1957 Lack of ways to close doors.

[TBBLUE02]

Is there any other way to close a door (from inside the car) besides using the door handle or using your hand on the exterior of the door (windor down) on the baby birds? I don't like using the interior door handle for fear of breaking smething.

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[Frankie the Fink]

Not sure what you expect to break but that inside handle/armrest is designed for closing the door...
Anything else you try may well get you a mashed finger.

 

[Tom Alpers]

Is there any other way to close a door (from inside the car) besides using the door handle or using your hand on the exterior of the door (windor down) on the baby birds? I don't like using the interior door handle for fear of breaking smething.

Not that I know of. I know how you feel. You can't use the armrest as there is no pocket and the inside handle always feels like it will pull off. What I do is try to get it "going" without pulling too hard, more of a long pull than a hard pull, and just before it closes let off the handle and let the weight of the door finish closing it. I had a couple times I tried to be gentle and the door seemed fully closed but flew open on the first curve, luckily at slow speed.

 

[Tom Alpers]

Not sure what you expect to break but that inside handle/armrest is designed for closing the door...
Anything else you try may well get you a mashed finger.

Not possible to use the armrest to pull the door closed on a 57.

 

[TBBLUE02]

Not sure what you expect to break but that inside handle/armrest is designed for closing the door...
Anything else you try may well get you a mashed finger.

There is no indentation on the armrest where you an put your fingers in to pull the door shut on the baby birds. I looked up pix online and could not find any that showed the indentations. Engineering SNAF(Fouled) U?

 

[RogerV]

My doors require a lot of effort, much of what is probably due to the new rubber seals. I sort of go with Tom and a "long pull vs, a hard pull". I don't want to pull on the outside of the door and yet I want it latched. So, I use the inside door handle. While I don't want to break it, latching is most important and they're not that expensive.

 

[DynoDan55]

My doors require a lot of effort, much of what is probably due to the new rubber seals. I sort of go with Tom and a "long pull vs, a hard pull". I don't want to pull on the outside of the door and yet I want it latched. So, I use the inside door handle. While I don't want to break it, latching is most important and they're not that expensive.

Owner experience helps, but be wary of inexperienced passengers, as they will tend to break handles slamming the door.

 

[RogerV]

Owner experience helps, but be wary of inexperienced passengers, as they will tend to break handles slamming the door.

Don't have any of them.

 

[Hwoodlive]

Agreed, I also wish there was a door pull in the armrest. I've owned '50s Fords for decades and when I picked up my '57 'Bird five years ago, I thought maybe there was supposed to be a pull-strap and it'd gone missing. I even made one out of leather for the driver's door, which worked okay, but looked kinda dumb. Then I studied photos of other cars and realized you're just supposed to use the door handle. I'm no fan of that method either.

 

[TBBLUE02]

My doors require a lot of effort, much of what is probably due to the new rubber seals. I sort of go with Tom and a "long pull vs, a hard pull". I don't want to pull on the outside of the door and yet I want it latched. So, I use the inside door handle. While I don't want to break it, latching is most important and they're not that expensive.

I know you purists are going to have a minor heart attack but here’s how I fit interior arm rest pockets used to close the doors on my 1957 T-Bird. It was a lot of work as I had to take off the door trim panels to separate the arm rests from the panels. Then I had to very carefully cut a hole in the arm rest vinyl and foam to accommodate the pocket (I measured 3 times). I bought the pockets on e-bay for $12.00. I had to cut them down because they were to deep to fit the short armrest. I also had to make a bottom piece for the packets because once I cut them to fit, they no longer had a bottom. I hot waxed the new plastic bottoms to the pockets. They fit perfectly and are anchored in place using the existing arm rest foam and a generous amount of gorilla glue.

They work easily and when the person in the passenger seat gets in and looks/asks how to close the door – NO problem now.

 

[DynoDan55]

I’m surprised one of the T-Bird catalog part suppliers (CASCO?) hasn’t offered a pre-modified armrest as an accessory (orig. as a core?). It isn’t like there were all that many factory interior color options, and some basic/standard non-matching colors wouldn’t really look unnatural, as two-tone/multi-color themes were fairly common back then, after all, (if you wanted to keep yours and pay the core charge).
Removing/replacing the door panel & handles isn’t difficult, and swapping arm rests would require no modifications, unless some reinforcement (or attachment) of the panel would be necessary (?).

 

[TBBLUE02]

DynoDan55, I couldn’t agree more with you as to why he aftermarket suppliers don’t offer a pre -sized door opener pocket. I have looked for about 3 years but came up empty handed. So, I used some of my BYU (Back Yard University) determination and skill to make them. They do look as if they came from the factory as O/E. The process was a little harrowing especially when I cut the vinyl and foam out!

 

[DynoDan55]

Pocket only would just be too much for most owners. Only a well thought/pro-modded armrest would probably sell, and likely the market for such an unnecessary/non-orig.part just isn’t commercially there. Cup holders, model-specific floor mats, etc. weren’t a 50s option, and they are easily removed.