Door handle adjustment, interior door handle Options

[03blueboo]

Has anyone replaced door handles recently? With out going into too much background, I changed both the exterior and interior handles. Now, with the door panel on, I can't get the door open from the inside. Is there an adjustment somewhere in the door that will take a little slack out of the rod connecting the handle to the unlocking mechanism?

[era vulgaris]

I had a similar situation with my old '72. When I first got it, the inside door handle had to be pulled all the way, hard, for the door to open. Then eventually it stopped working. I discovered that if I removed the trim piece that frames the lever and lock, that I could easily open the door because the frame/trim piece was preventing the lever from moving far enough to pull the latch.

My solution: Remove the door card and you'll see there's a crimp/bend in the linkage about halfway between the lever and the latch. I took some vice grips and went at the bend, rotating it with everything I had, to tighten the linkage. Door worked fine after that even with the frame/trim piece back on.

I think years of people yanking on the lever stretched out the linkage.