The door latch on my 71 Chevelle apparently has a broken part in it. Both the outside door button, the inside handle and the lock mechainsm appear to function OK looking at them with the inner door panel removed.

What is the trick to opening the door? There must be something that can be pushed or pried on from inside the door to open the latch.

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It's a BIGGER block!

Make sure that the pivot lever that the outer button pin contacts has returned to its correct position (all the way out). That lever tends to rust and stiffen up, not allowing its return to full release position. When that happens latch doesn't know what to do and won't release from inside or out. Lubricate and push lever out toward outer button pin. It must be able to move freely, as it is spring loaded. Karl

matb,

Well, the pivot lever was moving as it was supposed to. I doused the latch mechanism as best I could with LPS and it finally opened. It works fine now. Since I had to mangle my inner door panel to get it off the door, I don't want to go through this again if the latch sticks again. I have ordered a set of reproduction latches from the Paddock.

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It's a BIGGER block!

I had this problem last year on my 71. It turned out to be the lock. It was stuck in the locked position. The arm on the lock was moving but it wasn't unlocking. I just played around with it and got it open. It made me loose some sleep that night cause I didn't know if I'd have to cut something to get it open. Anyway it sounds simple, but be sure it's not the lock.Good Luck.....Bill

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B.Rose
68-SS396 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/71SSBB/1968chevelle.jpg)
71-SS454 (http://www.chevelles.com/showroom/71SSBB/1971ss454.jpg)
ACES #04039