MODEL A Door Latches
 

Whats up with the door latch assemblies for Model A's?
Have called 8 different suppliers trying to find door latch assembly for the
drivers door for my 31 closed cab pick up. They give me all the same answer,
none till after the 1st of he year ,if then !!. Anyone know whats up ??
Am looking for a good 1 if anyone knows where to locate.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

Call Bert's 800-321-1931

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

nope,
strike #9. any other suggestions ?? short of rebuiliding the one i got ??

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

Wait til after the 1st of the year??
Put a "want" on the swap section. Maybe someone reading this thread can help you out.
Paul in CT

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

I did, maybe someone has got a good one around.

THANKS FOR THE HELP GUYS N GALS !!!

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

Is there a reason why this is not an option for you?? Yes they are time-consuming but not that hard, and I'd bet that you already have the equipment to do the restoration on them.


.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

I believe I heard a year ago that the jobber for those door latches was in Sweden. Same with the repro steel top panels for '31 P.U.'s and perhaps others. I would have to agree with Brent, a little welding and grinding, you should have a good latch.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

What most folks don't know,is that a manufacturer can never exactly gauge when to make more parts. Lets say you make that door latch for $10. you have to make 1000 of them at a time. Thats $10K for making that latch. But wait- then you need the other side, thats another $10K. Then you find out that the company that makes them for you layed off half their workforce 3 years ago when the economy tanked. So now, the economy is coming back, but they dont quite want to hire everyone back, so they tell you it is going to be 8 weeks till you get your 1000 door latches that you need to make sure you have the $20K to give them, and hope you sell some. That is the two things that make a part like that out of stock nationwide for a couple months. The irony to me, is that in this case, almost everyone that wants that door latch, already has one, that they could have rebuilt in less time then they spent making all the phone calls to get a new one, that will need some work done to it to get it to work in the car. In the last week we have had several dozen people call us wanting that same door latch. The same thing happens everyday on numerous other parts. The manufacturing, stocking, shipping, selling of ANY single part is a delicate balance. Many people pick on Mitchell manufacturing for not having 100's of overdrives in stock....but in many ways, I think they are the smart ones. They are still in business , making a quality part, and not going out of business like many other manufacturers have in this and many other industries. Several companies that make Model A parts have gone out of business in the last few years- some due to retirement, some due to lack of sales, some due to overseas competition, some due to soaring healthcare costs for their employees, and some just went on to make parts for other cars that they can make more money on. All I am saying is, it takes a lot of different things to get one little part on the market, at a reasonable price, in the relatively small quantity that we need for all cars. We make parts for Model A's. Many of these, in order to get them at a reasonable price, we have to make 5 years supply. It is all a big gamble really, if you look at the big picture here. Most machine shops, foundries, etc that make car parts, make them for Napa, or the Big Three, want to make orders for 50,000- 100,000 pieces- not the 500 pieces or 1000 pieces we need on our small hobby....

Just my 2 cents worth.....

Steve Becker
Bert's Model A Center

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

Well if any of you have broken door latches for a 30 cctruck or a 30 tudor im intrested . I need both sides for both cars.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

please post a photo, so we dummies know what it looks like

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

I did happen to find a pair of good used ones and they are on there way, so i am gonna rebuild them and use them. The original ones out of my truck had been repaired sometime in the past ( and a very poor job at that ! ) and was just going to replace them. But never the less i got some coming and will re-build them myself so i know they will be done correctly. I was told by snyders it was a manufacturing issue with some of the components.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

Steve, I am glad you posted that because the perception by many just do not understand the "behind-the-scenes" process, ...and I/we DO appreciate your willingness to be a manufacturer too.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

rebuilding them is not that hard.if I can do it anyone can...Dave

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

Steve.... thanks for that insight. Most enlightening, and all perfectly logical. We have become so used to being able to buy a brand new part for an 80 year old car, and to get it virtually overnight, that we have come to expect it almost as a right.

Re: MODEL A Door Latches
 

If you put an add in the wanted section I'm surprised one of the
fellows in England didn't have a warehouse full on NOS ones.:D

Bob