Hi all,

I picked up a stalled project...39 Master 85. I am excited. I have restored a 67 Mustang and love working on these old cars...also have a 68 F100 I am slowly working on. The Chevy was tool cool and good deal so I couldn't pass it up. Guy that I bought it from had it with some old Ford parts I needed and he said he was tired of it. The car is painted except fenders, full nice interior which is out. I am working on wiring now and the gas tank, then see if the motor runs well as he said. It is a 54 235, three speed manual.

I look forward to drawing on this knowledgeable group!

Question #1 and the worst of the two...someone along the way looks to have stripped out the drivers side exterior door handle screw, then hammered in a roll pin...The door handle was missing the ferrell and barely worked. I was able to get it out, along with the latch assembly. The brass brass part is toast...I have attached pictures of the horror!! Can this be fixed or are door latch assemblies available? It doesn't look repairable to me. I am hopeful...but help!!!

Second question...is there a trick to removing the gas tank on these? The filler neck is hanging it up on the inner fender...I don't want to bend the inner fender if I don't have to.

Thanks for your help! #1 is the one that has me stressed right now :-/

Welcome to the group! I have a 39 but can't help on those two questions, others will be along that can. I would think you could find that latch on e bay. chevy b on this forum also has a large stock of parts and may see this and respond.

The Filling Station , https://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?userwatch%7EdynamicSearchPage%7Ecadefefx, has a repair kit GR-117 that might work. The have an illustration on their catalog site.

Dave

Having trouble with the link try googling The Filling Station or 800-841-6622

Thanks Dave! I saw that kit on Chevys of the 40s site, but they showed it as not in stock. I will check with the Filling Station!

https://www.fillingstation.com/

Thanks again everyone for you help.

Second question…to pull the gas tank, does the inner fender sheet metal need bent or trimmed? I don’t want to do that. The tank is dry but rust scale inside from what I can see. Thanks! Jeff

If it is a 2 or 4 door disconect the fill pipe hose. If coupe a different story..

I do not know if your car's tank is the same as my 41 Master Deluxe. With my sons we just changed the gas tank in ours. The filler neck coming out of the tank is connected to the upper filler neck with a piece of rubber hose. To get this out and back in we had to:
1. Remove the rubber hose from the tank.
2. Drop the tank.
Mounting
1. Tank had the first part of the filler neck on it but not the rubber portion
2. We had one person watch through the fender to guide the other as they tried to move the filler neck through the inner fender above the frame rail.
3. Verified all of the lines and sender lines where still in place.
4. Used a jack to hold the tank in place while we attached the straps.
5. Once the straps where attached the other portion of the filler neck was lowered through the hole in the fender and attached.

Hope this helps.

I know you are talking about a 39, but I did find replacement latch assemblies for my 38 as well as rebuild kits on ebay, but it is a hit and miss and you need to pull the trigger when you find what you need. Not sure why you are changing the gas tank unless it is for precaution which is probably good idea. Someone supposedly changed the gas tank on my 38 before i got her and cut a hole i the trunk to access the wiring and fuel sensor. I was going to drop my tank, repair the hole but a friend suggested i leave the tank in place and access through the hole, much easier because mentioned it was bare getting his tank out and would avoid it if he could next time so i will access the tank through the trunk but again mine is a 38

Hi all. Thanks on the tanks thoughts. It is a 39 sedan. Rear fenders are currently currently off. The only reason on wanting to pull is the scales rust. My son has a lit scope and I looked in. Te tanks is bone dry but has rusty scale. I have tried yo maneuver it out but the filler tube hit the inner fender. I only consider pulling to check for pinhole leaks but can do that in the car too.

Previous owner butcher the trunk floor…look like Freddy Kruger came for a visit🤨. I am guessing for the same reason Solafide notes. I do not think there is an easy way so will bolt it back up and put fuel in a step at a time while checking for leaks.

Thanks again!

Hi all, quick update. I found a person on Jalopy Journal who had a latch from his resto. It was mostly unusable but the brass mechanism was usable. I drilled out the rivets on both mine and the semi unusable one on the locking mechanisms, then swapped the parts over. There is a keeper that has to be drilled out to remove. I drilled some smaller holes in and used some stainless screws to remount. The used a brass chicago type rivet and made a small space, etc. Anyway, long story short, I am back in business! Thanks for all of the great help. I am happy to load a few pics of the final product with my functional yet non-standard fixes if anyone is interested. Total of 30 bucks...could have been less but I wanted to pay the guy who sent me the latch he pulled for his time on top of the shipping...he didn't want it but I sent extra. He sent money back...was nice but funny.