tcolt

On my 1972 Vista Cruiser (same as Cutlass?), I'm just prepping my doors for painting the insides (off the car) and I see paint on all the screws that hold the door locks/ catches and even on the actual locking mechanism / door catch itself.

I would think that means the door locks were already in the doors when they painted them at the factory, but wanted to be sure I shouldn't take them out. I wouldn't mind saving myself trying to get out those screws that hold the catches...

Thanks, Tom

P.S. Sorry, I never could figure out how to edit mistakes in the title of my posts....

mrolds69

Yes, I'm pretty sure on a 1972 the latches and latch screws were painted with the door. Earlier models like 1967 back were natural.

tcolt

Thank you! Obviously the paint on the latches flakes off relatively quickly, but I could try to prep it first. Or should I maybe mask them so they don't get much paint to begin with? I'm not building a concours car, so I don't mind some small changes, but want be in the ball park....

70W-32

Id at least mask them so you dont add to the paint already present, wouldnt want to take a chance of gummin' up the works.

tcolt

I swapped out the doors so the paint is a different color and all the paint is off the locks now. I'm thinking why paint them at all if it's only going to chip off and look less nice than not painting them at all. The screws aren't chipped and would just get a color change...

oldolds88

mid to late 70s latches were in the door before paint,i remember having to shove my hammer handle down the window track to open doors to check the door facer area for spot weld blow holes

tcolt

haha. You mean they installed doors with spot weld holes blown all the way through regularly?

Koda

Sure they did. I work in modern car factories, and they went just as fast back then. The average line speed is one car a minute, some 500 a shift with some overtime. The guy that installs the door is not looking for defects; he's looking to not cause defects in his job (bolting the door on by the hinges). So, a defective door can get on. There are guys whose job IS to check for defects, and they catch things. If there's a problem (one problem), you flag it and it goes to a repair area before heading through confirmation where some guy not on the line fixes it. If there's a stream of the same problem, then you pull the distress call and then you get to track it back to the source (which is part of what I do.)

tcolt

That's interesting. So, back then would they have leaded a hole in the door for a blow through?