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Sun Apr 27, 2008 4:06 pm

My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side ,but was wondering before i take the door panel off whether the door handle connecting rod bits are interchangeable .Maybe the catch is different too .Any help welcome please. :?:

Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:21 pm

No need to switch out the door rods. The handles work & fit either side you install them on.

Sun Apr 27, 2008 5:53 pm

The mechanism inside the door is different from the left side to the right side. Post a pic of the latch at the rear edge of both doors.

Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:07 pm

Sinbad wrote: My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side....

The only way to lock the passenger door is from inside the car. Grab the inner door handle and turn it counter-clockwise (back towards the rear seat) it will actuate a deadbolt style locking device into the door jam. From the exterior, if someone attempts to open the door, it would open to the ajar position, but shouldn't allow full entry into the passenger compartment.

Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:43 pm

RareAir wrote: Sinbad wrote: My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side....

The only way to lock the passenger door is from inside the car. Grab the inner door handle and turn it counter-clockwise (back towards the rear seat) it will actuate a deadbolt style locking device into the door jam. From the exterior, if someone attempts to open the door, it would open to the ajar position, but shouldn't allow full entry into the passenger compartment.

I have had a look at the catch on the passenger side and as you say it is completely different .There is no dead bolt on the passengr side ,only on the drivers side so the catches must have come from a lhd car .This answers my question and i will have to swap the handles back while i can find a rhd drive one and lock it as i did before. It was never a huge problem it was just somthing i wanted to sort out as its inconvienient to lock the drivers door and get out the passenger side .Car passed its MOT today so i can now drive it after 8 years of owning it.Although far from perfect i am showing it at Stanford Hall this coming Sunday in the historic display .well assuming my pass turns up in the post.
Thanks for your replies

Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:59 am

I had the same problem with my RHD '56. It had LHD parts on it (God knows where they came from - I'm in Australia!), and I had to swap out the interior door handle mechanisms as well as the passenger door lock (thanks Nathan :) ).

Tue Apr 29, 2008 9:14 am

Sinbad wrote: My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side ,but was wondering before i take the door panel off whether the door handle connecting rod bits are interchangeable .Maybe the catch is different too .Any help welcome please. :?:

Is your car RHD? If it is, then that's how it left the factory., with the locking door on the passenger side.

Pete

Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:08 pm

dinsdale wrote: Sinbad wrote: My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side ,but was wondering before i take the door panel off whether the door handle connecting rod bits are interchangeable .Maybe the catch is different too .Any help welcome please. :?:

Is your car RHD? If it is, then that's how it left the factory., with the locking door on the passenger side.

Pete
My car is rhd
So you are saying it was correct with the keyless side on the drivers door .I thought this was wrong because my 66 is the other way round ,so it is right that i have to lock the door from the inside then clamber over to the passenger side to get out :o :?:

Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:53 pm

Sinbad wrote: RareAir wrote: Sinbad wrote: My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side....

The only way to lock the passenger door is from inside the car. Grab the inner door handle and turn it counter-clockwise (back towards the rear seat) it will actuate a deadbolt style locking device into the door jam. From the exterior, if someone attempts to open the door, it would open to the ajar position, but shouldn't allow full entry into the passenger compartment.

I have had a look at the catch on the passenger side and as you say it is completely different .There is no dead bolt on the passengr side ,only on the drivers side so the catches must have come from a lhd car .This answers my question and i will have to swap the handles back while i can find a rhd drive one and lock it as i did before. It was never a huge problem it was just somthing i wanted to sort out as its inconvienient to lock the drivers door and get out the passenger side .Car passed its MOT today so i can now drive it after 8 years of owning it.Although far from perfect i am showing it at Stanford Hall this coming Sunday in the historic display .well assuming my pass turns up in the post.
Thanks for your replies

I've just been out to the garage to look at the doors of my rhd '53 and it has the keyless handle on the passenger side and the keyed handle on the drivers side.
Looking at the door locks themselves, the passengers side has the deadlocking-bolt type arrangement but the drivers side doesn't have it.....
From this I deduce that you can only lock the drivers side (ie keyed handle) with a key from outside the car? I can't test this myself as I don't have any keys for my car............. :lol:
I have a spare pair of complete ribbed doors from a lhd car and these have the opposite arrangement to my rhd '53; the nearside door has the keyed handle whilst the offside door has no keyhole and has the dead-bolt arrangement.

:wink:

Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:26 pm

Sinbad wrote: dinsdale wrote: Sinbad wrote: My 53 had the locking door handle on the passenger side ,so thinking this is either an oversight by the previous owner or a door from a lhd car i decided to swap door handles .Of course now i cannot lock the passenger side ,but was wondering before i take the door panel off whether the door handle connecting rod bits are interchangeable .Maybe the catch is different too .Any help welcome please. :?:

Is your car RHD? If it is, then that's how it left the factory., with the locking door on the passenger side.

Pete
My car is rhd
So you are saying it was correct with the keyless side on the drivers door .I thought this was wrong because my 66 is the other way round ,so it is right that i have to lock the door from the inside then clamber over to the passenger side to get out :o :?:

Yup :lol:

Personally I lean across and lock the drivers door from the other side.

Pete

Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:13 am

Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:41 am

If I want to convert my passenger side door to lock with a key as well what do I need to do? and what parts do I need?

Wed Apr 30, 2008 11:36 am

thebucket wrote: If I want to convert my passenger side door to lock with a key as well what do I need to do? and what parts do I need?

if your car is lhd you need the parts from a rhd right hand door .Unless dinsdale is right of course.