HELP Stuck Door latch!

[ccsbivens]

Hi there, my name is Christian and I decided to join this forum for some help.
I have found in the past for forums to be very helpful in understanding and finding solutions to a problem to a car I am new to, so heres some background.

I bought a 1974 Dodge Dart 2 door Swinger Saturday for 250$. The Slant six turns over by hand and has compression, goes in and out of all the gears, and the body is in dang good shape considering. The only reason he was selling so cheap is cause of a recent handicap and the fact he had 198 cars he had to get rid of. The first issue we came across was no keys. I popped the lock out, and unlocked it and the door still wouldn't budge. So what I did to get inside to put it in neutral to load on the transport was jimmied the window down an inch, pryed it out just far enough for me to reach in and roll the rear window down and I crawled in. I then tried to open the door from the inside with no luck, so at the moment I'm Duke'n it.

The car is home now, window down, and I live in Tacoma. It rains 8 days a week here. So that door needs to get open. I removed the door panel and began my assessment. The door handles were actuating the latch, and were in fact moving something. I assume it was moving what it was suppose to be moving, this is the first time I've had this issue so my understanding is vague. My first thought was rust, however the latch mechanism itself is still silver. So I sprayed it with PB blaster just in case the internals were another story for the last 48 hrs going out there periodically and giving the door some pretty harsh kicks with the handle pulled. Still no luck. So I then called my dad. He explained that the door would have to be rusted beyond belief for it to not open after kicking it, and he mentioned it may not be unlocking. So I checked that again. The locking mechanism is moving, but I don't know if its moving like it should. After all this examination and tinkering, I've come to a conclusion.

The door is unlocking, but it looks to me that the hook that grabs the striker is not rotating as far as it should. It rotates, but it stops at a point however the handle still wants to pull it farther. So in my perception, something is preventing it from rotating

I would like to refrain from calling a locksmith out, I'm not even sure if this is even something he can fix. So what do I need to do? What are your takes on whats going on? And what are some solutions?
I've tried to find info on this latch on the internet with no help, so if someone can provide a blown up schematic of the latch assembly it would help a lot to strengthen my understanding of this mechanism. And if theres anything I can do on my part to help you guys help me, let me know. I need these doors to open so I can stop the car from being flooded!
Thankyou, Christian Bivens

 

[FJ5]

Wow wish I could help. Is it possible to remove the rear quarter door panel and take the nut off the back of the striker so the door may open?

 

[ccsbivens]

Wow wish I could help. Is it possible to remove the rear quarter door panel and take the nut off the back of the striker so the door may open?

I also thought about this idea, but wont the striker just rotate on the other end as I'm loosening it? And it still may not have enough play to slip out. So I'm not quite sure. Anyone know how these strikers are attached? Are they bolted or just threaded into the door?

 

[FJ5]

Or maybe get a cut off wheel in there to cut the back off of the striker. Another idea is too the nut off of the striker as I mentioned above then remove the kick panel and take out the door hinge bolts and remove the door.

 

[ccsbivens]

The owner said both doors use to open, cars been sitting for 4 years, he wasn't sure when it was last opened. So something happened to BOTH doors between then. I can't figure it out. I tried pushing the rotating mechanism the handles trying to rotate with a large screwdriver and it just won't go. Is this something a lock smith can fix? I'd hate to go that route, but I need to get these doors to open.

 

[ccsbivens]

Or maybe get a cut off wheel in there to cut the back off of the striker. Another idea is too the nut off of the striker as I mentioned above then remove the kick panel and take out the door hinge bolts and remove the door.

Hmm, I'm liking the hinge removal idea. When it stops raining I'll see if thats possible, but the problem of not having a wrench on the other end may still arise

 

[ssba]

Nice looking dart Christian. Good price also. Welcome.
Since you are already past the door panel and looking at the latch assembly you will see
two pivoting levers. The lower one is the lock and the upper is the latch. If you are in the driver
side door the lower lock pivot arm should turn clockwise slightly to unlock. Counter clockwise
in the passenger door.
As for the catch their is a loose "S" shaped rod coming down from the outside button.
Push this down to release catch. You may have to push on the door at the same time
as things can get dried out and stick.
Once you get it open I would advise to remove latch and wash the sand and dried up grease
out of the mechanism with mineral spirits. Blow it dry and add some fresh lithium grease. It will last for years without problems.

 

[ccsbivens]

This is what I'm working with
The first picture is of it locked
Second is when I have it unlocked
Third is what its doing with the inside door handle pulled as far as it goes

 

[mderoy340]

go to mymopar.com and download the service manuals.

disconnect both inner and outer door latch rods.
The lever that the outer door rod connects to has an adjustment screw to increase or decrease the unlock throw. You may be able to reach in and move it more. This allen screw is normally adjusted with the door open. There's a small hole in the door skin above the latch.

 

[ssba]

Forget about the interior handle for the moment. The rods may be out of adjustment. You need to rotate the upper pivot clockwise so it will unlatch. Push on the door as you do this.

 

[AJ/FormS]

Most excellent pics. You guys are on the money.
But heres the catch, Heh. The part that actually hooks onto the striker is spring loaded. If the hook is stuck or the spring is broken, then you get this problem.What I mean to say is: if the door was already open, you could push the handle open with one hand and hold it there. Then with the other hand you could open and close the hook against the spring pressure. Its actually the spring that pops the hook, releasing the striker.The lock lever prevents the latch lever from moving. The latch lever allows the spring to pop the hook. I hope thats clear.
I went and looked at a 68 mechanism just now. From the striker side, I see a tiny opening at the bottom outboard corner where a guy might be able to insert a hook-tool and push that hook towards the opposite side of the car and release it. When that hook closes it overcenters and if it was rusty would makes almost impossible to rotate. But you wouldnt have to rotate it very far to allow a few kicks to open it the rest of the way. This is possibly clear as mud, but when you get it open, shazam!
BTW, I doubt theres enough room to let the striker-bolt out, no matter what you do to it short of cutting it off flush with the pillar skin.Even then, the reinforcing plate might not let it by.
Other than that I cant help you.

 

[TrailBeast]

You wont be able to get the door hinges off without the door open already, as two of the bolts (one top, one bottom) goes in from the outside of the cabin.
You can see the threaded end of one of the bolts for the bootom hinge behind the kick panel. (to verify if you want)

The head on the striker bolt won't allow it to come out of an unopened latch. and the nut on the backside of it is closed in with metal so it wont turn or fall down inside the body if the striker is taken out. (so no go there either)

One other thing to note is that the latch itself will only rotate all the way as the door opens (so thinking something may be blocking it from moving is probably not the case)

You might try getting a flat bar (like a nail bar) between the bottom corner on the inside of the door and pop it open.
It'll likely ding up your sill plate, but there is a ridge on the sill plate that may allow the bar something to get ahold of.

I think it's that the door is just stuck from the looks of the latch, and the rust inside there kinda leans toward a rusted closed door also.

 

[ssba]

Yes very good pictures. I want to reach right in there and unlatch it for him.

 

[ccsbivens]

Forget about the interior handle for the moment. The rods may be out of adjustment. You need to rotate the upper pivot clockwise so it will unlatch. Push on the door as you do this.

I will try this first thing tomorrow and let you know what happens, on my way out to work
Thanks for everyone trying to help, I have no doubt with enough time I will get these doors open

 

[ccsbivens]

Yes very good pictures. I want to reach right in there and unlatch it for him.

I've tried prying them farther in the direction they want to go, but not while pushing on the door. Is it that essential? I'm hoping it pops right open when I try it tomorrow

 

[VDART]

You are going to have to get medievel on it, open the latch as far as it will go , then you will have kick from the inside to force it open. Try pb blaster on the latch side where the catch pivots, if you have help all the better , have help lift up from the outside while pressure at the latch area is applied time to try your Bruce lee yells! Lawrence

 

[goldfish65]

You are going to have to get medievel on it, open the latch as far as it will go , then you will have kick from the inside to force it open. Try pb blaster on the latch side where the catch pivots, if you have help all the better , have help lift up from the outside while pressure at the latch area is applied time to try your Bruce lee yells! Lawrence

^^^^This^^^^Really kick it as hard as you can.

 

[ssba]

The upper pivot will only rotate clockwise about 15°. Once you have that
held in the unlatched position you will need to push pry kick or whatever to get the door open.
The claws that are supposed to move freely are stuck. It can take some
pressure to get them to roll off the striker post.

 

[70aarcuda]

Had same problem with my 73 Duster a couple month ago with the driver door....inside or outside door latch would not open door...could not see anything wrong with the mechanism...all the lever worked..

sprayed the mechanism with alot of wd 40...not thing seemed to give.... the door latch that engages the striker was stuck.....took two of us to get it unstuck....

sprayed the latch with alot of wd40...worked it back in forth...still working

 

[ccsbivens]

Okay, sounds like a plan. I'll keep soaking it with pb and get my Russian friend to come over and work the outside while I kick from inside while I pry the top lever clockwise

 

[FJ5]

Yep. Trailbeast. I forgot about the bolts from the outside of the hinges. I guess one could take the fender off lol. This is getting crazy.

 

[ccsbivens]

This truly is some magical stuff!

 

[FJ5]

Hoooorrrraaaayyyyyy!!!!!!!!

 

[ccsbivens]

I sprayed it down one good time with pb when I got home from work last night, went out this morning with my steel toe boots on, laid on my back, grabbed the interior latch and kicked as hard as I freaking could and it flew right open! Thanks for yalls help
Much appreciated! Opens and closes fine now

 

[TrailBeast]

Nice.