Rear Canopy Latch, pt 1
With two canopies to latch, a secure latching and sealing system gets more complicated. For the rear canopy/gullwing, I've decided to install a car trunk latch. This solves a few problems at the same time: it has a secure latching mechanism, a simple cable release, and a spring-loaded jaw for a tight seal.
The latch will grab a bolt installed in an aluminum flange in the gullwing door. This flange has angled teeth that go up into the structure of the rollover support, and when closed it drops down into the headrest support, below the upper longeron. The benefit of this method is that when closed, the latch forms part of the rollover structure. This feature prevents the rear turtleback from spreading open and collapsing during a rollover event.
The front canopy (not yet installed) is up in the air, but I'm planning to install taper pins that grab the turtleback. An external lock and some weatherstripping will complete the picture.