Lock and door striker finish

[Voss]

Doing some clean up on the door / lock / hinges on my -68 Charger. What is the correct surface finish on the striker and the lock? Thought I would replate these parts. Maybe someone has a picture showing this?

[bill440rt]

The striker on the jamb was left a natural, cast finish.
The lock/latch assembly was that golden dichromate plating.

[Voss]

The striker on the jamb was left a natural, cast finish.
The lock/latch assembly was that golden dichromate plating.

Great thanks! I will see how things turn out after a proper cleaning. I left them soaking over night in the degreasing bath.  Have to use some paint stripper on the base of the lock/latch though since the guys painting the door didn't bother to mask this off properly.

While we are discussing the details, what about the door hinges? Should the bolts and springs be painted?

[bill440rt]

The doors were installed when the vehicle was on the assembly line when they were painted originally, so yes the door hinges & bolts would be body color.
Same with the hood and trunk hinges. 

[Voss]

The striker on the jamb was left a natural, cast finish.
The lock/latch assembly was that golden dichromate plating.

Actually I'm also rebuilding my hinges. Got tired of my hanging doors and thought I would fix these. I will post some pics later. The most work will be on the lower hinges. Haven't decided exactly how to fix these yet. Option #1 is to drill out the holes and find a larger pin. If that doesn't work out I guess the option is to fit a bushing in there.

[Voss]

The doors were installed when the vehicle was on the assembly line when they were painted originally, so yes the door hinges & bolts would be body color.
Same with the hood and trunk hinges. 

Thanks. I will paint the hinges with the spring installed then and touch up the bolts after reinstalling the hinges.

[six-tee-nine]

I did mine 2 weeks ago.
Bought a kit from Jamie at Mega parts.
The kits contains new pins with bushings for the upper hinges and new bigger pins for the lower ones. You need to ream the holes so you can fit the larger pins.

I also got new springs in the kit altough my old ones were still ok.
I shot a coat of epoxy primer on them and will paint them wile hanging on wires so its easier to paint them from all angles then when installed.

[Voss]

Without knowing about your post, I was in contact with Jamie and ordered the exact same kit.  He said the manufacturer of this kit recommends to ream the hole to 13/32" to fit the lower pins.

A couple of years ago I bought a pin and bushing kit from YO. The pins in that kit is the same size as OEM so they are no good for worn out hinge holes. I figure that is the case for most kits out there.

$50 for the kit from MegaParts is well invested money to get the hinges properly fixed! 

[Voss]

The striker on the jamb was left a natural, cast finish.
The lock/latch assembly was that golden dichromate plating.

Cleaned all my parts, turned out quite good except for the striker which is not exactly top finish. Thinking about a gentle clean up with the media blaster. Do you think I will destroy the surface finish and end up with a rusty piece? I don't want to make it worse...

[bill440rt]

The striker on the jamb was left a natural, cast finish.
The lock/latch assembly was that golden dichromate plating.

Cleaned all my parts, turned out quite good except for the striker which is not exactly top finish. Thinking about a gentle clean up with the media blaster. Do you think I will destroy the surface finish and end up with a rusty piece? I don't want to make it worse...

Shouldn't rust. IIRC they are made from cast pot metal.
You could probably clean them further with aluminum cleaner, steel wool etc before resorting to blasting. Blasting will destroy nearly all plated surfaces.

[moparnation74]

I had my striker and the shim plates nickel plated in a matte finish by totally auto.

[Voss]

Thanks guys, appreciate the help and tips!  I will give it a try with a good alu cleaner or steel wool and see how it comes out.

[HeavyFuel]

'cause we love pics.