I've been cleaning and prepping parts to send or haul for replating. Never having done this before, I don't know what I need to do with parts that look risky to take completely apart so I'm seeking advice on what can or should be done. Most of these have some sort of peened rivets holding pieces together and I don't want to ruin the parts or dissasemble things unnecessarily. The exception are the lug nuts which I threw in just because I don't know what the correct finish should be. The combo of blobs of green paint and rust is fetching, but a little too ghetto for my taste. Any advice on what MUST be taken apart and how appreciated!

Here's a pic of the problem parts:

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Oh, and probably a dumb question but what is the trick to getting the plastic cam actuators off the door handles without damaging them? The originals on mine are in great shape and I'd prefer to keep them.

Brent, I don't know about plating the assembled parts, but there's a Phillips screw on the pot-metal end of the door mechanism that has the tang. Just unscrew it and the plastic cam will slide off.

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I took those off but there still doesn't seem to be enough clearance to pull them down far enough to come off.

fwiw - I had the hood latch assembly and catch CAD plated as an assembly (minus springs) and they came out great.

Thanks! That's what I needed to know. I removed the spring, cable clamp, and barrel clamp from the lower catch. I don't see a way to remove the spring from the upper catch but I could disengage it so it is loose on the hinge pin.

curious to know how the roof latches turn out.
Currently working on replacing the vinyl and my latches need help, lot's of help !!

You and me both. These are the most troublesome pieces for me. I've considered just replacing the worst one but they seem to run about $40 for used so worth a little effort to try to save I think. Where I am with these is that I've torn them down to where only the lever piece is attached to the body with a rivet pin.

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I think I'll try to source new rivets and just grind off the peened heads on these for a complete tear-down.

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The pivot holes on both hook pieces are rusted and worn so I think Ill weld them shut and re-drill. Then I'll have them powder-coated to try to match what appears to be thick, baked on enamel on those pieces. Interestingly, the body on one side was chrome plated and the other painted black. I'm guessing that's just one more example of the mix and match of early and late parts going on during the 73 MY. The chrome side has weathered the years MUCH better than the other, so I'd like to replate them both in chrome.

The adventure continues...