Door Handle / Latch help

[JT Burkard]

This 1976 450sl I have is slowing becoming a better car over the last month or so. Thanks to everyone who helped in the past.

The drivers door would not open from the outside. I had to get in from the passenger side and open the door from the inside. Yesterday I decided to have my mechanic at my shop (I work for a classic car dealership) to take a look at it since I didn't have the time.

He is flipping because 1. Its German 2. He hates door work 3. He can't figure it out.

So far we found a chrome piece on the bottom of the inside door that looked like it went onto the outside handle that actuated the door latch mechanism. It was missing the small set screw. From there he says its very loose when connecting to the latch and might be missing something else.

I can't find any info on the internet and tried to do a search here but couldn't find anything. Does anyone have access to an exploded diagram of the door latch and handle mechanism so we can see what parts are supposed to go where and if we are missing anything?

Thanks!

[dugald]

Have a look at Section 72, here:

http://www.startekinfo.com/StarTek/outside/11883/PROGRAM/76450sl.html

[JT Burkard]

WOW, thanks for the great link! This is what I have to play with.

[JT Burkard]

Wait forget it. My tech is loosing it. He must have played with it for hours. I walked over, set everything in place and got it to work. Apparently when he installed the outside handle, it was in front of the latch and wasn't catching. I popped it in the right way and it worked first shot.

What do they say, if you want it done right do it yourself?

[meltedpanda]

great, yea , when I looked at the pictures I thought its all there

[JT Burkard]

This is what you get when you pay cheap for labor - LOL

[RadioTek]

I thought it looked OK in the pics. In your mechanics' defense, sometimes you can TOO close to a problem and miss the trouble. Especially if it's something you're new to. I hope he didn't charge you TOO much.

Scott

[Strife]

It isn't easy or obvious to get the handle back in properly - I did it on one side first shot, the other side took 1/2 hour.

[JT Burkard]

I didn't pay him anything, he works for my dealership. The funny thing is every time we need something door related to be fixed, I am the one who winds up doing it, not him. I am now known as the "door guy" - And I am the Internet Sales Manager, not a tech... but I used to be.

I figured he could take care of it for me, instead I wound up doing it myself anyway.