Early Falcon Car Club

of Western Australia

SMOOTH HANDLING

One big let-down with some old cars is having to brief the passengers on how to cope with any abnormalities within the vehicle. Like "... when you close the door, could you hold the handle up and just hang on to the quarter vent. That's it. Now give it a sharp tug." Or the saga with the window, "... just lick the tips, of your fingers and try to push the glass up as you wind the handle." As it all starts to happen, the noise of the springs and the groaning of the passenger, it sounds like someone auditioning as an Organ Grinder.

This need not be the case. It's really nice to have the car working properly as well as just looking good, especially the parts other people have to operate.

On the early Falcons the door latches are very simple and in most cases will just require a little lubrication. Some times there may be a need to adjust the position of the striker plate or tighten the screws around the latch. One area of concern can be the remote pivot of the inside door handle. This can become very loose when the handle, rather that the armrest, has been used to close the door. There is also a small spring which exerts downward pressure on the handle to aid closing, which often break. The spring can be reversed within the unit to alter the left or right side fitting if required. This whole unit can be salvaged from the same-side back door of a wreck which in most cases will be almost new. Loose inside door handles are a big No-No with most motor vehicle licensing authorities.

With the exception of the coupés, the outside MARZAC handles are inter changeable without any modification between all XK-XP models. There is however a difference between the push-button extension pin, in that the one in the back door is straight while the one in the front is curved but these can be unscrewed and swapped if required. If you intend fitting an outside door handle to coupé from any other model it will be necessary to drill a three sixteenth hole next to the existing hole in the shroud behind the push-button. Fig. 1.

The extra hole

Fig. 1 Hole in the standard Handle left New Hole for Coupé Use right

Latches are not interchangeable between the back and front doors but most parts other than the main frame can be cannibalised from the rear latch to fix the front and while they're not quite right some springs and things from rear XR-XT latches will work in XM-XP Coupés.

Window regulators have three problem areas. The main one being the directional clutch. This is the part that stops the window from being push down and where the unwanted stiffness comes from. Located behind the handle is the clutch housing from where the handle shaft exits. This housing contains three parts, the handle shaft with dished back-plate. A cog with a back-plate which fits on the end of the handel shaft and a spring, just visible in the housing in Fig.2.

clutch

Fig, 2. Shaft & Back-Plate A Cog & Back-Plate B The Clutch Housing with Spring C.

The way it works is, winding motion to the handle tightens the spring direction of the green arrows causing its diameter to reduce allowing the cog to turn. While any movement to the cog diredtion of the red arrows causes the diameter of the spring to expand, jamming it against the sides of the housing. The problem arises when the clutch grease becomes dry and baked solid or runs out and the spring and housing rust together.

The cheat's way to overcome the problem is to drill a one sixteenth hole in the top side of the housing and spray in some CRC followed by some light oil. The best way is to remove the regulator from the door and rebuild it using the relatively unused donor parts from a rear door of the opposite side. To fix the driver's door use a rear near-side regulator.

Start by drilling out the three rivets holding the housing to the main frame on the donor regulator. Then using a suitable drift, knock out the small cog bush. Dismantle, clean and re-grease all salvaged parts. Examine the large toothed rack on the arm of the original regulator for excessive wear in the teeth. It's unlikely this will need replacing but if so grind off the rivet and drill out the four spot welds holding the toothed rack to the donor arm and re-fit it to the original regulator making sure it's at the same angle as before. After discarding the clutch and bush from the original main frame replace the salvaged parts using, shallow head, 5mm x 10mm bolts with Ny-lock nuts, to hold the housing in place. Finally before re-fitting the assembly to the door ensure the nylon roller at the end of the arm turns freely.

If you're not going to use the less worn donor parts from a rear door of a wrecked car, examine the shaft and back-plate for slop. The flat sides of the shaft enlarges the hole in the plate on units that have been forced when seized. Any slop must be removed by swelling the plate with a centre punch or better still a spot of weld between it and the shaft.

While you have the door iner parts dismantled take a look at another Restoration Hint that's well worth doing at the same time.
Fresh Catch Cleaning out the old dry grease from the door catches to stop them sticking.

DISCLAIMER While this method has been tried and works, NO responsibility will be excepted by the Author, the Club or any of its Members.