The Good...the Bad..and the Ugly!

 

I'm back to waiting for parts again, but for some reason, I'm feeling a bit more optimistic than I have in a long while. Maybe it's because cooler fall weather has arrived 

I was notified that the speedometer and tach I sent back to the manufacturer for repair have both been repaired and shipped, so I should have them in hand sometime next week. If they actually fixed them this time, I'll be able to reassemble the dash and console enough to test the HVAC operation and all the electrical dash and console controls. 

I'm also expecting the chrome plating shop to ship the interior door handles next week. While waiting for them, I redesigned the passenger door latch to see if I could improve the outside door handle operation and durability. So far so good, but I'm anxious to get all the door latch parts together to see if it works better than my original design.  

This is the original mockup, using light weight material to test feasibility.

Below is the redesigned part simplified and made from heavier gauge material. It's still ugly but operates and sounds much more rugged. Since it is out of sight inside the door, I'm not concerned about beauty as long as it functions properly.

  

For what it is worth, I've been looking for a stock actuator from some kind of Mopar vehicle and thought I had found one in a '79 Aspen, but it wouldn't quite fit between the glass and the door sheet metal. I'll keep looking but for the time being I'll use my homemade parts until I get the car running before I get too old to finish the job!