I like safety and reliability over originality any day. If I were to use bear claw latches on my 51 f-1 , will I be able to use the original interior and exterior door handles ? If so what do I need to do to make them work? I thought I saw this on F T E , but was unable to find it with the search. I don't want to rebuild the old ones . Since I have five of them I plan to put them on ebay and go with new.

 

You will need to fab up some connections from the handles to the latch. You can use 1/8' rod from the hardware store or some small cable. Check with Rocky Hinge Co. He may have some items already fabbed for this. Another possibililty is the Altman latch. Do a google on it or a search here on FTE.

 

mid 50`s has a kit for the 53-56 f100`s not sure if they have something for the f1`s

 

It's a fairly simple fab job, but does take some a little thinking and planning. A small tab to fit on the square shaft with a rod connection to the latch will work well, similar to what you'd find on a door lock, if you're familiar with that. Making the inside work too, you need to engineer a bypass system between the two rods, at the latch, so you're not pulling against one while using the other.

I've personally never been very keen on bear claw latches. They seem to have a "hair trigger" in that it doesn't take much to open them, they don't have a two-stage latch system like OEM uses, and they have no provision to lock the door. My 2c.

 

Thanks guys, I found it, ATMAN CO. I knew I had saw that name . FTE and google were no help , so I went back to some of my old post and found it . Got the information I needed and will go with their latch, It looks well made .

 

he's on here also:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...atch-kits.html

 

Thats the thead I went back in my post and found, It was me that started asking the [ atmam ] person the questions . But thanks a lot anyway , I have there site saved now.

 

Thanks Dave, I never knew about the " hair trigger " that doesn't sound to good. I thought they were more like the modern latches with a secondary saftey catch. I may have to rethink this before I get rid of my latches, out of five maybe I can make two good ones. Thanks again , JIM

 

Years ago, when I was working in a custom shop, a customer brought in a set of bear claw latches, and wanted us to install them. One of the other guys picked it up, looked at it a bit, latched it, then smacked it in the palm of his hand and it popped open. He started playing with it like a toy, latch, smack-unlatch...latch, smack-unlatch...latch, smack-unlatch...you get the picture. It's been several years now since I've messed with them, so hopefully they're better now, but I wouldn't count on it.

 

Excuse me wayne for calling you dave, So it looks like if I use bearclaw I may have to tie a big rope from one door to the other . I don't think my wife is going to like that .L.O.L.....

 

I watched that Atlman video, it didn't show me what I was wanting to know. The bear claw latches I'm referring to are shown in the link below. They are the highly popular parts sold by many street rod parts places, and other stores, I'm sure, also. I have no idea if these are the same parts in the kit shown in the video. They never showed the parts they used in their conversion, and I was looking, too, because I wanted more info on their product. I fear people may be using the "bear claw" name generically. I am trying to be fair to everyone, while sharing my personal experience.

Bear Claw Door Latches - Juliano's Hot Rod Parts & Interior Products

Oh, and the rope trick would be a good idea, and I couldn't blame your wife for her unhappiness. :-)

 

I remember somebody said they had a set of the atman latch but had not installed them yet . I wish the could look them over and tell us what they find . They cost a lot and I would like to know more about them before buying them .

 

I put them on my '56. I don't know if that would help, but there are some pics in my gallery. I've been happy with them, but I also have shaved handles and added my own interior handles.

 

I looked at your latch install, looks real good. Do the latches have a secondary catch to keep the door from flying open or are they fully open as soon as you touch the switch? Were there any problems wayne discribes in post #9 , when they would open so easy?

 

i`ve installed a set moons ago and they were a 2 stage looks like the oem`s, just installed one for my side opening tailgate and it was definately a 2 stage, never unlatched when i was playing with it? is there a possibility of different manufacturers of these latches, different tolerances?