Body / Glass: GT Hawk Door Latch Spring

[fpstude]

A couple days ago I started what should have been a 30 minute project. It is not finished yet. I'm installing a new lock on the drivers door. The new lock and key could not actuate the lock mechanism. After many attempts in various positions of the lock assembly I removed the door latch assembly. It was quite dirty causing the movement of components to be very difficult. After cleaning the assembly, the lock appears to be working okay. My question is about a little spring that is broken. I can not figure out what the purpose of the spring is and if I will have a future problem if the latch assembly is installed without this spring.





Interior view of the latch assembly after cleaning.



Here is a close view of the little spring. I assume the broken / missing part of the spring goes through the hole to the upper left of the spring. Even if I could obtain the spring I'm not sure about its installation as it seems to be installed as the latch is assembled. SI has the assemblies, but for the 1063 GT they are quite expensive. Probably around $170 delivered.

[StudeRich]

No matter what the purpose of the spring is, it looks like the bottom line is you need to find a good used door latch. Why not try Bob Peterson also in Calif.?

[TWChamp]

I buy piano wire from a good hardware store and make my own springs when I can't find one. I then put some oil on all the moving parts, then brush on a coating of Mystik JT-6 High Temp red grease. This should keep the mechanism well lubed for my lifetime. In fact I need to do this to both my doors on the 50 2 door Champion I just bought. Right now the key is very tight to turn to lock and unlock the doors. I also need to adjust the doors up about 1/4" at the rear.

[bezhawk]

Any latch from 56 up will have that spring. Without it you will lock yourself out of the car. It keeps the lock rod in place when it's up, unlocked, and prevents it from falling in the locked, or down position . Without it it can lock itself under the force of gravity.

[fpstude]

Thanks for the input to all. I understand the latch operation now and have a direction for a solution.

[63 R2 Hawk]

By now, you should know that there is no such thing as a "thirty minute project". If there are bolts or screws holding something together, the last one will always be rusted and snap off or need to be drilled out regardless of how many there are. If you need to replace the screws or bolts, you will only have one less than the number you need in you hardware stash and will have to go to the hardware store on the other side of town, 30 minutes away. Any time you disassemble a part and put it back together, there will be something that didn't quite get reinstalled exactly right and you have to take it apart again. On the third try, you finally get the shop manual out. There will always be a spring or detent ball or something that falls on the floor and rolls under the bench or flings itself across the room and you spend the next 45 minutes trying to find it.

[autoradiotech]

Yep, Murphy's law!!!

[Paul Keller]

In re-doing my '63 Hawk door lock/latch, I used the following process:
Cleaned entire assembly in diesel fuel (soaked overnight), then blew out the crud w/ spray can brake fluid and looked for any trace of remaining crud - If in any doubt, re-did the above.
After the brake cleaner dried for several hours (overnight) sprayed the entire assembly w/ Teflon DRY Lube - Several times.
then, after letting that dry overnight, lubed the moving parts at the point where they rub against one-another and that are accessible, w/ high pressure Lithium grease - as little as is possible.