1956 Plymouth Belvedere Lost in the 50s

I'm down with a case of the flu of some kind, so haven't had the strength to do much except sit around and feel sorry for myself. Food doesn't interest me and even my ever present coffee goes cold before I finish.

Camera Troubles Again

I’ve been trying to take photos all weekend, but it appears my camera has gone into total failure mode.  I was only able to salvage two of about twenty pictures, and they are blurry.

I finished one side of the interior door handle assembly, and I’ve begun fabricating all the small parts needed for the opposite side.  It’s a very time-consuming step without showing a lot of physical progress.

These photos don’t show much detail, but you can probably see that the handle’s  supporting structure and arm rest base are combined, and attach in the original arm rest mounting holes. The side will be covered with door panel matching vinyl.

I promise better pictures if I can talk my wife into teaching me how to use her go-pro.

I may have to entirely re-think how the outside door handle will operate the latch. There is so little room between the window channel and the door sheet metal that I may not be able to fabricate a sturdy enough structure to function the way I had planned. The mockup I made is too flexible to create enough leverage to move the cable, and a heavier design might not clear the window.

Another option might be to find a “push” style cable and redesign the way it attaches to the latch and the handle.

Time to rest my brain for a few days.

Getting a Handle on Things

I made good progress on my door latch/handle design the past few days, but not much visual to share.

The inside handle assembly works great and I’ve finally calculated a way to convert the outside handle movement to actuate the latch.  The prototype outer handle release needs only a few minor dimensional changes to clear the window channel inside the door, but it functions properly.

These pictures show how the custom interior door handle is built into the arm rest housing and how it attaches to the latch. When the outer handle design is proved to operate acceptably inside the door, I’ll order two more cables and assemble the parts for the driver’s side. Then on to something different!