professor229

I bought two rust free Chevy doors, 1988-1998... almost done with re-doing them.. have the interior panels off etc.. both in primer now, paint next week... but as I was researching how to loosen the door handles on the Texas doors, I realized a problem.... this is a plain jane set of doors... like on the 1995 I have... no bells and whistles... manual windows and manual door locks.... Before I put everything back, I have to either replace the door locks on the Texas doors with my door locks so my ignition key will open them.... I don't want/need to go to all this work... in other words, I never lock my truck nor will I ever have to.... I have spent about an hour now googling "how to disable manual locks on a 1995 C1500" and all I get is how to work on electric locks.... Then I looked for a good diagram of manual locks... nothing... I suspect that when I push the little lock lever down, a rod or series of rods that connect with a lock activate and all I have to do is to remove one of those rods to stop the linkage to the locks from working... Is that right? Any help appreciated especially if there is a diagram/schematic of a manual lock system... thanks....

oldchevy

I would say in the long run it is worth it to change the door locks and get it right the first time. You never know what might happen in the future.

professor229

There are a lot of reasons why I don't want to take the time to move the handle/locks from the current setup to the Texas rust free doors.. but I will disable the locking system and save the "rod" so if I have a chance to do this, I can... and a new lock is cheap enough too... but I went to LMC Trucks and they do have a diagram that shows to "rods" running from the door handle/lock assembly.... one is simply the door opener.... the other is the lock rod... I will remove that one..... done deal...

professor229

Good morning... I tried. Watched six different videos on how to replace the door locks and all six stopped their cameras at the same location and when the video started up again, the door handle was "out" of the door opening with no explanation. I finally figured it out. One guy was honest in his video and said that the clips that are designed to hold the linkages were a huge problem and that he went to the auto stores to find new ones and they simply didn't have them. He bent the old rusty ones and made do. So I tried that too. To make a long story short, I would have the linkages done correctly, with the clips in place, and struggled to get it back together. Twice I succeeded only to try the locks and would hear a "ping" and new the clips did not hold and found them in the bottom of the door. When the truck was new, I am sure the clips were easy to install and remove but on a older truck this is not the case. The only way I would be able to do this is by seeing if I could buy the entire parts as one unit, linkages with clips, door latches, door handles with new locks and keys, and then put it together. I did install new locks because one was drilled out and the idea was to get at least one side working. It was apparent that this was not going to happen. It was also apparent that both sides, at one time, had the glass broken out from the amount of screws missing on the inside metal panel and also the glass pieces in the bottom of the door that I vacuumed out before I began so if I did drop something into the inside of the door, I could retrieve it and yes that happened several times. So after two hours of frustration, I finally went back to my original plan. I have been studying the new latch for quite some time so I knew where all four connecting points were located for the linkages and what their function was.... and yes, some had new clips but not all. In the old days, the ends of the linkages would have had a small hole where a couple washers along with a small cotter pin could be inserted. I gave up after the second time, getting this correctly back together only to have a part fail again and the part was ALWAYS on the two lock linkages. So I removed both lock linkages, and will either hot glue the areas where the locks swivel to lock the doors... or maybe even JB WELD them in the unlocked position... One is brand new and the other is decent... and I will remove the one that does not work... and replace it with the new one. I will no longer have the ability to lock the doors which is fine. I never leave anything in the truck to steal and once already, there has been evidence of someone rummaging around in this truck while parked... he smoke Tiperellos whoever he was.... but he found nothing and I know because the drivers door away from the security lights was left open.... I do have a nice topper on the truck that is lockable... and locks only keep the honest people out anyway, but if we go to get groceries/whatever, they can go in the box and be locked. The topper glass is also coated so you cannot easily see in. The bottom line, both doors will function when I am done... and neither will be lockable even accidentally. The inside of the doors are done; and the body work has been finished on the outside of both doors. There is no rust and they have been primed. So when I am done with the passenger side door latch, I will probably put them back in storage until spring, bring them out in March/April and paint the outsides.... .and install the doors. My next concern are the interior panels and I will not install them for quote some time, until I am sure everything is right... The panels are plastic and nee to be painted... Have done this before and they come out like new. I might try to use the interior panels from my 1995 although the break in the interiors happened at the end of 1994 and a new design was started in 1995.... I don't know if they will match up or not.... but the 1995s up to 1998 are much nicer.... And a sign of the times... I researched the plastic panel clips and found a blister pack of three at most auto parts stores for around $5..... I had time, so I did Ebay, and found a 50 pack for $4.50 delivered to my back door.... I suspend the door from the ceiling using a ratchet strap... worked well.. and today I will clean up the windows and make sure they function correctly. And a PS... I paid too much for these doors as it turned out... but.... at the time it was a good deal and after these are installed, my next task, MAYBE, will be to sand the entire truck and repaint it. This generation of Chevy trucks used that anti rust primer coating I think it is..... and paint did NOT stick well to it and the paint, after a bunch of years simply flakes and falls off... I had this happen years ago when I used self etching primer and did not put a layer of regular primer over it... a year later, the paint started falling off.... so I did the research, found the mistake, and another lesson in the school of hard knocks... live and learn. Enough... Will work another half hour on this door today and it goes back in storage and the passenger side comes out... From what I have learned, this side should take me only an hour although there is more wrong with this door... but the parts will be put back new on this side. Babbled... sorry ... tend to do that. Have a good one.