Good times ahead

tylers65 · May 30, 2005

So I am about to take delivery of my wife's first car, an 89 5.0 LX Hatch.

This thing has some serious issues though. It has been sitting outside and not even started in 2.5 years and has 140,000 showing on the odometer.

Surging idle (already printed out the thread regarding this issue for reference).
misaligned rear hatch and bad supports (Hoping the new supports will help straiten it out)
Engine compartment looks like the temple of doom (cobwebs the could catch a small bird)
Oxydized paint
4 bald tires
Sagging rear suspension
Yellow headlights
all rubber surrounding every window looks like black sand paper
Needs battery and solinoid to start.
and the driver side door will not open at all.

Here is my tech question for you all.
The door needs a new actuator, outer handle and possibly an outer lock.

Now someone tried to jam a screwdriver into the drivers side door lock so the key will not unlock the door. The actuator does not work, and the inner handle will not open the door from the inside either.

I need to figure out how in the hell to get the door open so I can get the inner panels off and replace the faulty parts.

So, who has ideas about getting this door open and what are they?

Thanks in advance everyone!

TrickFlow · May 30, 2005

i would try loosening the interior door skin (take off the armrest bolts, inside door handle bolts and any others you can get to) and see if you can move the door skin out of the way enough to manually actuate the lock release. if all else fails, get a spare door from the boneyard, and cut a hole in the existing one from the outside to get it loose, then just replace the whole door.

70lightning · May 30, 2005

You might have to pull the seat, to get to it better.

HISSIN50 · May 30, 2005

Is the inner door panel (vinyl) in decent shape (are you going to reuse it)? If not, you can undo the armrest and ancillary fasteners and tear that thing off to access the linkage.

If you think the lock itself is holding the inner handle up from working (I can't remember if the inner handle will unlock and open a locked door): if the actuator is frozen, you will have to access the linkage to disconnect the actuator from the lock mechanism. Some folks have reported being able to lift the outter door handle up and using their skillz (sic) to unlock the door (if the actuator is frozen, I don't think this will work).

Some of the more creative members might have a better idea for you though (with my knowledge, this is what I might try - just sharing my thoughts).

This is your wife's first car? I won't ask how young your wife is or anything like that - I don't think I want to know. (J/K).

Good luck!

tylers65 · May 30, 2005

Thanks for the advise so far.

This WAS my wife's first car. Her Dad is getting rid of it and I thought it would be cool to fix it up for the wife. She wants the nostalgia and I like to make crappy Mustangs good again. I see it as a win-win situation.

The only good thing about the car is that the interior is in great shape and the exterior (minus the needed paint) is perfect. So I do not want to destroy anything in the process if it could be avoided.

silverstripes · May 30, 2005

To go from the inside, remove the seat(s) for better access. Try removing all fasteners that you are able to reach. You only need to reach the lock actuator rod enough to pull it as to unlock the door.

The only problem I see is it may not be the lock holding the door. On all Fords, the inner door handle will unlock AND open the door. It would seem you have either an inoperative inner door handle(prolly broken clip holding rod on backside of handle) or a jammed door thanks to a stuck latch. If the latter is the case, you will just about need to insert your whole arm into the inside of the door to be able to reach the latching mechanism in the rear to release it. This would more than likely mean having no choice but to destroy the door panel. Sorry. I would exhaust all other avenues before that. Hope this helps.

HISSIN50 · May 30, 2005

I gotcha - that makes more sense. (I was worried about you for a minute). J/K.

Since preservation is wanted, another option that I think would work:

remove the inner driver-side front fender splash shield. now you should be able to access the bolts that hold the door hinges to the frame of the car. with those removed, i wonder if you can finagle the door enough to get it off or access inside better (suicide door style). This might give you enough access to get inside the car and get the inner door panel off cleanly.

Good luck with it bud. BTW, it sounds like an AWESOME project - definately a win-win and the Mrs. will love it (and you more) for going it!

70lightning · May 30, 2005

tylers65 said:
Thanks for the advise so far.

This WAS my wife's first car. Her Dad is getting rid of it and I thought it would be cool to fix it up for the wife. She wants the nostalgia and I like to make crappy Mustangs good again. I see it as a win-win situation.

The only good thing about the car is that the interior is in great shape and the exterior (minus the needed paint) is perfect. So I do not want to destroy anything in the process if it could be avoided.

another one back on the road

tylers65 · May 30, 2005

I like the idea of removing the seat and then getting as many of the retainers off as possible. This would allow me to lay on the floor (well, kind of) and put my arm in there as far as possible whlie still giving me some amont ove leverage.

Thanks for the advise. I will update on how it went once the car gets here and I get it open.

Thanks again for everyone's help! I don't care what anyone says, you 5.0 guys are alright

70lightning · May 30, 2005

tylers65 said:
Thanks again for everyone's help! I don't care what anyone says, you 5.0 guys are alright

Good times ahead

tylers65

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