Issue with passenger door lock/latch assembly on a 1970 C10

[Jimmy Magnum]

Alright, so I have been having some minor issues with the passenger side locking correctly since I bought the truck back in 2005. Well, because of involuntary, extremely long term unemployment, my truck sat in the car port for about a month, with the passenger side locked.

Well, when I went to unlock it, it was stuck locked, no matter what I did. I eventually sprayed some WD-40 into the keyhole (in case it was the lock cylinder itself) and down the locking bar (the one that slides up and down) in hopes that the WD-40 would run down to wherever it was that was stuck on the latch.

Well, it unstuck the lock, but now I have a new problem. There is no resistance in the locking part of the assembly now and it just falls back down below the door latch. I did replace the lock cylinders in case that was it, but I should have just checked the locking mechanism first

Is there some sort of spring that is supposed to essentially return the mechanism? I don't mean the one for the door handle itself. That's fine.

This whole thing has been one headache after another. I had issues with a few of the door panel screws and stripped a few heads (I had to get some PB Blaster to be able to loosen those up) because the rust on those was pretty bad. Now finding out what's really going on, and with it being about 110 outside since I started this whole bit, progress has been slow.

If I have to replace the entire door latch, I am going to be SOL because I don't have money I can spend right now to get a replacement, let alone, drive anywhere to find one (which is why I need a job so bad, but being unemployed for 3 years isn't helping that, either, and no one even gives me a call for an interview to give me a chance).

Any help would be great. Maybe some pictures I can use as a reference.