Latch Installation

1) You need to decide the location to mount the latch. I decided to mount the latch to the cab. Now plan a head as to the way you will open the doors from both inside and outside the vehicle. I have planned all along to use a solenoid to release the latch from outside the truck. Plan some kind of manual release in case of electric failure.

2) There are two reasons I decided to stay with the stock latch lcoation. One is the factory brace in this area inside the jamb. Second is the fact I want to keep the alignment wedge to help guide the door closed. Some measuring showed that with the latch located right behind this plate the release finger on the latch would protrude through this opening.

3) The inner brace had a nice oval hole cut into it that I thought I could take advantage of.  Perfect! I could then mount the solenoid at the floor area of the cab directly below the latch for a simplicity.

4) Marked the area for the latch and trimmed it out leaving enough metal to mount the latch through two mounting holes. From the front side I slipped the latch in place and everything looked great but the release finger was to long and would not fit between the brace and outer sheetmetal.

I  swapped the latch for the other side moving the finger above the brace. Since I will be running a cable from the solenoid to the latch I decided I would mount a small pulley wheel above the latch.

5) With the latch in place it was time to mount the stricker. The location was measured and marked on the door and drilled for the pin. The area above the pin needed to be temporarily trimmed so that the door would close. With the stricker mounted not test if they are alligend with each other and locks properly.

6) Knowing it's alligned it is time to strengthen it up and rebuild up around the latch. I trimmed and bent up a piece of sheetmetal to cover the latch and spot welded it in place. The lower jamb area was slightly narrower than my latch and the upper area was way off.

7) With the new center section spotted in place I made a couple of cuts above and below the latch area to blend them together. A pie section was removed in these areas and the sheetmetal bent over to line up with the new center section covering the latch. Once these areas were moved over and spot welded in place I made up a filler section to close up the void.

8) Since the jamb area has been modified the door will no longer close and needs modified to match. The two upper holes will be needed to hold the window channel frame in place inside the door. I went ahead and made my marks for trimming to match the two areas up. Now I just need to fill a few unneeded holes and add a plate inside the door for the latch pin and finish it all up.