Stiff Door Handle

[eric lipper]

The door handle push button is a little stiff and it does not feel like a lubrication issue because it operates normally.  In looking at the door latch from the outside I am not intelligent enough to know if the latch is reproduction or OEM.  I assume that the spring in the latch is too stiff on the latch but anyone seen this condition and what is the best solution.

[nctrucks]

Yes  I had the same issue with my 67.  It was the grease had dried up in the latch.  Was sticky would not let things move freely.  Removed  cleaned the old grease out.  lubed with caliper grease.  Works perfect now.

[eric lipper]

As it turns out my door latches had the Chinese Virus (i.e. my latches were reproduction and made in China).  The spring on the latch was way too stiff.  I pulled the latches and replaced them with 1969 service parts that I bought on Ebay.  The difference between real and the reproduction was astounding.  I did not weigh the two latches but the service part was noticeably heavier.  Now the door latches work as they should and I no longer have to slam the door to make it latch. 

BTW.  I bought the part from Stilwell Obsolete Ford Parts on Ebay and they shipped it two day for no extra charge and they were a good seller.  The crazy thing is that they were still in the unopened service part boxes that were in excellent condition.  The latches were coated with some sort of storage grease so the hardest part of the whole deal was removing the old storage grease before I installed them.

[Bob Gaines]

As it turns out my door latches had the Chinese Virus (i.e. my latches were reproduction and made in China).  The spring on the latch was way too stiff.  I pulled the latches and replaced them with 1969 service parts that I bought on Ebay.  The difference between real and the reproduction was astounding.  I did not weigh the two latches but the service part was noticeably heavier.  Now the door latches work as they should and I no longer have to slam the door to make it latch. 

BTW.  I bought the part from Stilwell Obsolete Ford Parts on Ebay and they shipped it two day for no extra charge and they were a good seller.  The crazy thing is that they were still in the unopened service part boxes that were in excellent condition.  The latches were coated with some sort of storage grease so the hardest part of the whole deal was removing the old storage grease before I installed them.

The grease is typically a cosmoline varent. FYI the door button difference between repro and original is quite noticeable. The OEM stuff is not loose like the repro. 

[eric lipper]

Bob I am not certain if my exterior door handles were OEM or reproduction but they seem to work ok so I left them alone at the moment.  With that said, I was surprised at how well the reproduction latches copied the cosmetics but failed on their ability to operate correctly.  Once you had the real deal in one hand and the reproduction in the other the differences were obvious.

[JohnHouston]

I went through this on my 69 Camaro.  The repro latches used thin metal, and looked pretty much the same, but were most definitely not the same. After much fiddling, they now function . . ..

John

[Bob Gaines]

Bob I am not certain if my exterior door handles were OEM or reproduction but they seem to work ok so I left them alone at the moment.  With that said, I was surprised at how well the reproduction latches copied the cosmetics but failed on their ability to operate correctly.  Once you had the real deal in one hand and the reproduction in the other the differences were obvious.

You have discovered the fault of the repro latch that has been known for a couple of decades since they came out. I was not talking about the door handles but the door handle button assembly. The repro button assembly is made with looser tolerances and the button can wiggle around and sometimes rattle . The OEM assembly has tighter tolerances and doesn't wiggle around or rattle.

[eric lipper]

Now that I have really studied the OEM v. reproduction latch clearly my other cars have the OEM unit.