Help! No response to this one.  I suppose I should be specific because 
my latch mechanism would be in the '83 thorugh m.y. 85 year vans.

Can someone else ( I got one response from sstones (thanks and look 
forward to hearing more!) give me some clues on this one?  How is this 
thing supposed to work?  What could be broken?

sstones says the front hook/rectangle unit doesn't move at all, but it 
LOOKS like it HAS to move because the hook engages when the door closes?!?

Help.
--
Gerry
Gerald Skerbitz <gsker@med.umn.edu> U of MN Med School Admin 6-5379

---------- Forwarded slightly truncated message ----------
The front latch mechanism has two parts, an upper and a lower.  The upper 
is rectangular, and the lower has a hook.
When the upper is pressed into the door, then the lower can raise a 
little to release from the strike plate. Now, here's the tricky part. 
When I move the door handle lever, the rear mechanism (remote control) 
operates and releases the back part of the door.  The front latch does 
nothing.  Can someone tell me what the front SHOULD do?  Does moving the 
lever pull the upper (rectangular) part of the latch BACK, or does it 
just push the hook up.  I can't imagine what might have broken here.

--
Gerry
Gerald Skerbitz <gsker@med.umn.edu> U of MN Med School Admin 6-5379