To everyone out there with a Ford van...... when I bought my van the back door lock was busted, it was pushed in towards the inside of the door. I thought the plastic had just broke from use as this was a previous work van. I was trying to figure out how to repair it without having to buy a whole new lic. plate,door handle assembly. I was looking at some delivery vans and noticed they (ford) and I noticed they had some type of cover over the back door lock cylnder. I took a closer look at my van and realized that it was broke on purpose, prior to me owning it. It is a poor design on fords part, all one has to do is push the lock cylnder in and the plastic will break there is a thin piece of metal on the back side which will fold away and now the lock release is totally accessable to lift up with your finger. Hence the security plate on the delivery trucks. So I made my own security plate and it repaired my broken cover as well.
Its just made from a piece of aluminum with a 1/2 hole drilled over where the lock opening is so only the key portion is visible and 4 holes to pop rivet it in place. I painted it to match so it doesnt stand out.
[/IMG]
[/IMG]
this is the back side of the lock, you can see it's just a thin piece of metal. From the factory the metal is not secured in any way, there are two little plastic nub's in the bottom holes for locating purposes but nothing stopping it from being pushed inward. my metal plate now sandwiches the two together requiring major break in damage/noise to get in. The orange tab is the locking mech. so you can see once the lock is pushed in you can unlock the door with your finger.
[/IMG]
I installed 3/4 rigid insulation on the roof and the upper half of the walls. I glued it on with adheisive and then sealed all the joints/seams with foil tape. What a huge difference in the noise level, no more echos and metal sounds at all. And it will be cooler/warmer for the seasons.
