Altman easy latch / door repair / gasket install for no slam doors

[Grumpy old man]

I have a nice set of rust free doors for my 67 but the drivers door has damage to the door latch mount hole , So I decided to order the Altman latches today from Summit and fix a couple problems with an upgraded latch .and use the gasket install tips from Stout Customs on youtube . I usually get over night shipping from Summit so I'll add a few more install pictures over the weekend . Watch the video . With free shipping Summit has the best prices on these

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tfg-ael-ct6772

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvw5RhbhPVc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_POFylRo8c

[dagnabbitt]

I'm in, I have always been interested in these.

[darkhorse970]

I’m interested to see the results.

[fatbass]

They look sharp...

Go to gringoloco's thread in builds, "How to ruin a perfectly good C10", Page 92.
BTW, his entire truck is amazing.

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by fatbass

They look sharp...

Go to gringoloco's thread in builds, "How to ruin a perfectly good C10", Page 92.
BTW, his entire truck is amazing.

After I considered the cost of new stock style latches and the time to repair the damage to the stock mounting hole upgrading the latches seemed like the way to go . This picture shows they "disappear" after being painted .

[Moore87]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

I have a nice set of rust free doors for my 67 but the drivers door has damage to the door latch mount hole , So I decided to order the Altman latches today from Summit and fix a couple problems with an upgraded latch .and use the gasket install tips from Stout Customs on youtube . I usually get over night shipping from Summit so I'll add a few more install pictures over the weekend . Watch the video . With free shipping Summit has the best prices on these

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tfg-ael-ct6772

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvw5RhbhPVc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_POFylRo8c

You may want to check the part numbers. When I bought mine, the summit kit was for shaved door handles. The kit for stock door handles was like $50 more I think

I have them on the shelf ready to install so I’ll be following along

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Moore87

You may want to check the part numbers. When I bought mine, the summit kit was for shaved door handles. The kit for stock door handles was like $50 more I think

I have them on the shelf ready to install so I’ll be following along

I saw that when I was doing my research on them , This "kit" is the right one to keep stock handles and locks . They will be here today so I'll post pictures when they arrive just to be sure . Here is the description from Summit , With tax they were $315.00 shipped .

Trique Manufacturing Altman Easy Latch Kits

Trique Manufacturing Altman Easy Latch kits make your door operation as smooth as your classic's looks. Over the years, door latch mechanisms take a real beating. These kits restore safe, secure action with their vehicle-specific, bear jaw-style latch system. And, you get to keep your existing inside and outside door handles, as well as your outside lock cylinder. Altman kits require no welding and include everything you need for both doors. So, if you find yourself slamming your doors to shut them, yanking on them to open them, or, even worse, they're flying open while you're going down the road, it's time for Trique Manufacturing Altman Easy Latch kits. They're built just like your classic ... to last!

Features include:

* Case-hardened steel latch paws
* Stainless steel striker pins and internal springs
* 2-position catch system
* Latch body and levers are zinc plated to provide corrosion protection
* Internal paws are black oxide coated to resist abrasion

[Moore87]

Perfect. You are on top of it

I agree, the biggest pet peeve I have in mine is the door slamming. I will do whatever it takes to make them close easily even if I have to chop the door/jam area to reduce the weatherstripping compression

[Davidf]

Many times, hard door closing is due to the position of the door in the cab opening. Much less to do with the latch or the pinch weld that holds the door seal. It can be related to a specific door seal, but not so much.

Many times the door is positioned in the opening to fit the fender position or a poorly fit outer rocker panel. What should happen is the door properly positioned first so that the space between the inner door skin and the seal pinch weld is consistent and sufficient all around the perimeter of the door. Then the fender adjusted to fit the door.

This usually will result in a easy closing door.

[Willys_MB]

I'm very interested. I'm tired of my passenger door flying open when I'm going down the road, but don't really like the idea of putting the same thing back in there. Thanks for sharing, Grumpy!

[Grumpy old man]

Summit's speedy delivery . Overnite to here from GA . These latches are for using your outside door handles and door locks as advertised . and I ordered the push on precision gaskets with them . Bye bye door problems .

[Zeroman]

I love my Trique Manufacturing Altman latches.

If you have any issues on the install be sure to give Trique a call. They were extremely helpful when I had questions.

All these doors are just a bit different so you may have to improvise a bit.

I upgraded to the billet aluminum striker plates(second pic) because my "Leroy" deserves the best.

Also, once you get them installed you can get a pair of door prop rods(third pic) to use during shows. You have to bend them to change the radius as they are designed for shorter street rod doors.

https://watsons-streetworks.com/prod...door-prop-rod/

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Zeroman

I upgraded to the billet aluminum striker plates(second pic) because my "Leroy" deserves the best

I'll be ordering the upgrade aluminum striker plates today , The plain steel plate leaves some to be desired . I think I'm also going to add a filler plate to smooth that gap once I check clearance

[Moore87]

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Summit's speedy delivery . Overnite to here from GA . These latches are for using your outside door handles and door locks as advertised . and I ordered the push on precision gaskets with them . Bye bye door problems .

Are you bolting them on or cutting the door and welding?

[67swb72klb]

It does not look like it would be a problem to flush weld the kit in...

[Grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Moore87

Are you bolting them on or cutting the door and welding?

I bolted them in . Like the pictures above ^ I'll add more pictures later today .

Originally Posted by 67swb72klb

It does not look like it would be a problem to flush weld the kit in...

I considered welding them in but given the limited space in the edge of the door and I don't have a tig welder cleaning up mig welds didn't look like it would be fun or fast .

[Zeroman]

The issue you create if you weld them in is that the latch tolerances are designed for the unit to be bolted in.

I believe Trique advises not to weld them in.

If you weld them in they may not work properly, and you may not be able to roll down the window completely as you are effectively moving the latch forward in the door which may impede on the window tracking down into the door.

Also, there is less ability to adjust the latch if you need to.

These trucks were not really precision built vehicles like modern vehicles. There are many tolerance differences between manufacturing plants, etc.

Just try to fit two different doors from two different trucks to a totally different cab, and you will see what I mean.

[MONTE]

Might have to give them a try on my c10 suburban!

[Moore87]

Originally Posted by Zeroman

The issue you create if you weld them in is that the latch tolerances are designed for the unit to be bolted in.

I believe Trique advises not to weld them in.

If you weld them in they may not work properly, and you may not be able to roll down the window completely as you are effectively moving the latch forward in the door which may impede on the window tracking down into the door.

Also, there is less ability to adjust the latch if you need to.

These trucks were not really precision built vehicles like modern vehicles. There are many tolerance differences between manufacturing plants, etc.

Just try to fit two different doors from two different trucks to a totally different cab, and you will see what I mean.

I have a set on the shelf. Directions say you can do either. There’s plenty of adjustments to allow for it to be welded


I just haven’t decided whether I like all those bolt heads or not

[Zeroman]

Moore87..that's good to know.

I bought very early after the initial release, so at that time they had not included that info.

[1971Stepside]

I installed these in my doors. When I was test fitting it all together I had the Civic door seals and the doors shut real nice. When it came out of paint we installed the press on Precision seals and the doors require the same old slamming. I thought I would give the seals some time to work in and see if they get better. They may have a little bit but not much. If I adjust the latches "out" a little the doors work fantastic both in and out but the door gap is then terrible. If you adjust to pull the door in flush then they are hard to close and open. Would I buy these again? Yes. They are clean and are easier to adjust over the stock set up.

[Willys_MB]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

I installed these in my doors. When I was test fitting it all together I had the Civic door seals and the doors shut real nice. When it came out of paint we installed the press on Precision seals and the doors require the same old slamming. I thought I would give the seals some time to work in and see if they get better. They may have a little bit but not much. If I adjust the latches "out" a little the doors work fantastic both in and out but the door gap is then terrible. If you adjust to pull the door in flush then they are hard to close and open. Would I buy these again? Yes. They are clean and are easier to adjust over the stock set up.

That's a solid review - thanks for sharing.

[Grumpy old man]

They are really easy to install , I just used a cut off wheel and an angle grinder to clean up the hole ,Clamped it in place per directions and drilled for mounting bolts. easy peasy .

You have to bend the door lock rod and the door latch rods, Again easy and they send a diagram to show the bends ,

Per the instructions they include a new door lock pawl and actuating rod clips for both doors but they didn't come in my kit . So a quick call to Trique this morning I was told there was a shipping error and they would ship them out to me directly and they had already notified Summit and had sent them the missing pieces for anyone who had already ordered . No big deal at least they are sending them .

I just noticed there is some flash rust on the door mount just from over night so I'll pull them back off this morning and get them epoxy primed .

If you have a door like mine with a damaged mount this is an easy way to fix it and upgrade your locks .

[72Teeroy]

Originally Posted by Zeroman

I love my Trique Manufacturing Altman latches.

If you have any issues on the install be sure to give Trique a call. They were extremely helpful when I had questions.

All these doors are just a bit different so you may have to improvise a bit.

I upgraded to the billet aluminum striker plates(second pic) because my "Leroy" deserves the best.

Also, once you get them installed you can get a pair of door prop rods(third pic) to use during shows. You have to bend them to change the radius as they are designed for shorter street rod doors.

https://watsons-streetworks.com/prod...door-prop-rod/

Leroy sure looks nice love that door prop pretty dang cool

[Grumpy old man]

Well ... It took a few days and a number of calls and emails to straighten out the missing parts issue. First Summit was going to send them 5-7 days , Then Trique was sending them , Then Summit sent me an email that the parts weren't available separately so I needed to return the whole kit for a replacement but I had already epoxy primed the mounting plates so finally Trique sent them UPS at my cost for shipping $15.58 So other than that fiasco it's a nice kit and I'll get the doors and gaskets squared away shortly . Here is a picture of the missing door lock pawls and door latch and door lock rod clips .