Dissecting a rear ambi door latch mystery (1 Viewer)

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

I have a 1982 BJ42 and between the interior locking handle and the sheet metal of the rear ambi door is a spring. Just a spring. It's housed inside the little bump on the lock lever (see pic, arrow points at lever). It must be missing something, because there is only a spring there.

In the photo you'll see an arrow pointing at the little lever, and you can see an arc scratched into the metal. There is also a small indentation in the door, at the TOP of the arc, so I am guessing a small bearing-like item, like the size of a BB?

Any help appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Bear]

All mine have a BB between the spring and the wiping surface.

Just try removing that contraption when parked over a dirt field, as your previous owner has done.
Lucky he found the spring at least.

 

[Nomis]

I recently removed/reinstalled mine when painting the doors. You are correct, there is a small ball bearing whose only purpose, as far as I can tell, is to act as a detent to hold the lock lever in position. As for the exact size of the bearing, I do not know. That said, anything that fits in the spring should work.

 

[bikersmurf]

my 74 has that style of lock. I've used steel bearings from a bicycle and a spring from a bic pen to repair one.

 

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

Thanks all--will try a BB and go from there. Cheers!

Dave

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Dave,
I thought that this thread would finally answer one of the most puzzling things about the amby doors for me. Who keeps running off with the innards to the amby door on the other side? The PO removed the cover plate and the innards that shove the locking shaft bolts both up and down into the door frame. After two years of junk yard searching I just came up with only a cover plate and that was yesterday. I have crawled through countless 40 carcasses and not one, not one still has the amby door innards that I describe above. I can´t even find a decent picture of what they look like up close. If I could maybe I could get a locksmith to fab up something for me. Anyone got an idea what´s up with the missing amby door innards? Why have they all been removed, were they leaky? Were they found to contain some cancer causing element or did some witch doctor proclaim them bad juju hence making everyone run out, rip them from their rigs and fling them into the yard of the nearest neighbor who they hated at the time? What´s the story?
Thanks,
John

 

[bikersmurf]

Dave,
I thought that this thread would finally answer one of the most puzzling things about the amby doors for me. Who keeps running off with the innards to the amby door on the other side? The PO removed the cover plate and the innards that shove the locking shaft bolts both up and down into the door frame. After two years of junk yard searching I just came up with only a cover plate and that was yesterday. I have crawled through countless 40 carcasses and not one, not one still has the amby door innards that I describe above. I can´t even find a decent picture of what they look like up close. If I could maybe I could get a locksmith to fab up something for me. Anyone got an idea what´s up with the missing amby door innards? Why have they all been removed, were they leaky? Were they found to contain some cancer causing element or did some witch doctor proclaim them bad juju hence making everyone run out, rip them from their rigs and fling them into the yard of the nearest neighbor who they hated at the time? What´s the story?
Thanks,
John

Door Handle, w / Lock ccot has them with pics

Shouldn't be hard to get one new. They are the same as the pre 75 fj40 front door handles.

Opps I think that may be the wrong part.

SOR has pics of all the hardware
http://www.sor.com/sor/cat136.tam?xax=20228&page.ctx=cat136.tam

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Door Handle, w / Lock ccot has them with pics

Shouldn't be hard to get one new. They are the same as the pre 75 fj40 front door handles.

Opps I think that may be the wrong part.

SOR has pics of all the hardware
Specter Off-Road Land Cruiser Parts - Page 136 Land Cruiser Rear Doors 1975-1984 40 Series

bikersmurf,
The CCOT link is not what I was referring to but the SOR link is, thanks. It is a great blown up diagram but not a picture of what the thing is supposed to look like all together. Interesting though that even though SOR has all of the pieces diagrammed out, the budget, probably worst case, to put it all back together using their bits and pieces would come out around not too far under $300.00 USD That would be assuming they had all of the pieces in stock, which they don´t. If I had a picture of the innards at least I could size up better if there was something that I could either buy or have made to substitute for this and then weigh the costs of going that route versus trying to gather up the parts from SOR.

I still don´t get why folks seemed to universally ditch them.
Thanks again,
John

 

[Nomis]

Dave,
I can´t even find a decent picture of what they look like up close. If I could maybe I could get a locksmith to fab up something for me. Anyone got an idea what´s up with the missing amby door innards?
John

This is the only decent pic I could find of mine - but it should give you an idea of how it is set up.
I would suggest either buying a used door, including the guts if you have any locally, or buying the guts piecemeal from an online retailer - call them first and tell them exactly what you are look for though.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

This is the only decent pic I could find of mine - but it should give you an idea of how it is set up.
I would suggest either buying a used door, including the guts if you have any locally, or buying the guts piecemeal from an online retailer - call them first and tell them exactly what you are look for though.

Nomis,
Thanks. Sadly I have tried to find the mechanism locally for two years, in or out of a door, no luck. Now looking at the picture I have to say that I am suprised at the size of the mechanism. Given the size of the space I thought that the mechanism would fill the space more or less. Basically it is the door handle, the cam, the locking rods and a tensioner plus attendant screws etc. Just seems like a lot of extra space. Anyway, thanks again. If anyone else has a close up of the innards that would be great.
John

 

[bikersmurf]

I would only buy from SOR as a very last resort.

Marks Off Road could likely fix you up with a set or one of the other retailers.

I'm sure you could also get the guts from someone's rusted out ambulance doors. People scrap them all the time, and even if a couple of the bottom pieces needed to be rebuilt you'd be miles ahead.


Did a search in the Classifieds and there were some pairs of doors listed for $75, $140, and $200. For what you're wanting you could likely find the parts for $50 or less. The shipping on the innards shouldn't be too bad as they're relatively small and light.

 

[4WD Toyota Owner Magazine]

freakin' miracle: bearing found!

Found the bearing.

When I took the door apart I didn't even know there was a spring and BB/bearing in the lock handle. Through extreme luck the spring didn't fall out.

Today I was putting in new 6mm/1.0 pitch screws into the cover of the lock, dropped a washer, and looked down on the street to get it. The bloomin' bearing was sitting there at my feet!! How it didn't roll or bounce away is a miracle. That I saw it even more so!

It is about half again as big as a BB. I put it back and it 'snicked' into place into the little indentation as designed! woot!