Figured I’d post an update of sorts. Been enjoying a new and very quite interior for several hundred miles of summer cruising. Recently my doors started to make some aweful racket. Use to get noise from the window glass but found that raising it slightly shut it up. I found out it was the door locks. Car already has brand new felt grommets but still made noise. So here is what I did. I took lengths of shrink tube and sleeved the shaft that protrudes out of the panel. Each piece was 7.25" long. The diameter of the tube is 0.25". Other dimensions may work just fine. That was what I had on hand. I like shrink tube as it’s durable. Worked perfectly. The only downside may be the anti-lockout feature not working if it were to bind.
I note that many vehicles over the years have sleeves on the linkage. Typically a type of nylon mesh or braided tubing. If Ford did that in 1968, I wonder if those just turned to dust in my car this year? When the door panels were off I greased the tracks but didn’t service any other aspects of the doors.
Gaugester, masterful fix. Question: Did you have trouble with the repro grommet wanting to stay in the door panel? I bent mine’s tabs, tried to finesse it, but it has started popping out again…
So far no trouble with the replacement grommets. I used the stainless ones from WCCC. Scott Drake brand I think. I remember being careful when changing them out but don’t recall having to do anything special. I had the door panel completely off vehicle so could crimp things from an ideal working position.
