Recently, in the July '04 issue, Editor Rob Fortier brought us an in-depth look at an ingenious way of installing AutoLoc's remote door entry kit. After some inspection, the original door mechanisms on Rob's '53 Chevy turned out to be in great condition. With no reason to swap the original units for the Bear Claw latching system that came with the kit from AutoLoc, we needed to find another guinea pig with less than desirable door latches.

Luckily, finding a classic with worn-out door latches is not a problem. In fact, we would venture to say the majority of older cars out there are running around with worn latches that have been adjusted to the limits of the original design and are now allowing the door to flop around and cause all sorts of minor problems and irritations. Have you ever had a door just pop open while turning a corner? Depending on how fast, and which seat you happened to be riding in, this problem could really turn out to be tragic if not dealt with accordingly.

To properly deal with problem door latches that sometimes can be impossible to replace, find, or rebuild, we offer you this relatively simple problem solving kit from our friends at AutoLoc. AutoLoc puts together a kit that includes a set of limited lifetime warranted single or double claw Bear Claw latches, and a set of extra heavy-duty striker-bolts. If you have any doubts about where to install the latches in your ride, AutoLoc also offers a latch installation kit that includes heavy gauge sheetmetal mounting plates for the latch and a pair of heavy-duty floating striker-bolt mounting plates. We highly recommend ordering the mounting kit with the latches, simply because it takes most of the guesswork out of exactly where to place the mechanism for both sides of the jamb.

If you have never attempted an install like this, take a look at the accompanying photos and captions to see just how simple the process is. It took my partner Jay and I about a weekend to install both sides, which included welding up the outer door handle holes and all bodywork. Don't forget, these Bear Claw latches are perfect for shaved door handles and solenoid setups because of their slim design and the conveniently easy linkage to factory inner door handles and solenoids. The latches are made entirely of steel, and like we said earlier in the story, come with a lifetime warranty. How can you go wrong?

So here is a close-up look...        read full caption So here is a close-up look at the Bear Claw latch mechanism. Notice the "L" shaped lever at the top of the latch. This is the lock lever that simply hooks to the car's door lock pull knobs. The lower "L" shaped lever is the arm that, when pulled, releases the latch to open the door. Spending some time inspecting the mechanism before installing it will give you a better understanding of not only how the latch works, but also of the simplicity and quality of the design.

Here's a shot of the original...        read full caption Here's a shot of the original door mechanism. Take some time to fully plan your installation before you even start pulling things apart. It is important to check the spacing issues with regards to the door glass channel that runs down the inside of the jamb directly where the new latch is going to be installed.

As you can see here, the steel...        read full caption As you can see here, the steel locating plate has been notched to clear the door panel trim/mounting channel, and is no longer flat. In order to clear the door glass channel inside the door, the latch needed to be spaced out about a 1/4 inch towards the jamb. Jay is marking the areas where we will need to cut the door to accept the new mounting plate and latch.

Once again we brought out...        read full caption Once again we brought out our trusty HTP America MicroCut 380 plasma cutter for a quick, clean cut.

Before you finish welding...        read full caption Before you finish welding the plate to the door, check the window channel clearance one more time. If the latch clears the window channel and does not interfere with the window's movement, proceed with welding.

Although you can't see it...        read full caption Although you can't see it in this photo, we used the original inner door handle rod to connect the new latch with the original inner door handle. Now the door opens from the inside just as it has since new. We even got lucky enough to be able to use the original clips to attach the rod to the new latch. You can see the original rod through the enormous hole that someone along the way decided was necessary.

We also took the time to temporarily...        read full caption We also took the time to temporarily mount this solenoid so we didn't have to open the door by reaching in through the open wing window. Later we will be installing a newer type of solenoid in conjunction with a keyless entry system.

Before we installed the heavy-duty...        read full caption Before we installed the heavy-duty Bear Claw striker-bolts, we figured there might be the need for some fitting and planning. As you can see in this photo, the original striker is set back into the jamb about 3/4 inch. This wouldn't be much of a problem if we had pushed the door latch portion towards the jamb another inch or so. Of course this would have looked awful, so we opted to bend some sheetmetal to fill the set-in area of the jamb where the original striker is mounted.

As you can easily see here,...        read full caption As you can easily see here, we pretty much rebuilt a good portion of the jamb with new sheetmetal, but in the end it was all worthwhile, as it made the jamb much more uniform and smooth. However, before we got this far, we had to do a little trimming and fitting to a few more parts.

We grabbed some heavy steel...        read full caption We grabbed some heavy steel plate to make a guard that will be welded to the jamb. This guard will keep clothes and knees from being caught or snagged on the striker-bolt when someone's getting out of the back seat.

This shot shows the backside...        read full caption This shot shows the backside of the sheetmetal filler piece we made for the jamb, as well as the striker-bolt mounting piece now welded to the sheetmetal.

So here is the final shot...        read full caption So here is the final shot of the new jamb, striker, and guard all installed and adjusted. You can see why we built the guard to protect against clobbering ourselves on the protruding striker-bolt. All in all, the jamb looks much cleaner. Ensure your peace of mind with these lifetime guaranteed latches from AutoLoc.