I wish that I had thought of this the last time I was faced with a locked driver door on an 89 IROC. I had access to the interior (the panel was off) but could not get the door to unlock despite soaking it with PB blaster and pressing on the lever. that time I gave up and cut off the striker pin from the out side, but it left the door badly damaged. This time I faced the same situation of a stuck driver door with an 86 Trans Am which I am making into a Knight Rider KITT car. I could not get the lock to open after several days of trying. So I measured the distance to the striker pin from the passenger side which was about 2 1/4" from the end. I used a spring loaded center punch to make a few marks in a vertical line and then drilled them out and followed up with a close quarter hacksaw. I widened the gap enough to get my sawzall blade in there and was able to cut the striker pin off easily. It will be easier to fix the cut I made and I wont have to repair or replace the door.


Notch cut from the inside of the driver door

Striker pin cut off from the inside

Striker pin still in lock. Will be able to remove it more easily now.

Putting the lock into a gallon of carburetor cleaner for a few days to help get all of the old grease and gunk off of it before lubricating it well and reattaching it to the door.