Auughhh. I just wrote up a big post and something went hay wire and it all disappeared!!!
I will try again. I may not be able to muster the same excitement, but I will try.
Super stoked right now. The front doors are all stripped down. The first thing that I did was to thread the holes in the Bear Jaw housing. I went with M8 x 1.00. I stole the idea from buckroseaus fj45lv build ( a must read). It makes it super simple to bolt to the housing to the provided door wall.
I measured and finally bucked up and started cutting. I cut and then cut some more and then a little more, but I am happy how it fits in. I tried to measure based off where the old mechanism was.
Next was the linkages. I rummaged around and found two that unlocked when one pulled the inside release handle. The ones I have now only unlock when you pull up the lock post. COOL added coolness. Next after tinkering around a bit I figured it out. The first thing was to cut off the star wheel housing. Then from the inside grind the post and punch out the whole wheel. Now I had a flat surface. I took the whole mechanism and welded it to the Bear Jaw housing. Super simple! Everything lines up, and the is just enough room to fit in behind lowered window. Stoked.
Now for the body side of the equation. Cut out the old stricker plate. Added some spacers behind the new stricker and tacked it in place. Cut that off and re welded them in again and ta da it works. I am the guy that measures three times and cuts twice.
IT WORKS. The door had all sort of cracks in it from slamming it so hard all those years only to have it open on a turn. I used one finger, ever so softly to shut the door now. I am gonna have to begin saying "don't slam the door" now instead of "put some muscle into it"
Now to fix all the cracks, permanently weld in the door latche wall and on the body I will box out the stricker bar to make it look like it was always there.
While I was getting ready to measure I had to cut off the channel that holds the door rubber and found all the rust. Should I cut off the rest before I get it all sandblasted or just leave it be? How deep should I go down the rabbit hole? I plan to weld those back on to hold the rubber.
Time for some pics.