Good News...Bad News

The good news is the weather in North Texas has been almost summer-like for a few days, but the bad news is the weather in North Texas is almost summer-like!

Without the recent cold rain and winds, I've been able to do a lot of yard work. I cut the grass for the last time and then winterized the mower and small engines by burning up the remaining fuel and put in a small amount of fresh fuel treated with Sta-Bil.  Then I turned and added to the newest compost pile so the completed compost can be added to the garden beds where I'll plant a few things in January. I also dug up some dead shrubs and pruned a bunch of others, but still have two bird-planted mulberry trees to cut down. No rush for them, because the weather turns to winter conditions again tomorrow.

I was also able to check off a few things on my wife's honey-do list. She's been gone for a week and will be for another two weeks. While she's gone, she wanted me to do more shelf customizing in her studio, and build a work bench on rollers, so those projects are now done.

I had planned to link the youtube video of our completed studio, but it's been disabled by the owner so it can not be shown on other websites. Strange...you would think they'd want to advertise their products.

However, there was a bit of progress on the car. Today, I actually got back to making the mirror image parts for the driver's side door latches. I made a bunch of changes these latch assemblies so they are more compact and simpler than the passenger side. I hope the mods will provide more space for the power window hardware and controls.

One Small Success!

The passenger door latch is operating as designed, so I guess I can claim some degree of success!


It’s been a frustrating process, but the passenger latch now opens with both the outside and inside handles. Before I install it permanently, I want to remove it to adjust one end of one cable, so the latch opens slightly earlier in the handle travel. Right now it releases in the final quarter inch of movement. At least the inside handle works beautifully and releases at half-travel!


 The good news is that the oddball design functions quite well, but the bad news is that the hardware is seriously crammed together in a small space and I’m concerned about possible chafing of the cable jacket with time and normal vibrations from driving. The contact is bad enough that I’ve decided to make additional changes in the driver’s side actuator to reduce the package size and allow minor cable rerouting.  I’m a little worried that those changes could increase the cable pull-force too much, but I have to give it a try since the driver’s door will require more reliability and built-in adjustments than the passenger door, which does not get as much use.


For now, I’m busy fabricating the mirror-image metal parts for the other door and will probably postpone the actuator re-design while I test and evaluate the function of the first one.

The Problematic Latch Mechanisms

The smallest things so often create the biggest problems! I’m still fighting the problem of trying to fit my homegrown door latch controls inside the tiny door space I’m stuck with. I’ve redesigned, rebuilt and miniaturized parts wherever I can, but I’m getting frustrated!

I’ve been trying to avoid using electrical controls like door poppers, but I may be forced into doing so if my latest design won’t operate properly.


My wife did such a good job of hiding her GoPro camera, she hasn’t been able to find it yet, so I’m still playing with my crappy Canon. After resetting everything yet again, I was able to get a couple of pictures to focus, but it seems to change settings by itself while it sits in the drawer.  

Bear claw latch with adapter to operate inside and outside handles individually.

Outside handle actuator mechanism to convert door handle push rod to cable pulling action. 

Maybe I’m doing something wrong with the camera, but it seems that the more things a device can do, the more unreliable it is, and I don’t need or want most of the features available on what is supposed to be a very simple, basic camera for technically-challenged operators like me.

Return from Zombie-land

Ten days lost to the flu, and still not 100%, but a whole lot better than I was a week ago! I lost ten pounds since the flu hit, and I'm now at the low side of my target weight. I'll have to start eating again.

It's been years since I had the flu, even those years when I didn't have a shot. I had planned to get one this fall, but the bug beat me to it. Now I'm behind all the normal work required to own and maintain a home, so not much time to spend on the car project. Since I can only sneak in an hour or two in the shop when the wife isn't looking, I've not been able to start any bigger jobs.

There were some tolerance issues with the door latch setup, so I've had to re-make some of the parts, and that's been the focus since feeling well enough to do some light work. The biggest problem has been designing and fabricating parts that will fit in the cramped area between the window channel and the door sheet metal. It's the proverbial 50 pounds in a 49 pound bag! I'm anxious to finish the replacement parts to see if I resolved the clearance issues.

Tried taking pictures again after fiddling with the settings on my crappy Canon camera, but still can't get the dang thing to work right. I really need to talk the wife out of her GoPro!

This is the only picture that was even close to being in focus.

By next week, the weather should be cooler and more comfortable to work with the big overhead door open, and by then I should be caught up with the yard work...or maybe I'm being too optimistic!

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!

Functional Version of Armrest and Door Handle

Good old cardboard does it again!

Due to lack of aftermarket parts and some of my grandiose ideas, I 've had to design and fabricate many parts for this car, I don't know how I could have created anything in three dimensions without a supply of heavy, corrugated cardboard. I prefer using corrugated plastic for mock-up work when closer accuracy is required, but for most jobs, cardboard box scraps work just fine, including for my current  armrest/door-handle prototype.

I just finished what I think will be the basic armrest design and it looks functional so far. Since I'm installing electric windows, there is no need to match interior door handle and window crank styling, so instead of the original door handles, I'm making my own that will mount on the front of the armrest and will look somewhat like those used on some Imperials and Chryslers from the sixties. My handles will at least be simple to remove and install, unlike the OEM '56 parts with the annoying spring clips that require a special tool and loads of patience.

I received the 14 gauge metal I ordered to build a more rugged version of the latch actuator. It will also be used to create the arm rest base. I also  received the twelve-dollar box of small coil springs, but they are all very light duty. At least there are several lengths so I can use them to build the prototypes and determine what physical sizes and features I will need when I choose heavier springs for the production part.

Here's what should be the final configuration latch-actuating mechanism. Final termination will require clamping the cable inside the door to clear the electric window hardware. Seems there is always something that has to be accomplished before other things can be finished.

Yes, my design is probably crude compared to what others might come up with, but I didn't want to modify the bear claw mechanism. It can now be replaced independently from the actuator if needed. It functions quite nicely and the light springs work better than expected. It only needs minor adjusting and a couple of bolts and nuts replaced by better fitting parts before I can install it in the door. Then comes the difficult part of figuring out how to make the outside handle operate the cable!

Open Sesame!

With the aftermarket ignoring the Forward Look era, there is a huge amount of study and contempaltion involved when stubborn restorers choose different methods to resurrect cars that should have been scrapped. NOS replacement door latches are rare to non-existent and most of the original star-wheel parts are severely worn in high mileage cars, so we clean, lubricate, adjust and then try to get by with worn junk...while a few do like me and adapt modern systems!

The bear claw latches themselves proved easy to install, but I was on my own to design a method to open them using the stock door handles. The first job was to choose a system that functioned while incorporating readily available parts from current vehicles and trying to keep most of the car appear close to stock. Original latches had complicated hardware to open the doors, but newer cars almost exclusively use cables with bear claw latches, so I chose a cable from a Ram truck that would help keep the project Mopar. Since it’s been used on trucks for several years, replacement parts should be available for many more, if needed. It’s about the right length, and the ends terminate in a very common way with a crimped barrel on one end and a ball on the other. Since there is more room on the latch end, I'll use the larger barrel-end inside the door, so I'm in the process of designing and fabricating a prototype that will actuate the latch from both outside and inside.

I need a system that will allow the latch to open with either handle, and will be robust enough to survive daily use while having a tactile feel somewhat like an original factory part when operated from both sides of the door.

This picture is the first prototype. It requires springs to retain the latch actuating lever and cable arms in a retracted position and also keep them from rattling. I would have liked to use the homemade  torsion spring visible in the picture, but they twist the arms too much. For the next version,  I ordered a box of extension springs in different sizes that should allow me to select better parts. They will be here today.

This version also used thinner metal to form the bracket, but I have 14-gauge sheet metal on order so the next iteration will be sturdier and simpler to make.

'56 Fury Finally Recognized!

On this fifteenth of August, my favorite sixty three-year-old gold-trimmed muscle car will finally get its due when Rodney Crowell releases his new album..."Texas". One of the songs will be "56 Fury", along with 10 more Texas related songs featuring Crowell and other artists, including Ronnie Dunn, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Vince Gill, Lee Ann Womack, and yes, even that famous old Texan, Ringo Starr!