77 S door panel removal

[jimrockford]

The driver's door lock on my 77 S is refusing to go up all the way, and the door is staying locked! To add insult to injury, I thought the problem was with the latch that hits the door striker, so that is now stuck in the closed/locked position... the door won't even close!

SO, I removed the screws/bolts for the upper half of the door panel. I worked the bottom edge of it out of the top of the bottom half of the panel. But now, I can't get the top edge of the top half to come out of the window channel. What to do? What's the procedure to get this out?

I have the Chilton's manual, and I must say it is absolutely no help.

[texxas8902]

You're just not trying hard enough. I know you may be afraid of tearing something up if it is your first time taking off the upper panel. Move it back and forth (front to back) a little while pushing up and grasping it on the outer edges. It will come off and it will come off easier if the window is down. On the latch, hold the door handle (inside or outside) in the open position and try to flip the latch open with a large screwdriver. Giving it a couple of shots of penetrating oil before hand may help.
Chilton's manuals are for general items, some torque specs and firing order. I have an old one but don't use it much because it usually offers no help. If you look up the A/C system in a Chilton's, it tells you to go to a qualified service tech.:mad: Boy that's a big help.:rolleyes:

[jimrockford]

Well, I got everything open, I got the door lock working... but the door latch is still stuck in place. And like an idiot, I went to inspect the passenger side to see how it SHOULD look, and I gave it a little nudge to see which direction it should move, and SNAP- now I have two doors that won't close!

Note that the latches seem to be locked into place, like they are supposed to be there once the door is closed. I don't think they are simply stuck and need oil of some kind. : ( Thoughts? Right now my garage door is half open because the car sticks out 6 inches! And some shady looking ricer was parked across the street staring at my little car collection for a while today.

[texxas8902]

Pull and hold the outside door handle up, then while holding the handle(the handle not the lock knob) up push the latch mechanism back to the other position with a large standard screw driver or other appropriate tool. It is real easy to do. Good luck.

[jimrockford]

DON'T MESS WITH TEXXAS! ha ha Your solution was perfect, for the passenger side... the driver's side is still no dice. : ( I've attached a pic showing as far as it will go to the right. It feels like it's hitting something inside that's supposed to make it stop, but what? I tried both door handles together and separately, too.

Now that I think about, it always took me 2 tries to close the door... it would never fully close with a normal pull. I'd always have to do it again, harder.

[texxas8902]

Like mine, your door hinges have sagged down some. That is why the paint just along the top of the latch edge is worn because it is dragging the striker latch post on the door frame. That is why you have to slam it harder the second time to get it to close. Temporarily you can adjust the striker post to line up with the sagged door so it closes right. You can adjust the striker post quite a bit to compensate for the saggy hinges but eventually it will cause the rear of the upper door panel to develop a wear hole from rubbing the frame because of the mis alignment. The proper solution is to rebush the hinges of course. Also there is a small plastic piece( see picture) that fits on the striker post shaft that helps the door stay quiet when driving. You need one for each door if yours are missing. You can still get them from GM, silencer, part number 9601752 they came in a bag of 10 but even with the door adjusted correctly, they get worn out, crack and fall off and then the door rattles when you go over bumps, so it is good to have the spares. I took a picture of the one I have left. It's time for me to get some more. From the picture your latch is stuck in the closed position. I'd just do the same thing that worked on the passenger side, I have to think it is just stuck and needs a little more force applied to get it to snap back. I bet you slammed it pretty hard more than once on your striker post when you first tried to close the door after tripping the latch. I would bet it is just stuck. Put some $h!+ on it and pop it back into place! Give it a try, what do you have to lose?

[Stocker]

You can still get them from GM, silencer, part number 9601752 they came in a bag of 10

Interesting. I tried finding those but never had any luck.

[texxas8902]

Gm parts direct shows them in stock under that part number for a bag of ten at 72 cents and says GM list is a whopping $1.21.

[jimrockford]

DUDES- just wanted to say thank you for the help. Inexplicably, the driver's door latch opened today with a screwdriver. No fuss, no muss, just like Texxas said it would. It's much colder today than when I tried it the first time, so who knows what's going on! Anyhow, thanks for all your help. I'm going to a local Chevy dealer this week to get the plastic piece for my striker, too. $1.21! Yea.

[Stocker]

Gm parts direct shows them in stock under that part number for a bag of ten at 72 cents and says GM list is a whopping $1.21.

That's funny... I bought a bag of 10 and it was that price per bushing.

And, for those who need these, the hole in every single bushing in the bag was too small and off-center so I had to grind it out with a Dremel.

[texxas8902]

Sorry about that I left out the word each. I didn't mean the whole bag was 72 cents. I just bought some new ones two weeks ago when I rebuilt my saggy door hinges and the silencers fit perfect. The bushings have always been a little lopsided but slide right on the posts on my car. Strange they didn't fit on your car.

[Stocker]

Ok, I thought maybe that was the case but I wasn't sure.

I must've gotten a bad batch or something. Oh well, at least they're snug on the posts.