A door lock problem

[Larry LewisParticipant]

I find that when I lock the driver’s side door on my 1949 11BL that the door latch bolt retracts halfway. With the door locked from the inside I can still open the door from the outside. This sure can’t be right. Do I need a new striker plate? I’d rather do that than lock the door with a bicycle cable wrapped around the inside handle and steering wheel, but I’ll do what I have to. Any ideas?

[Peter FeredayParticipant]

My 55 11B is just the same. Pushing the internal lever to lock on the drivers side and the shutting the door does not lock it. Except that doing the same thing but pushing down slightly on the external door handle as you shut the door does lock it securely. Don’t ask me why but it works. It’s French you know……..

[Larry LewisParticipant]

Hi Peter- I will try that later today but I did buy a cable lock just in case I need it. I keep my cars in a heated, dry garage under an apartment building but it’s not 100% secure, unfortunately.

[Larry LewisParticipant]

Hi Peter- I tried how you said. Didn’t work. So now there is a cable around the steering wheel and door handle. A pain in the ass but at least it’s secure. I might try a shim under the door jamb striker plate and see what that does but for now, no worries.

[BernieParticipant]

Chaps,

I had similar problems on my Légère – partly because a previous owner had modified the two front door locks to enable the driver’s door to be locked with a key and the passenger’s door to be locked using the inside handle.

I seem to recall there is a “tang” in the pressed steel lock body that blocks the mechanism when the lock is engaged by the inner handle.  In my case, that had become worn so the locking mechanism did not always fully engage.  It was easily cured with a little fettling – but it did mean stripping out the interior of the door and removing the complete lock mechanism for access.

I almost certainly have some lock mescanisms “in stock” so, if you think it might help I shall be happy(ish ) to dig them out to see if I can clarify the above.

B…………..

[David FaulknerParticipant]

To add to Bernie’s comment, Vol 13 (1988-89) issue 5 (November) of floating power has an article on modifying the front door locks as Bernie described with diagrams that may help you track down the issue.

[Larry LewisParticipant]

I think that removing the lock mechanism to see what’s what is a first step. Maybe I can do that and post pictures of it and you gents can maybe see if there’s a problem. It’s worth a try, anyway.

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