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2-door to 4-door Latch Swap; And vice-versa
Topic Started: Sep 12 2012, 10:10 AM (855 Views)
judebert
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Among the most immediate problems on my newly-acquired '96 Metro 4-door 4/5 was the driver's door not opening from the inside handle. I originally thought that the problem was a slipped actuator rod -- silly me! Of course the latching mechanism was broken: it's what takes more time and money to replace!

I swapped in the latching mechanism from a junkyard '96 Metro 2-door. Here's how. I also wrote this up on my website if you want bigger pictures or something.

During the initial swap, I discovered that the actuator rods for the (working) outside handle are different:
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It only makes sense, since the 2-door front doors are longer. Luckily, everything else looks identical, so swapping the actuator rods should be feasible. Unfortunately, since they're held on with a rivet, they're not entirely trivial to swap. Some bending or cutting will be required.

Simply tossing it out would have lost my investment of $20, 30+ minutes, and 1/8 teaspoon of blood. I wasn't going to let that go lightly.

I examined how the latch operates:

As you can see, the slot in the actuator rod extends far past its actual usage. I could cut it entirely off and have no problems. That makes the wife very nervous, though. What I really needed was to make a reversible change.

I cut open the bottom of the slot:

Please ignore the terrible handling of the Dremel tool. I was holding it left handed, because otherwise the flashy keen shower of sparks would have immolated me, instead of providing entertainment for you. Of course, you guys would probably consider my fiery entertaining, but I have other priorities.

After cutting it open, I bent the two sides in opposite directions, allowing me to slip the actuator rod off the rivet:
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I just pulled it gently backwards... uh, I pulled backwards, ensuring the higher tab went over the... uh, I twisted my wrist whilst simultaneously drawing the actuator rod back...

It was a lot easier in my head. I had to increase the gap twice before it eventually came off. Here what I ended with:
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Having removed the mis-matching actuator rod from the working latch mechanism, I just had to do the same with the matching actuator rod on my half-working mechanism. Worst case: possibly non-opening door. Assessment: highly unlikely.

Of course the job went smoothly. Installation is the reverse of removal; you just gently push the actuator... you twist slightly while... well, it's not all that hard. A little fiddly, maybe, especially if you're being extra paranoid so you don't mess up in a way that will tick off the wife.

After I got the matching rod on the working latch, I bent it back into position and crimped it shut with my waterpump pliers. It's not perfect, but nobody will ever see it. It'll be a little weaker than the original at the bottom of the rod, but since it's never used... who cares?

The mechanism fit in the door just fine, everything hooked up (again, reverse of removal), and the door... didn't open. It turned out that the latch was really stiff. A little WD-40 fixed that.

And that's how you swap a 2-door latch into a 4-door. It ought to work the other way, too.

This morning, she called me and said, "You're the best mechanic ever!"

20 bucks, a little hemorrhaging, and a little more than an hour? Totally worth it.
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bogs
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Duct tape heals all wounds

Nice story :)
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judebert
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Yeah, less "how-to" and more "Red Green". I did consider duct-taping the bottom of the actuator rod, just in case.
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