removing outer door knobs?

[kyle242GT]

how do you remove the outer door pushbuttons? I've got the glass out and still can't see a way.

many thanks for any help!

[Alan H. Tast]

To get access to the button, you still have disassembly to do, and it is a good opportunity for some maintenance at the same time.

It is extremely helpful to gain clearance by dropping the latch mechanism and lock cylinder. First, remove the lock cylinder - Pull/wiggle the large retaining clip that holds the lock cylinder to the door, pull it out from the outside, and remove the E-clip that holds the arm for the connecting rod to the lock cylinder. Pay attention how this all goes together so that you can reassemble it properly. Now you can drop the latch asembly into the door. In order to get it out, remove the screws around where the latch sticks out from the door and one other screw low on the door. Use large phillips-head screwdrivers, and hit the screws first to work them loose along with applying penetrating oil on the inside - they will be rusty and tough to get out. Once the screws are out, the latch assembly should drop into the door cavity. You will need to unclip the latch rod from the door handle on the inside of the door and remove it to completely drop the assembly. This would be a good time to clean and lube all these parts.

You do not need to drop the upper window guide, held in place by two screws, but it would help, along with removing the inner roller guide, so that these can be cleaned. lubricated and the upper guide relined with moleskin/window channel liner (the fuzzy stuff, kind of like velcro). You may also have to drop the window regulator as well for better access if you don't have small hands and long arms.

Now you should be able to get to the latch button, It is a two-piece affair, with the outer bezel having a pair of small pins that hold it to a spring-loaded housing which has small hooks to go around the pins in the bezel. The spring-loaded housing has to be pushed toward the outside face of the door and then rotated to clear the pins and allow the assembly to spring apart. Get a large pair of vice grips and a large, flat-bladed screwdriver with a long shaft that will reach into the door, and get a helper if you can. You will need to grab onto the lock button assembly from inside the door (notice it has a large spring around it) with the vice grips and lock the vice grip down onto the assembly. With someone pushing on the lock assembly through the door shell, rotate the assembly and it will pop loose. Make sure not to break the small metal hooks on the button assembly. Be aware that there is a large and small pin, and similar small and large hooks in the inner assembly. These need to line up properly for it to all go back together. There is also a rubber O-ring that goes over the button to seal the button against the bezel - this is usually missing or deteriorated beyond use. Go to your local hardware store and see if they have a replacement that will work.

Reassembly is a pain in the hind end. Someone will have to hold the bezel in place from the outside, and you'll be fumbling around to get the inner part to align and catch the pins in the bezel. Someone else will need to push the big flat-bladed screwdriver against the inner piece in order to compress the spring, while you rotate and lock it in place. Then you'll have to reinstall and adjust all the other components.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you get a copy of the factory shop manuals, along with the Body/Trim/Sealer Assembly Manual, and study them thoroughly along with having them along side you during the work. The Assembly Manual will show you how they put everything together, step by step, the way they did it at the factory, along with exploded diagrams. This is an invaluable resource that's available through the T-bird parts vendors that support VTCI and this website.

[kyle242GT]

Thanks again, Alan. Got the car as apart as it's going to get for this paintjob. The doorknobs weren't too bad once I understood the trick... one thing that threw me for a loop was the driver's and passenger's doors are opposite... or the same... or something that was enough to confuse me. I really worked and worked and worked to get the driver's off, then thought, oh, let's try the other direction

[ward 57]

To get access to the button, you still have disassembly to do, and it is a good opportunity for some maintenance at the same time.

It is extremely helpful to gain clearance by dropping the latch mechanism and lock cylinder. First, remove the lock cylinder - Pull/wiggle the large retaining clip that holds the lock cylinder to the door, pull it out from the outside, and remove the E-clip that holds the arm for the connecting rod to the lock cylinder. Pay attention how this all goes together so that you can reassemble it properly. Now you can drop the latch asembly into the door. In order to get it out, remove the screws around where the latch sticks out from the door and one other screw low on the door. Use large phillips-head screwdrivers, and hit the screws first to work them loose along with applying penetrating oil on the inside - they will be rusty and tough to get out. Once the screws are out, the latch assembly should drop into the door cavity. You will need to unclip the latch rod from the door handle on the inside of the door and remove it to completely drop the assembly. This would be a good time to clean and lube all these parts.

You do not need to drop the upper window guide, held in place by two screws, but it would help, along with removing the inner roller guide, so that these can be cleaned. lubricated and the upper guide relined with moleskin/window channel liner (the fuzzy stuff, kind of like velcro). You may also have to drop the window regulator as well for better access if you don't have small hands and long arms.

Now you should be able to get to the latch button, It is a two-piece affair, with the outer bezel having a pair of small pins that hold it to a spring-loaded housing which has small hooks to go around the pins in the bezel. The spring-loaded housing has to be pushed toward the outside face of the door and then rotated to clear the pins and allow the assembly to spring apart. Get a large pair of vice grips and a large, flat-bladed screwdriver with a long shaft that will reach into the door, and get a helper if you can. You will need to grab onto the lock button assembly from inside the door (notice it has a large spring around it) with the vice grips and lock the vice grip down onto the assembly. With someone pushing on the lock assembly through the door shell, rotate the assembly and it will pop loose. Make sure not to break the small metal hooks on the button assembly. Be aware that there is a large and small pin, and similar small and large hooks in the inner assembly. These need to line up properly for it to all go back together. There is also a rubber O-ring that goes over the button to seal the button against the bezel - this is usually missing or deteriorated beyond use. Go to your local hardware store and see if they have a replacement that will work.

Reassembly is a pain in the hind end. Someone will have to hold the bezel in place from the outside, and you'll be fumbling around to get the inner part to align and catch the pins in the bezel. Someone else will need to push the big flat-bladed screwdriver against the inner piece in order to compress the spring, while you rotate and lock it in place. Then you'll have to reinstall and adjust all the other components.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you get a copy of the factory shop manuals, along with the Body/Trim/Sealer Assembly Manual, and study them thoroughly along with having them along side you during the work. The Assembly Manual will show you how they put everything together, step by step, the way they did it at the factory, along with exploded diagrams. This is an invaluable resource that's available through the T-bird parts vendors that support VTCI and this website.

This is very informative. I've been looking all over to find how to remove the latch. Mine is starting to bind and clunk when opening from the inside. I'll have to have the latch rebuilt at some point. Is there a way to print out this info?

[Alan H. Tast]

This is very informative. I've been looking all over to find how to remove the latch. Mine is starting to bind and clunk when opening from the inside. I'll have to have the latch rebuilt at some point. Is there a way to print out this info?

Can you not print this page from your computer to a printer?

[ward 57]

This is very informative. I've been looking all over to find how to remove the latch. Mine is starting to bind and clunk when opening from the inside. I'll have to have the latch rebuilt at some point. Is there a way to print out this info?

Can you not print this page from your computer to a printer?

I finally figured out how to do it. I highlighted the text and then Right clicked to print. Otherwise the print option was not available. Great information as the manuals didn't go into the detail you did. My latch is binding but working I only discovered it by accident. I thought it was natural to get the door to pop open. It will be a fall project when back off the road.

[Alan H. Tast]

I finally figured out how to do it. I highlighted the text and then Right clicked to print. Otherwise the print option was not available. Great information as the manuals didn't go into the detail you did. My latch is binding but working I only discovered it by accident. I thought it was natural to get the door to pop open. It will be a fall project when back off the road.

I should also note that there was an article in VTCI's Thunderbird Scoop magazine in the September-October 2020 issue with photos (if I remember correctly) about door lock and upper door molding removal-replacement. While we currently do not have reprints available, this is as good a time as any to note that we do have a project in the works for scanning and making available a collection of past Scoops going back to the late 1960s through the VTCI Country Store . No completion/release date is set yet as we still have nearly 40 years' worth of Scoops to scan.

[ward 57]

I've gotten pretty good at removing and installing the door panels as I had to replace my passenger window twice. Both from stress cracks as the window I inherited with the car got a chip in a lower corner and as tempered glass hates edge chips, it was not seated properly and the glass shop that set the second one made the same mistake. Then to pull them off again to refurbish the power window mechanism on both doors.
Then to replace the door panels themselves. Biggest problem was to secure the aluminum trim to the new door panel. Shoe Goo worked perfectly and clear when dry. I expect you saw my post on repairing the over worn screw holes with JB Weld with all the activity and got moved to the general discussion thread. I have learned so much in my 49yrs of owning it and still learning. There is always something that could use some tinkering as a driver. I'm still learning. " A day is not wasted if you learn something new."