Body / Glass: Locking doors on 57 pickup

[Tommy Craig]

I am attempting to install electric door locks on my 57 pickup and it seems that the locking rod will need to be mounted horizontal. Unfortunately I have a clearance problem with the actuator and the door glass. The actuator will fit nicely if mounted below the latch and the locking rod extend upward to the latch. However I'm unable to see how to make this happen. My second choice is to install a lock on the drivers side. The passenger side latch has a small square hole near the bottom of the latch for the square rod from the lock to fit into but the drivers latch has a larger circular hole. It appears the square hole mechanism is attached to the latch with bendable tabs. Could I take this off a passenger latch and install on the drivers side and install a lock?

Any thoughts on the best solution to this problem? Thanks

[Skip Lackie]

Locks on both doors became optional, then standard, on later C-cabs. So it might be easier to just buy a complete driver's door latch from a later C-cab truck or a 40s Stude car, part number 265165. It will have the square hole for a lock rod, too.