With the door handles removed, the next step was to
replace the almost 50 year old latches. Large bear claw latches and
striker pins as well as an install kit were purchased from
Juliano's.
The plan was to install them in reverse so that the solenoids from the
shaved handles could be installed in the back cab corners.
Here you can see the pin was moved to the door and
installed so as to have slight adjustability. Above the latch is
installed in the jam on the cab. The door closes gently with one finger,
once weather stripping has been installed we should be able to adjust
the door further.
In this picture you can see the latch release right
beside where the gas tank filler used to be. The solenoid for the shaved
door handle will be located right below this and operate it via a cable.
Some of the more advanced shaved handle kits even come with backup
batteries now and there is plenty of space to mount one here.
Here the door handle and mirror holes (some had put
those huge truck mirrors on at one time) have been filled in and
smoothed out. I'll be putting in a keyless entry system with solenoids
to pop the doors and door poppers to slightly open them if necessary.
Some of the newer kits come with emergency backups such as hidden cables
and backup batteries, a well thought out system can be as reliable as
door handles.
