[sparkytodd911]

A friend of ours has a 1959 Silver Cloud with the driver's door closed and will not open. He is 82 and my wife and I would like to help him open the door. It won't open from the inside; the handle will accuate the outside thumb button in lock/unlock position, but door will not open. I believe I need to remove the door panel to diagnose the problem. Will I need to remove the front seat to R&R the panel? Is there another method to open the door? Any help with this project would be greatly appreciated[/img]

 

[eurofreddy]

Do you have the key for the door?

Try to manually unlock it with the key. The door lock may be broken and not disengaging fully.

 

[Leho]

Sparky
Consider the following.
Examine the other front door to see what the normal action should be. You will see a "star" wheel on the door. This engages with the short "rack" mounted on the B pillar. When you open the door by either pressing the external button or using the interior handle, the "star" wheel is released and can spin freely. Then a gentle pull from the outside or a gentle push from the inside will open the door. When the external button or internal handle is released, the "star" wheel re-engages and will not spin freely.
Your problem seems to be that the push button or interior handle (or both) are not releasing the "star" wheel.
First thing to try is to move the interior handle through its complete range of motion (from "closed" to "lock" to "closed" to "open" several times. This to determine if a sticky mechanism can be convinced to work by jiggling it several times.
If that doesn't work, with the door unlocked have someone hold the exterior button in while you hold the interior handle to "open". Then put your shoulder into it, ie using (gentle) brute force to to try to force the door to open.
For details of the front doors refer to section S2 of the Workshop Manual (available from www.rrtechnical.info ).
Once the door has been opened you will probably need to determine why it got stuck and fix it.
Good Luck.
Leho

 

[sparkytodd911]

Thanks Fred and Leho! Yes, we tried the key option and it will lock and unlock, but the door will not open. Harry is afraid to take it back to the shop again as he had it repaired once last year and it last a whole day - he had to embarrassingly crawl out of the passenger door while downtown! We will try your process Leho and see what happens - If we can just get the door open, the panel can be gently removed to permanently fix the problem. Thanks so much for your insights! It's a beautiful car and a pleasure to see Harry and his bride driving it.

Best, Doug and Deb

 

[jacko]

Door won't open.

Hello.
Bad news me thinks. It is nigh impossible to remove the interior panels with the door closed.
Its more likely you could slide a robbers bar down the outside of the glass and jimmy it open. (So I'm told)

 

[Leho]

Doug
Did you get Harry's door open yet? Please keep us posted re progress.
BTW, what is the chassis number of Harry's motor car, and where are you located?
Leho

 

[JohnMartyn]

For remove door Panel first Remove screw on door handle cover plate,Pull on door handle as if you were opening the door and slide the door handle cover plate out enough to disconnect power lock wiring harness.There are 2 plastic extensions on the trim that fit into the door to hold it in place. By pulling the lower half of the door out you are moving them out of their sockets allowing the door panel to be moved upwards.