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1969 Alpine GT glovebox latch removal

L

lulu

Donation Time
Hi everyone,

I have been asked to repair the veneer on the glovebox door to a 1969 Alpine GT. I'm going to need to press it flat and in order to do that I'm going to need to remove the metal parts.

The part that's giving the most trouble is the lock/latch. I tried removing the 2 screws in the back, but that just opened the latch mechanism. I also tried turning the ring on the front around the lock cylinder. I used as much force as I was comfortable with not knowing what I'm doing and it didn't budge.

The finger pull wiggles back and forth slightly in relation to the other parts, but the ring on the front and the main body of the latch are firmly fixed together. They also wiggle slightly but as a unit.

I can't find any discussion of this issue anywhere, nor can I find something similar in discussions of other cars of the era. I did reach out to a restoration expert in England and another in California but neither had any recent experience with the 1969 GT if any at all and both had different ideas about how to proceed. One suggested prying the ring off to reveal a nut underneath and the other thought the ring itself unscrews.

Thoughts anyone???

IMG_5094.jpg IMG_5095.jpg
 
husky drvr

husky drvr

Platinum Level Sponsor
Lulu,

Welcome to the forum.

I'm lacking in knowledge about the finer points of the coupes intricacies, so this is just a guess.

Have you tried to hold the front ring stationary and then unthreading the cylinder housing from the back?

Probably not the answer if the cylinder housing is orientation "keyed" into the door or finger pull.

There are others with more knowledge on the subject, hopefully they will chime in to help.

Good luck,
 
L

lulu

Donation Time
Hi Don!

As far as I can tell, part if not all of the cylinder housing extends into the wooden piece from the back and I'm assuming it's likely round with flattened sides to keep it from spinning in the hole. I have pulled similar locks off of desk drawers in the past and that's been how those were made. Those usually have an obvious hex nut which this doesn't.

My gut instinct is that the ring on the front is the part I need to turn, but if I'm wrong and I break it then I really have a problem.

I don't have a pair of pliers with rubber jaws and rigged some protective tips on regular pliers to avoid damaging the chrome so I may be closer than I think, but before I go too far into toolmaking I kind of like to know I'm not likely to make my situation worse.

I don't have the key, but it's unlocked and I can clearly see how the mechanism works so I don't think that's a factor.
 
L

lulu

Donation Time
Also I should note, the lock is not attached in any way to the black metal interior lining. It's actually trapping that in place. I really only need to remove the lock to get that out of the way for clamping the veneer flat.
 
L

lulu

Donation Time
Hi nsbluenose!

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by the back, but my initial thought was pretty much like what I think you do mean.

I removed the two screws thinking that the whole of the inside would separate from the outside but all that does is open up the inner working of the inside parts. The one part comes off but the other part is both bigger than the hole and still firmly connected to the part on the outside face.

The screws themselves are not long enough to go through the wood and only go into the part that's still in place on the inside in the photo.
 
L

lulu

Donation Time
MikeH, Thanks a lot!
That sure makes it look like the body is threaded and the ring should unscrew.
It looks like I'm back to trying to grip and turn that ring then.
It may take a day or two but I'll report on how things go.

Rootes-Group-Hillman-Hunter-Sunbeam-Alpine-GT-H120.jpg
 
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