That is also an excellent suggestion. I'm going to take the latch out tomorrow morning and see if it was bent by the previous owner. Judging by how stiff/frozen the mechanism was when I bought it, it wouldn't surprise me if he'd just kept yanking on it and bent or broken something.

Putting an extra bend in the rods also seems like a good idea if all else fails - should I heat it with a torch until it's glowing, then bend it and quench it? Or do you think bending cold is fine? I suppose the easiest way would be to heat it, un-bend the end that goes through the latch on the side, and then re-bend it about 1/4" closer in.

-Brad