Date:         Mon, 8 Jan 1996 10:07:06 -0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@mtest.teradyne.com (William Abbott)
Subject:      '70 Door Locks

	Volks,
	Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement!

	I spent an instructive 2 hours with my recalcitrant door lock
this weekend. I can now lock and unlock it with the key! However, I
can't OPEN the door if it's been locked. I'm suspecting that my new
Brazilian door handle doesn't push as deeply into the mechanism as the
original. The part of the lock that the handle/trigger/whatever is supposed
to press against appears to be adjustable by bending it gently- its
very thick steel, so perhaps that should be bending it *carefully*.

	Removing the door lock is not all that hard- you've got to pull
off the handle and disconect the rod from the inside handle/lock. You'll
have to pull the window winder, inside handle bezel and the pull-strap
before you can get the door upholstry free, and after that you still
have to peel-back the vapor barrier.
	The trick is taking a 10mm socket and removing the bolt in the
window guide at the back-bottom of the door. Then you've got enough space
to wiggle-out the lock. My lock came with a black-plastic piece to protect
it from dirt and debris.

	The reason I couldn't unlock my lock earlier was the old grease +
dirt mixture it was coated with prevented the outside handle part of
the mechanism from working. A thorough bath in my parts-cleaner can, 
a whooshing out with brake cleaner (non-chlorinated) and a lot of 
Lubriplate made it work MUCH better.
 
	The VW guys designed the lock with two completely separate 
operating mechanisms- one for the outside handle and one for the inside, 
so either can fail without affecting the other. This makes troubleshooting 
extra fun. Curiously, the outside handle operates directly on the heart of 
the mechanism, while the inside handle works through some extra parts. But
the inside mechanism can apply more force, through a greater distance.

	(You have to really care about lock mechanisms to read the rest:)

	The heart of the door lock is a metal sector with two saw-tooth
shapes cut into it. The little U shaped part which traps the big pin on
the door striker is attached to this saw-tooth sector. A spring pushes
a hook against the sector, and will hold the sector at either of the saw-
teeth. To open the door, the outside handle presses on a mechanism which
pushes the hook down and releases the sector's sawtooth. A flat-spiral spring,
like an old fashoned clock mainspring, forces the sector, and the attached
U shaped piece, to the open position.

	The two saw-teeth give you the partially latched and firmly latched
positions that the door is capable of.

	To lock the door, the arm that the pushes the hook out of the way
is pushed *up* about 15mm so that it can no longer operate on the hook,
and in fact can no longer be pressed on by the outside handle. Unlocking
the door means moving this part of the mechanism back down the same 15mm
distance. Its wierd and wonderful.

	The inside handle operates both the lock and the latch through a
3 or 4mm steel rod and some extra stuff that translates the inside handles
(lock and latch) into either a push or a pull on the operating rod. More
extra stuff drives the core mechansim, but as noted, applys more motion
than the outside handle...

	The whole thing is made of thick stamped steel, and is zinc-gold
anti-corrosive finished. One would make a great desk toy, suitably
cleaned and degreased. AFTER I get the one's in the )($*)$# truck working.

	The old handle on the passenger side had no lock mechanism OR
opening trigger, so I don't have anything to compare to unless/until
I take the driver's side appart. The key lock could always reliably push
the unlatch mechanism up to the locked position. Now it can pull it 
back down to the unlocked position most of the time. It balked a couple 
of times after I put it all together, but now plays nice. 

	One of the three 6mm flat-head screws that hold the lock is
missing and maybe that allows it to move- but I don't really believe this.
I am going to replace the screw though. I guess the next step is to remove 
the outside handle and try operating the lock with screwdrivers, etc, from 
outside, and see if it really is still hung up or if the handle isn't 
giving it what it needs in depth. Ahem ;)

	The part the handle-trigger pushes against appers to be adjustable,
as noted earlier, and so I I may try taping a shim over it and seeing
if that helps.

	I hope everyone else had as much fun on their weekend!

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				|######\     _==_     /######|	
	cheers!			|#######\   = \/ =   /#######|
	Bill Abbott		|########\  =\/\/=  /########|
	'70 single cab		|#########\  -__-  /#########|
	'93 Corrado		|##########\      /##########|
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				|  N E T S U R F N U G E N   |
				| vanagon@lenti.med.umn.edu  |
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