47-55.1 Doors - Mix Match of Parts 47-5?

[Thadious]

So, here is my scenerio...

I have 48 doors on a 52 cab. Personally I'm not in preference to the wing windows and prefer a solid on piece glass.

Now, I'm not a fan of the turn down handles as they always seem to droop over time and I'd really like to have door locks on BOTH sides of the truck.

I was looking at using the 52-59 door handles with matching cylinders to go with the ignition and glove box. Ignition is going to be dash mounted with the off-acc-run and sprung start. I've thought about using a floor or behind dash starter button but thinking more simplicity, and I don't have space to the right or left of my pedals as I have a clutch in this one and the high/low beam is to the left of the clutch.

Now, the thought... has anyone blanked off the holes in a 47/48 door and redrilled for a 52 latch set?

Anyone have any measurements for the holes??

Another point to note is that I'll be using small Autoloc bear claws for the latches with a few mods similar to Altman.

Anyone? Thoughts.

Thanks!
Ted.

[mr48chev]

It's a lot more than blanking off and drilling, there is a reinforcement plate behind the pushbutton handles and I'll have to go out and look but I am not sure you can directly swap latches.

There's a nasty wind blowing outside but I'll try to get a couple of photos of doors I have that are easy to get to.

[mr48chev]

I ran out and got some photos but didn't do any cleaning. Another difference That caught my attention is the location of the upper screw that holds the latch to the door.

[8man]

I got the plates inside the door that Mr48 shows in one picture. I used them on the inside of some 48 doors to locate and mount the push button handle on my 54. I went with Altman latches so I can't help more than that, but I think Mr48 about covered it.

[Thadious]

I see. The screws for the latches I'm not worried about. I have a second set of trash doors that I'll be cutting up for some parts but they are 48 era style. The intention is to cut out the latch area, fill in the blanks and recut out the openings for bear claws (rotary small type) then use them as a bolt on insert similar to the Altmans. This also allows me to make filler panels from the original gauge of material for the closest match.

The holes for the turn downs will be welded shuts as will the lock opening. I may have to try to source the reinforcement plates that the 52 uses and remove the 48's. I've converted 52 doors to 48's in the past, so I've been inside them quite a bit over the years. I like the Altman latch setup, just with the Canadian/US exchange rate, I have a hard time justifying $616 CAD for them (exchange rate, shipping, and taxes at the border). So, I do what I always do... research, design and build.

I've already bought the Autoloc smalls and aftermarked install plates (for templates on the door and the floating nuts on the jamb).

[Thadious]

So, I've sourced a set of handles from the local wrecking yard. I can clearly see the re-inforcement plate for the latches and think I'll have to cut a section out of each of the driver's and passenger's door to get them out, then I'll grind out the 48 re-inforcements, weld up the holes, and redrill and plug weld in the 'new' re-inforcements. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but I'd like to have locks on both the passenger and driver's doors and push button latches work easiest with the rotary bearclaws... from what I can tell...

[mobileortho]

I ran shaved handles on my 50 for a few years before swapping in the 52-59 push buttons and upgraded to the Altman latches. The hardest part of the swap for me was finding the backing plates although you could make your own.

[Thadious]

Interesting thing... I sourced the plates yesterday from a 'local' (hr + down the road) wrecking yard. They came from a couple of trucks with the doors caved in, but that section was unharmed. Brought them home, sandblasted them clean, popped the 3 spot welds on each of them, re-blasted them (the areas that were butted together) and a good coat of weldable primer.

Now, I just need the location of the large hole and I can use the cut-out door skins as templates. Drill and grind out the holes to match, a few holes for spot welds and we're in business with minimal impact to the doors.

I was going to use small bearclaws (I picked up a set of Autolocs) but I was going back through an old post of mine on a previous build and it looks like I might use a different set of large bearclaws from a 91-95 YJ half door. They have more framing and 'appendages' to adapt things to.

Cheers!
Ted.

[leegreen]

Please post more details as you work through this.

I have been pondering switching to bear claws and sourcing them from the pickapart wrecker cause I am cheap and I also like the idea of getting all the linkage and the matching sections of door frame and pillar for latch and striker rather than just buy the latch alone from aftermarket.

[Thadious]

Originally Posted by leegreen

Please post more details as you work through this.

I have been pondering switching to bear claws and sourcing them from the pickapart wrecker cause I am cheap and I also like the idea of getting all the linkage and the matching sections of door frame and pillar for latch and striker rather than just buy the latch alone from aftermarket.

I hear you, I am too but I'm also pretty cogniscent of the fact that there are some safety items that require quality over value. If at all possible, I try to modify OEM part other than aftermarket.

Right now, I'm looking at going back to using CJ/YJ half door bear claw latches. I have a feeler out to a local guy that wrecks jeeps, but I haven't heard back from him. So I found these on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...9G753MN0H&th=1

What I'm looking to do is to design a mechanism where I would be able to remove a rivet or two and bolt on a setup that would allow 52 push buttons and inside latches to activate the lock. With a little cleanup and welding on the door, you would be able to cut out the new pattern for the bear claws, drill and bolt these together, mod the re-enforcement plate to the 52 style and TA-DA! Door locks on both sides and an OEM look.

The reason for the CJ/YJ locks... is they are simple to work on. I've thought about newer ones but without them in hand, they are more difficult to engineer.

Right now, I have the re-enforcement plates and door templates, waiting to go in after the old re-enforcement plates are popped off.

I just need some measurements the a 52 door holes, if someone is willing to indulge me!

Cheers!
Ted.

[leegreen]

check this build thread out if you have not seen it.
https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...=428878&page=2
starting at post 43

What dimension do you need?

[Thadious]

So, the dimension I'm looking for is the distance down from the window ledge to the the top of the large hole (vertical) for the 52 handles and the distance from the back edge of the door (horizontal) to the edge of the hole. I can use the old door cutouts for templates and then spot weld the re-enforcement plates into place. I'd just like to have them in the original spots and if that means I have to cut out the old holes, repair the skin and drill new ones, so be it.

I've purchased a set of large latches from these guys https://www.hotrodlatches.com/Large_...ge-latches.htm

The intention will be to modify it so as to make a bolt in attachment lockset that will work on the conversion. The next thought is whether to weld up the side of the door edge, recut the edge for the latches or make a cover plate and cut the area out, essentially making a bolt on lockset like the Altman uses. This would require me to cut out the latch area of the spare set of junk doors that I have (they are all bent up and toast otherwise) to make that 'cap'. This would make it a LOT easier to install the latches in and out, especially in the design stage (as they would just bolt in), but not nearly as clean install as the former idea.

[mr48chev]

As slick as it is and with the friendly price point it has I don't think that the CJ/YJ latch is going to work with push buttons.

That setup relies on pulling the handle and having the mechanism inside do a rotating motion to work the latch.

I don't know of any later models that have latches that work with a push button when I start thinking about it.

[leegreen]

1952 doors:

[Thadious]

Excellent!

That is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Now, to have a little time to get the new re-enforcements in and the door holes cut out! Momma's day and all....

Many thanks!
Ted.

[Thadious]

Well, for the most part, I'm done. I just have to do the strikers on the door pillar.

If you're looking to do this, I found that cutting a section out of a pair of old doors worked the easiest.




As posted earlier the measurements to locate the first hole is a good place to start. It's easier to just cut out a square or round of the original door that you are grafting these into than fill, then cut a new hole. The re-inforcement plate for the back shows where the forward hole goes. I drilled holes in the 47 door where the plug welds go for the re-inforcement plate (there are 3), sandblasted the plates and filler pieces, coated them with weldable primer and put it all together.




I made two new mounting plates for the latches to bolt to on the side of the door. Originally they were 18ga but I felt that was too thin and remade them from 14ga.

After that, I went with the large bearjaw latches. I didn't like the smaller ones and wanted something a little more robust. I ordered the ones from https://www.hotrodlatches.com/Large_...ge-latches.htm. The are American made and not offshore parts. Believe it or not, they are thinner than the Autoloc small latches. Space is a premium when putting these in and every little bit counts! I even had to go with shorter mounting bolts because the longer hits the window track and there's a little tab that needs to be flattened out on it (I noted it in the Altman latch install instructions.)

I ended up grinding off the rivet that holds the lower bar in place and threading the hole for a new piece to go in. These are my final setups as I took a little tip from a previous post link to what someone else did. Why re-invent the wheel when it works?

This is my final design. I went with the dual heim joints because of the pivoting action of the lever arms and the misalignment of them when opening. The spring is a little 'assist' to ensure that the parts return to their original settings and help to guarantee that the latches close properly, every time.







All the fabricated parts and hardware are either galvanized steel or stainless. They now work with the pushbutton door handles (using 52-59s so that I have a door lock on both sides) and the inside door latches. Keeping the look as close to original as possible but having the amenities as required.

All in all. Parts and materials ran me about $100 or less. That being said, I still had to bend up the plates, machine parts and a fair bit of time. I didn't have the $600 for a bolt in set, but I wanted a full weld in set that looked like it belonged there in the first place.