Hello again everybody. I found this one to be a little trickier than I thought since someone had done terrible work to it in the past, and limited information for this particular job online for the 1981 model. (Good thing I bought the Chevy Dealership manual.) For the longest time the door would not fully unlock with the key with the power door locks connected (seems like it was getting just slightly stuck and the actuators are Dorman and are new) so I used the key to unlock the passenger side, and use the power lock button and it pops open no problem.

Anyways, got the new driver side latch in today, worked great before installation and worked fine after installation too, and is exactly the same but works much better. However, once I closed the door and tried to open it; the latch was getting stuck on the striker bolt and I had to pull up on the door and pull hard to get it over the bolt. So, I ended up moving the striker bolt down a little bit, seemed to help but was still getting stuck on the striker bolt when you tried to open the door. Not sure if its related or not but the door was also hitting the rocker panel slightly on the top and caused one of the small bolts to pop out on the rocker panel towards the rear end by the rear driver side tire. Someone also took off the door lock rod clip on the driver side as well so I replaced one of them as well (only picture I could find of how to install that was in my GM 1981 manual) does anyone have any idea why the latch is getting stuck on the striker bolt and how I could fix it?

 

Sounds like the door is sagging if its hitting the rocker. Usual culprit are worn hinges.

 

The hinges are quite expensive from a Quick Look online. It sounds self explanatory but is there a way to actually diagnose if the hinges are bad? The old latch would only ever get stuck on the striker if the power locks were active. (Like the key didn’t have enough force to unlock the door manually) On the new latch even if I disconnect the lock rod for them it gets stuck. Would it be possible for the hinges to have always been bad and it just went out with the new latch?

Edit: Just saw a similar forum post on the bushings being worn. I’ll see if the door has any give up or down and if it does I’ll order the bushings.
Double Edit: I was able to move the door almost a quarter of an inch up…I watched the pin/bushing area and it was moving significantly. Looks like that’s my next project.

 

Its the bushings. Cheap but not that easy to replace. 1/4" is ALOT though. Good luck !

 

i believe You will need to remove the entire door. There was and old post where a guy built a wooden frame to hold the door being removed the the car, a Google is the best way to search for the post.