot in one end to hold the spring, cut the rod to correct length and assembled it all (not easy). It seems to work well, when you unlock the handle (which is still freewheeling) then turn the handle to its normal horizontal position, the pawl snaps back in position and the handle turns the shaft.

Not sure how it should be done, but this will do me. Thanks for all comments.