On my 58 MGA coupe the pinion fell off the door latch, it had been wobbly for a while and closing the door was always difficult with the wobble. Any one who has disassembled an MGA Coupe door knows the difficulty in removing the window in order to remove the door lock assembly and I put this repair off for several months. I had remembered reading how someone was able to remove the lock with out taking out the window and I was determined to try that method. Here's the problem.

I was able to disconnect the lever arm and remove the nut and bolt holding it in place and slip the latching mechanism out. I had to remove the bottom window channel screws to slip it by it. It took a little bit of wiggling and force and it came out. From taking the door panel off to having the latch in my hand was about 10 minutes.

Once I had it out the repair was pretty straight forward I used a TIG welder. I had .005 axial end float on both sides


Installation was the reverse and although I dreaded doing this is, it could not have been easier. Thanks To David Adams for walking me through it.