Outside door locks; how snug?
 

1974 series 2, addressing some body issues and this is one of them: the door lock units are somewhat loose in the doors; are they supposed to be tight in the panel or is this a problem? One, the passenger side lock, is damaged; looks like someone was trying to jimmy it at one time, but the key still works in it. For the time being, I only lock the trunk, to keep from getting locked out of the car in case the locks malfunction in some way.

Curt, Nix's locks are rattly loose in the doors! I don't think there were any shims or anything like that on the inside, there hasn't been on any S3 I've taken apart in the junk yard.

Maybe it's just more BL sloppy manufacturing tolerances.
(';')

There is a clip on the backside of the lock that is supposed to keep the lock snug against the door. I'm sure that it takes the gasket into account, and on most of the cars I disassemble the gasket is deteriorated.
You can probably fix the loose lock by removing it and making a thick gasket to go between the lock and the door.
While you have the lock out clean and lube it really well.

David
shop.everydayxj.com

So, it looks like any fixes require removal of the door card!
An adventure I'd rather not tackle!!


My keys do nothing for the passenger door? It is nice and tight !!


The ignition key, a replacement one, that came with my car operated the driver door just fine. A bit of skirmish to open the passenger door
for my dear departed !!


Now, with a NOS ignition via David Boger, I use the old ley for the door!!! No issue at all to me.


The lock in the driver door on my car was and still is a tad loose.
Not a real issue here.


But, to the point, the thought occurs to me that the gasket was external. So, a neat fix just might be an "o" ring of just the right
size stretched over the trim ring to seat just behind it.


I just might look in to what "o" rings I have for that purpose. Not today. The heat is on. Early work to be done.


Carl

I was pleased to find that removing the door cards isn't nearly the task it is on my Falcon.... the plastic pins work great. I have a temporary fix in mind; wrap the lock bezel with cotton cord and soak the cord with superglue. It'll act as a temporary gasket until more involved work comes along.

Use some other adhesive than superglue as it will probably b*****r your paint. Maybe some black polyurethane, e.g. sikaflex, tigerseal etc

Door Cards
 

Door Cards on S2, maybe others, are very easy to remove. Four screws under the pocket, one at top of handle, one at bottom of handle, four screws & internal hex for the mirror facia. The pocket & handle lift up & off out of slots. Don't pull, just lift after screws at top & bottom of handle are removed. The rest are just snaps at the edges.

in my '84 the exterior door locks rotate with the key. I have never fixed that problem. But they unlock and lock the 4 doors so I never bothered.