39 Mercury door latch springs replacement - advice needed

[Mercuray]

Hello, I have to replace the door latch spring on my 39 Mercury convertible, and I am having a problem in getting the coiled springs to fit. It appears that the spring must be compressed or coiled to fit the lock. I have seen a post about coiling the spring and holding with a clamp (which I will try), but is there any other way to do this? Due to the age of the lock (and the fact that it is a Mercury lock), I do not want to bend/break any tabs to get the spring in place. Any help that you can provide is deeply appreciated.

[19Fordy]

I remember you posed this question a while back but rec'd no responses. Please post a photo of what you are dealing with, if possible. Do you have a part number? When I replaced the springs on a 1940 Ford door lock, I had to bend the hold down tabs after heating them. If the break, you can braze them back on - which is what I did. Use a very small welding tip.

Also is it the right or left hand door latch. Try a Google search.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=1939+m...ANAB01&PC=HCTS

[kurt v]

as 19fordy says that's what needs to be done, not hard just a pain.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by 19Fordy

I remember you posed this question a while back but rec'd no responses. Please post a photo of what you are dealing with, if possible. Do you have a part number? When I replaced the springs on a 1940 Ford door lock, I had to bend the hold down tabs after heating them. If the break, you can braze them back on - which is what I did. Use a very small welding tip.

Also is it the right or left hand door latch. Try a Google search.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=1939+m...ANAB01&PC=HCTS

[325w]

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The spring box used to have the replacement tabs in with the springs. I bought some springs at a swap and the old guy says you’ll need these tabs. He knew what he was talking about. The boxes always had a lot more tabs than springs.