rfoubi Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2004 Posts: 224 Location: Rossland BC
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 8:50 am Post subject: front door lock spring |
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Anyone know where to source the spring that should go where the arrow is?
Passenger side door latch/lock.
It keeps the door lock plunger up. I lost the spring that should go there, so unfortunately you have to use your imagination as to what the spring looks like. I imagine it is some common spring with a weird name that i can order online, rather than having to go to a junkyard and start pulling door locks. |
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rfoubi Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2004 Posts: 224 Location: Rossland BC
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: front door lock spring |
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So, i finally got around to tackling this. Figured I'd post in case anyone else ever needs to do this. The spring and lock assembly are NLA, and I didnt want to drive an hour to a junkyard so i started messing around in the shop to fabricate my own spring:
Heres the broken piece:
Started with a standard key ring (~1" diameter) and took two pairs of pliers and bent it around a bolt that is slightly smaller than the intended spring diameter. I matched the number of turns (1.5) and wind direction of the stock broken spring. pressed it in a vice/vice grips a few times to get it as well-shaped as I could. I then used two pairs needlenose pliers to make the bends in each end of the spring.
Rough new spring:
From there it was simply (ha) a matter of getting it in place. I found I needed to put the end of the spring into the baseplate first, then hold it and push with a screwdriver to get it to pop below the rotating metal piece. From there, it was very very hard to get the other end compressed and into the hole.
you can see the two holes in the top of the pic...one on the body of the lock, and the other on the moving lever arm
So i made a little tool. Took 30 seconds with some thin steel and tin snips. If I'd done it sooner I could have saved 45 mins of fiddling. Its just a bent piece of steel with a notch the diameter of the spring steel, so you can push down and over at the same time. It was easy with the tool to get it in.
Amazingly, my hack job worked! Lock button stays up when unlocked and down when locked. Its a miracle! Oh, and using degreaser, a rag/pick to clean gunk out, and then some tri-flow and more cleaning, and everything in the lock is working smoother and better than it has in years!
Happy Travels!
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