The PS door on my Olds only opens from the inside, so I thought i'd take a look to see whats going on, having never owned an 53 Olds before it was going to be a learning curve, all the various trim screws were obvious and visible and I knew there would be C Clips behind the window and door cranks, but what I didn't bank on was over an hour of picking and poking and head scratching to find and access the C Clips.

It turns out they are hidden by a thin plate which is held tight against the back of the crank by a spring, simple when you know, then once the cranks are off pry loose around the the edge to release the pins undo the small screw in the armrest, and lift the panel upward off the channel at the bottom of the door.

So here they are and how to find them for anyone else like me who owns a 53 and needs to get the door card off.

 

And this is why the PS door wont open from the outside, a small Torsion spring has broke on the door latch, luckily I found a rebuild kit on Ebay.

 

Hi Nigel,
They make a slick little tool for popping off the C-clips, but you have to be ready to catch it before it flies across the garage. Check online, or mine came from Snap-on tools. The same C-clips were carried forward into the 1970s on GMs, and others.

 

X2 on the clip removal tool,. Harbor Freight sells a kit for like cheap, under $10 bucks.

Your interior door parts look like they are rust free and almost new, many will be envious.... Tedd

 

To be honest, I had one for my Chevy C10, but managed to to leave it in the box of spares I gave to the guy who bought my truck...dumb!

I know Tedd, I think I was the first person in there since it rolled off the assembly line....cool. Had to stick the sound deadening sheets back as the had fallen off inside, I put them back exactly as they were.

 

Good information to have ... well documented ... thanks for sharing

 

Cheers Stephen.