Victoria passenger door latch

[jdempsey]

Is there any way to repair the door latches in an early '31 Victoria? I removed the passenger door latch and it needs work ...no springs that work...everything is loose. It appears to have been repaired before.

Is it repairable or is there a source for those latches anywhere. I've noticed a number of sources for latches, but none seem to look like the Victoria latch.

Any help/advice is always appreciated.

Thanks,
John Dempsey

[Doug in NJ]

I repaired all four of the latches on my S/W sedan. I think that are essentially the same style as the Victoria ones. It was a lot of work. I had to remove the special rivets that guide the sliding parts, repair the worn areas by building up weld and filing, and make new rivets on a lathe. I also did the same thing to the strikers. Fortunately all the springs were still OK.

I suspect that the latches are similar to '32 latches, so that may be another lead for getting parts. If you find and S/W or '32 replacement latches, you may need to re-use your own control arm, since that part depends on the size of the door.
Also beware that there are subtle differences between left/right and front/rear.

Here are some photos: http://dougbraun.com/model_a_gallery...Photos?page=60


Good Luck,
Doug

[jdempsey]

Wow, Doug you do great work! And take great pics!

Thanks for the tip....yours definitely looks like mine.

John

[Kevin in NJ]

Here is what I had done:

Slant Door Latch

[jdempsey]

Thanks so much Kevin and Doug! Your pics have given me some confidence to try to repair it myself.

I do have another question....shouldn't there be a spring at the other end of the bar...at the latch handle? Mine has none and is very loose.

Thanks,
John

[Kevin in NJ]

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There is a spring steel piece that keeps the handle in position.

See Brattons 2012 catalog page 122 and the Brattons number is 30720. You probably can look it up online if you do not have their catalog (get one if you do not have one).

[sturgis 39]

Call Bert's Model "A" Store in Denver. They have all kinds of used parts and they seem more than reasonable. I looked at some of the pictures on this thread. I am not sure what I was looking at but the one door latch looks like a suicide door latch on a four door v8. It seems that if the screw holes will line up the latch will work. Some latches look different but they will substitute on different years.

[Dale G.]

The Victoria Association has a nice article with pictures on how to restore door latches for the Victoria car. Membership will get you access to a book of information.

[jdempsey]

Thanks for all the help... Based on your tips I Already ordered the springs.

And I just became a member of the Victoria assoc. so I'll definitely check out their resources.

John

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by jdempsey

Thanks for all the help... Based on your tips I Already ordered the springs.

And I just became a member of the Victoria assoc. so I'll definitely check out their resources.

John

Buy all the back issues and the the book they offer, you will not be dissapointed! Any "excess" money from printing goes to the Scholorship and Youth Restoration fund.