Fulvia Door Lock

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=102 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="06000660dvldtc.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>  </B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" "><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> back to  <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Engineering"><U><B>Engineering</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>By the way, see that list of cars on the left ? They are just there to look at , but not available for sale. I just leave them there as art.   Some cool stuff there !</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>                                                                                                                        <IMG SRC="59dac320.png" border=0 width="172" height="50" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=250 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div>                                                   </div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Engineering"><U>Back to Engineering</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="56bd29e0.jpg" border=0 width="210" height="158" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="569c2d10.jpg" border=0 width="194" height="209" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=378 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> Well let's see. </div> <bR> <div> The door wasn't closing quite right. It had gradually changed from being a nice crisp Lancia door to being just a door, to being a door that would sometimes pop back at you and only latch on the first click.</div> <bR> <div> That's not right.</div> <bR> <div> I won't bore you with the adventure of re-aligning the door hinges in both the body and the door. That is actually a great thing to know about as alot of people (including many in body shops) think it is some black science and best just left alone. A variation on the theme is to bend away at the door with stout levers or floor jacks. Don't forget the technique of milling & cutting holes in the body to get more travel out of door lock pins & such. </div> <bR> <div> Trust that it can almost always be done without such measures. I was  too much in the heat of the moment  to remember to take photos though, so I shall describe it maybe some other day.</div> <bR> <div> All adjustments taken care of, there was a noted improvement but no denying the lock itself had to be remanufactured. On most pieces that is no big deal, but these pesky door locks are always riveted, welded, or stamped together. They were never meant to come apart or be fussed with. Even then, if you get one apart it cannot be reassembled in the same fashion as the swaging areas and rivets are usually left on the shop floor or grinder by now.</div> <bR> <div> Non the less, a lock is an interesting thing. You may not have seen many apart so here is a brief essay on what's inside:</div> <bR> <div>                                                        ________________________________________</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Getting it apart to this point is best left unsaid. It's probably like what goes on in the kitchen:  Perhaps you don't want to know. </div> <bR> <div> It put up a good fight, I'll tell you. There was a grinder, a torch and a press involved, & the camera wasn't invited.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="56c20240.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="548" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Ah, here is the problem. The cam has started to wear away.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="55620db0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="731" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Once you start re-facing the cam all reference marks that seem so logical will disappear as if by magic. Oops. Beter to make an outline of the original pattern and then correct it on a template. Note that I made 2, one on each side of the card. That way if one gets' mangled during the reshaping process I have a backup. Hand grinding cam profiles from memory without a reference can take alot of extra time.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="55820580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Here we go: This is the first shot at rebuilding it. some testing, some fitting, a little more welding and then more grinding & profiling. In the end it felt just right in the lock mechanism.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="55a20b90.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="953" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Of course there is always a <A HREF="id90.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Lathes"><U>lathe</U></A> involved.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="55d20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> What the work bench actually looks like when working instead of setting things up for photos. That metal rod that looks like a punch was  made on the lathe as a tool that substitutes for a bushing in the lock. It allows the relationship of the cams to be maintained while grinding & fitting the cam in the previous pictures.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="55f20580.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="600" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Getting there. You can notice the re-profiled cam to the left. It mates with the cam in the foreground that will now ride on one of those little stepped bronze bushes also made in the lathe. (What a handy tool!) I threaded them internally so they can also be use as anchors instead of the original rivets. (Not to mention the fit is much more precise. This lock is going to make a great sound when assembled.)</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="56120800.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="640" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> There is a devilish spring in this assembly. you would hardly notice it in the photo, but I guarantee you right now it wants to fly that upper cam accross the shop to a dark corner.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="56320ff0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="767" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Ooo. Assembled!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="56508200.jpg" border=0 width="776" height="800" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <bR> <div> What a brute. It really put up a fight. If I could have found another one it  would have been much easier. The trouble lies in knowing there are no more, the car is useless without a door lock, and half way through the process you can't see a way out. As always, if you just go as far as you can, from there you can see further.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="56d203b0.jpg" border=0 width="800" height="571" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> And now?   It clicks shut with the most beautiful sound and locks the door to the chassis tightly. No rattlles over bumps, just the sound of quality. </div> <bR> <div> Fixed!</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>