Mar 09, 2007     Constructing door latches - old style later changed to an embedded type - (30 hours)       Category: Door latches

The triple, rotating finger, latches on each door were rather a lot of work to make. Drilling the extended tear-drop shaped aluminum door handle and the latch accurately necessitated carefully positioning them in the drill press and even using a bubble level. The latch handle and shaft are fastened together with a roll pin driven in place after the shaft is pushed through the cabin shell from the inside. The door dogs we cut from stainless and then bent into shape...again a rather difficult process.

  Feb 24, 2007     Front door latches and locks       Category: Door latches

The front door latches are a simple design simply a "finger" which rotated about 90 degrees so the latch would not rotate from the tear-drop shaped door handle. We had a lock shop key the rear and front locks the same for convenience.

  Feb 23, 2007     Rear door latch - (20 hours)       Category: Door latches

The rear door has an interesting latch assembly which entailed drilling, reaming out foam between the outer and inner glass layers, and building a fiberglass mound into which the pin enters. The door also has a key lock which was "interesting" to install!...i.e., a pain.