Mystery Slots in Chevy Sedan Delivery Rear Doors

Hi everybody,
I’m still pretty inexperienced with the hamb but I figured I’d go ahead and ask a random question to see if anybody had any ideas, hopefully this is the right place to ask as well.

I’ve been noticing that on many of the rear sedan delivery doors (particularly the 1949 - 1954 Chevy sedan delivery’s) that there is a small one and a half to two inch by 1/8th inch slot cut into the left hand side of the doors right near the hinges. My ‘51 Chevy has this slot and about 4 or 5 of the doors I’ve seen for sale over the past year online or at the swap meets have had it as well. This might be a really obvious question for someone, but it’s had me stumped as to what it’s purpose is or if it’s just a strange coincidence.

I’ll attempt to attach some photos from the web and of my own of exactly what I’m referencing to. The photo with the grass in the background is a current eBay listing that I can provide if anyones curious. Thanks

 

Stashing your money when you get to the swap meet

 

Ha! Maybe I’m wondering if somehow these doors were damaged or needed to get a slat cut to work on them or something haha. I like that old school drop box idea though, never know you could be right

 

Intriguing question. I have no idea what its purpose might be though.

Chris

 

Spare tire carrier?

 

Made me curious, had to walk down and look at mine. No slot but with the amount of filler back there who knows .

 

Could it be a slot to put a "hook" in to hold the door open??
Paul in CT

 

Maybe it is for an option listed here:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/chevyresto/54index.htm

 

Both of those look hand cut. I bet it facilitates getting at something inside.

 

my guess is the "door check" is right behind there, and somehow it gets out of position and wears a hole in the door skin.

The "door check" is the strap that keeps the door from opening too far.

 

That’s an interesting idea squirrel! I’ll take a look at it tomorrow and see if the one I have in there is possibly out of alignment or makes contact somehow. As blowby mentioned above you they do look relatively hand cut or non intentional.

I didn’t even consider that it could be the door check mechanism but if I remember correctly from when I took the door apart they are pretty large and awkward looking so I wouldn’t be surprised if it has been pushing the metal out in that spot and creating the slat.

 

That was my first thought as well! I’ll take a closer look at it tomorrow and try to see if there’s anything visible through it. Squirrel below you suggested that it could possibly be from the door check mechanism making contact on the metal and eventually creating the slat over time, but it’s entirely possible that it could also be there to access something. I’ll definitely have check tomorrow, but if it’s not one or the other causing it I’m going to be completely stumped.

 

I will guess that there may have been a problem with the top hinge jamming when closed, and the way to get it open so repairs could be done was to cut a slot so the hinge could be manipulated open through the slot. The slots in the pics seem too neat to be worn through, and not neat enough to be factory.

After looking at the inside view of the rear door, the slot is right where the door check is located. Maybe the slot is cut to open the door when the door check breaks/jams???

 

That’s where you put the money in the piggy bank.

 

Those seem to be the best guesses as to what it is for right now, I took a closer look at it today and it really does look like it was cut open. My car has a door check in place that’s clearing the sheet metal with about a quarter inch or more through the whole motion but there were a few extra pieces still in the car from another one that was more likely the original to the car.

Looking through the slot today it was also very clear that the door check is pretty much directly behind where the slot is so it does make a lot of sense that it would be to either service the mechanism or it was worn through by the mechanism itself after failing. I’ll attach some photos below that are a closer look at the slot.

 

oh, it's not there to service the mechanism....that's the kind of thing that happens to old cars due to lack of maintenance. Thanks for confirming the location of the door check.

 

Welcome to the HAMB, good first question. If you look at the door jamb and inner door panel are there any tapped, or threaded holes that have nothing attached to them? Wonder if there was some factory fixture to hold the door open if a painter or carpenter was hauling a ladder? I've always liked those panel deliveries.

Bob

 

My guess is that the slot is from the check strap wearing through the door skin!! You can see a fine, thin edge to the slot...

 

It’s where you put your used razor blades. Seriously though, I have two SD doors and neither have a slot like that.

 

Another example found in a old Hamb for sale add.
Crappy enlargement but this one made a uglier hole and am I seeing something poking through from inside?

 

Hi Bob,
There is indeed some threaded holes on the door jamb and two holes on the interior side of the door for the door check mechanism. I’m not really sure if it is an option or not or if it just came stock on all Sedan Delivery’s, but there are definitely holes there for it in both my door and jamb.

I actually ended up buying a second rear door for parts that was from a 54 Chevy SD and it didn’t have the holes for the door check mechanism on it all which I thought was kind of odd, but funnily enough it didn’t have a slot either. The door check mechanism itself is actually a very interesting piece and it is does exactly as you might hope, it not only holds the door open but also keeps it open with a spring of sorts. It caught me off guard when I first put it back in since it really will swing the door open.

I’ll attach some photos I took of the mechanism below when the door was apart. I originally didn’t know what it was since it was just sitting in a box in the car and I ended up asking a friend about what it was.

-Casey

 

Thank you squirrel, you were right all along! It really is sort of interesting how when the mechanism does break so many of these doors end up with the “mystery slot” haha. I’ve never run into anything of the sorts and it just looked so clean and intentional it had me second guessing what it did the whole time. Thankfully the rest of the door seems to to be in tip-top shape and I have all of the rest of the parts for it which can be a hard thing to do with these cars from what I’ve been told.

Thanks again,
-Casey

 

Sheesh that one got cut open like a sardine can! I think the slots kind of add some interesting character to these old cruisers but I’m not sure how I feel about a hole of that size haha. The door check in that one must’ve really started taking some chunks out of the poor door.

-Casey

 

wow, that's a heavy duty mechanism! I had no idea....thanks for the pictures. Definitely explains how it could cut a slot in those doors