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I've had problems with my latches that hold the clamshell down from day one. Mostly the drivers side latch. I was sent new ones soon after receiving my car, but they would not fit. Somehow my car got some backwards latches and the holes would not line up with the new latches and still have the cable pull towards the inside of the car. Weird. The blue line is where the cable pulls from.

Latches s

I ended up sending the drivers side latch back for repairs. This didn't solve the problem of the latch releasing when my car flexed.

I finally got tired of this so I did some more tweaking. I took pictures from the inside of the latch when it was closed. Comes to find out the male part was entering the female part at an angle.

Latch before n after

As you can see I made new brackets to hold the male bit. With some stainless hardware and a touch of paint, and a LOT of fiddling, they look a whole lot better than what was there before, and after a test drive, solved the problem.      So far.

Latch after 2

The female bit of the latch is still a POS, but it'll do for now. I might end up gutting them and just using them to center the male part and use some kind of spring latches inside the wheel well to secure the clamshell.

One more thing checked off of my list.

I would eventually get rid of the leather straps too. After looking how they are secured from the inside, I don't think they'd hold if air got under the clamshell anyway. I might just put a plate under those tiny screws on the inside for now.

061120 550

During the test drive.

CG

 

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Images (4)
  • Latches s
  • Latch before n after
  • Latch after 2
  • 061120 550
Last edited by Carlos G
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That's really cool. Those brackets look really sweet.

I wasn't able to get good pictures inside like that.

I swapped the springs on my latches, they were way too weak. And they were the latches that were already modified by Greg. Now they LOCK and stay that way until I pull the release. Also, the part that slides in and grabs the pin was too big and not opening enough to release once it grabbed. They were a major mother-lover to fix!

Thanks.

Oh, it was a huge PITA to get them figured out and adjusted. I must've opened and closed my clamshell 30+ times. I almost gave up at one point. I did have the back end of the car on blocks with the wheels off.

BTW, when I do jack up the rear of my car, I place a block of wood, the size of two pieces of 2x4,  between the axle and frame on both sides before I start jacking. Less jacking involved to get the tires off of the ground.

I took it out for a spin today and all's well, no unlatching. Unfortunately the 93 octane ethanol free pump was out of service at the station I get gas at. First world problems, I know.

Last edited by Carlos G
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