silverriff

Ok so I have a 1987 G-body ( ok it's a Monte not a Cutlass) but I trust everyone on this site more then other of the other forums I browse, so here it goes... I got this MC a month or so ago and have had issues with the door sagging which I hear is pretty common with gbodys especially the Montes. I am getting the GM pin/bushings repair kits to rebuild the hinges, but I'm the meantime while coming home from the store today, I went to unlock my door and it unlocked, but will not open, from the outside or the inside. The outside handle is weak and sloppy, and the lock itself is pretty tough to turn, and once or twice I had to manually open the door latch pawl or claw or whatever that things called because it would get stuck closed and wouldn't close overtop of the stricker. How do I get the darn thing open!!! I have a buddy lined up to rebuild the hinges but I need to get the damn thing open first. HELP!

Olds64

Can you pop the interior door panel off of the door with it closed? If so, you might be able to access the back of the door handle and the innards of the door to get it open that way.

Lady72nRob71

Sounds like you need to seriously lube up the latch mechanism (or replace it) when you finally get it open.
Hope you can get the boor panel off or finagle it open somehow...
I wonder if you can somehow spray some WD40 into the latch from the outside using a tiny hose or something...

slowolds

Gently try to jack it up on the frame near the center of the door. IT may spring the frame enough to get the door open. It could be the frame as well as bad hinges.

silverriff

Alright all I did was pop off the upper half of the inner door panel and the door opened. Weird. Then after examining the latch, it looked like the pawl(?) in the latch had staked over the edge some, I guess from it being slammed against the striker so hard when it had bound up. So I filed down the little stake, and greased the hell out of all the linkage and now it's as smooth as baby butt. Of coarse it is still sagging, but a friend of mine will be replacing the pins and bushings this weekend, which will hopefully eliminate the sagging.