Open car door latch restoration

[wrndln]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I am in the process of restoring the latches for my 29 phaeton. I have the tongues welded up and dressed down and the retaining tabs welded up and dressed down so the latches are ready to reassemble. My question is: Should the inside of the tongue cover and the main latch housing be painted or somehow lubed before the latches are reassembles. I am concerned that if I just reassemble them after beadblasting them, they would rust and and not work well. I suspect Ford didn't finish the internal areas before painting the assembled latches, so maybe this not a problem. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
Rusty Nelson