Recently bought my first Corvette: '72 coupe (only took me 30 years to get it). Pulled a door panel to see why my locks don't work. Lock mechanism itself works fine. Rear lock rod is in place but there is no lock rod going to the lock knob. There is a small electric motor(?) attached to the forward side of pivot control assembly where I would expect to find a connecting rod for the lock knob. This "motor(?)" doesn't show up in the assembly manual. What's the story here?

John

1. Does the lock work from outside with the key?
2. There should be a rod from the inside knob to the lock.
3. Do you have power locks?
I suspect the motor is for a power lock. Does the motor connect to the lock linkage? If your car does not have it, maybe it's a replacement used door. It could be the rod was removed to overcome an additional problem involving the locks.
4. Does the inside lock operate if you move the lever where the lock was? Does it if you disconnect the motor?
I wish I could help more. Let us know what else you find.

Ken Styer

Got an idea, maybe the rod is in the bottom of the door.

There are no factory power locks in 72. Whoever put power locks/alarm on, probably used that linkage to enable them. Just buy that rod and get rid of the power cylinder. I think most of the catalogs have them.

Since I'm not looking at your door situation in person,
Another possibility is that solenoid isn't where someone was trying to add power door locks but where someone was trying to add power door openers, you know the old school custom to pop the door open with a push of a button...just food for thought.
P.

Thanks for the input.

So, here's the story. By all appearances, somewhere in my car's history, somebody got a toolbox and a JC Whitney catalog for Christmas. Looks like the gift money that coolbreeze got from the grandparents, aunts and uncles went for some remote controlled door locks (probably the keychain type) and some speaker wire to power them with. Brainchild also removed the lock pawls and every lock rod that connected the actual lock mechanism to anything other than his new toy.

Fast forward about twelve years and now it's my car. The lock rods are nowhere to be found. The radio unit for the remote key is . . . no telling where. Leading from inside the doors, there is a loose tail of speaker wire near the fuse panel. Another dangles aimlessly behind the map pocket and still another is tucked shyly behind the tach.

Let's just put this one in the "why-some-folks-should-be-kept-away-from-anything-with-moving-parts" file.

Spring is here - at least in the South. Let's drop the tops and put the tires on the pavement - lots of pavement!

I'm a custom freak,
so nothing people do to cars shocks me but some is very jerry rigged and that is a shame,
I always installed power door poppers/openers on my c3's because my grrl friends always hated trying to open the door and frankly so did I.

When the purist movement set in people started running into the horrors you describe,
I suggest you look up a good diagram of how it should be then first look at swap meets and maybe ebay for good used parts unless you are bucks up enough to just buy it all new from one of the better vette part houses.
Good luck,
P.

All in all this could have been a lot worse. I'd give it about a 3 on the butcher-ometer. No oil wells in our family, but a couple hundred bucks of new parts won't take any food off the table (thankfully).

Even at 95-plus percent original, my car is a damn-near-daily driver. So, I have some flexibility in the approach to the locks. I can go back to stock, no problem. But your idea of the door poppers appeals to me also. Sources?

I prefer mods that don't leave permanent footprints. How "reversible" were the popper systems you installed on your cars?

Fortunately, I have a secure garage and live in a small town where we don't have to set land mines around our cars when we go into the grocery store. So, I have time to decide. Any insights you can offer into the custom situation would be appreciated.

Thanks
John

In my case some were reversable some were not so reversable, on my 66 and one c3 I shaved the outside handles,
so those cars had no need for locks,
If done right all stock stuff still works and the poppers work.
dakota digital has nice kits for electric door poppers and locks whitneys lock kits the better ones are good but the one billed as remote door openers are total junk,
I have used power door lock motors and electric truck releases for some of mine as I love fabbing stuff and rooting the bone yards for parts,
Cheers,
P.