Door Latch

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Major System Category: Body (Door)
Task: Install door latch
Parts: Door latch
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs:
Time Requirement: 4 hours
Date Started: November 19, 2012
Date Completed:  November 19, 2012

Originally, I had the door latch and striker as part of the same task (i.e. the latch closes around the striker and that's what keeps the door closed). I started working on the doors prior to putting an engine and transaxle in the car. The only way to get the engine and transaxle into the car is to remove the body shell. This is already complicated by the rear hatch hinges and the front hood latches. Both of these have to be disconnected before the body shell can be removed. Installing the striker, adds a needless complication to the removal process. So this part will have to wait until after the engine and transaxle are installed (sometime in 2014).

This is the latch attached to the mounting bracket. Factory Five purchased the latch from a third party. I am pretty sure they machined the mounting bracket.

Likewise the doors have to be removed from the car before the shell can come off. The doors seem less problematic that the hatch hinge and hood latches, because by the time I have to remove the doors - everything related to their fitment should be in place per the arrangement of the hinges on the doors.

The curved part is the cut out area where the latch is exposed as part of the door. 

The latch has a similar arrangement in terms of adjustment as the hinge does. The work area for the latch is very tight, and difficult to work with. The hinge and the latch need to be tightened down together. This happens prior to window placement, since the internal frame needs to be solid so the window tracks can be attached. There are a bunch of pieces here and they all have to work together.

This is the latch mounting bracket connected to the internal frame on the rear side of the door. To the right of the internal frame, the opening for the external door handle is in close proximity to the latch controls. This will be covered up and closed in as I am opting for shaved door handles and internal door poppers.

Placement of the latch is dictated by the formed cut out area for the latch and the depth of the latch inside the door. In other words, enough of the latch needs to be visible so the striker can properly mate with the latch. I already have some issues with the drivers side hood latch and I don't want to repeat that mistake here. Eventually, I am going to have to adjust the hood striker to line up a little better, but I am holding off until the body shell goes back on for good (i.e. after the engine and transaxle are installed).

This photo shows the internal frame connected tot he latched, the rear window track and the  cables going back to the motor, and the internal door popper. The items still missing at this point is the glass, the fixed tracks, the filled in exterior door handle (i.e. shave door handle), and the internal mechanism to open the door from the inside of the car.

I used the Dremel with a cut off wheel to cut the fiber glass and open up a slot for the latch mechanism. The fiber  glass is very thin here as it is on the hinge side. Once I had the latch comfortably exposed, I tested the latch mechanism by pushing the striker into place.

Hood Latches

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Major System Category: Body (Hood)
Task: Install latches and strikers
Parts: Corvette donor latches/strikers
Prerequisite Tasks: gas struts
Additional Costs: $20 Hood latch rub plates
Time Requirement: 90 minutes
Date Started: September 30, 2012
Date Completed: October 1, 2012
The latch and striker system use Corvette donor parts. There is a driver and passenger side version of the latch. The rule of thumb is that the side with the two square cut outs face front. In my case, the Corvette latch bolts were available. I used those with an extra set of washers on the inside of the body shell.

The side of the body is marked up for the latch install. The Corvette donor bolts are  1/4 inch,  so I drilled the center of the square cuts to give me some latitude to adjust the latch position on the body. Orientation: Driver side latch.

Consideration: It is much easier to do when the doors are uninstalled. The back of the latch can be reached from both the wheel well and door opening.

Corvette donor latch installed, with the Vraptor Speedworks rub plate between the latch and the body shell. I painted my rub plates black. They come unpainted. The square cut outs on the rub plates match the donor hardware.  Orientation: Driver side latch.

I purchased the Vraptor rub plates. These were originally called paint savers. Basically they act as a shield between the striker and the fiber glass behind the hood latch.

This the edge where the hood mates to the body shell. My goal is to keep this aligned. My other goal is to  keep the  left/right and up/down measurements for the hood with 1/8 inch tolerance. These goals do not play nice together.  Orientation: Driver side latch.

Consideration: The manual has this paint marking scheme to figure out the position of the striker. While this might work, it ignores the alignment of the hood and body lines. I developed a different methodology for striker placement.

My method measures from the edge of the body shell to the center line of the latch where the striker  mates. This approximately 9 inches.

My methodology is as follows:

1. Close the hood and ensure the edge of the hood aligns to the edge of the body where they meet towards to top of the door opening.
2. Position the hood latch so it sits in the middle of the up/down and forward/backward. This is so it can be adjusted.
3. On the body, run a measurement from the edge to the center line of the latch. I found this to be approximately 9 inches.
4. Run the same measurement on the hood and project a line perpendicular to the mounting block for the striker. This line aligns to the striker.
5. Duct tape the striker in place and bring it down to the latch. It isn't very easy to see the striker and the latch, but I was able to reach my finger up and feel the location of the striker, then I just lifted the hood to verify the location.
6. Adjust the latch/striker as necessary.
7. Tighten everything down and test latch the hood.

I make a similar measurement with the hood. This one is harder to do because the body shape curves and the mounting block for the sriker is about 2 or 3 inches away from the edge.

The hood is going to want to creep around in terms of fitment. Right now, I am fairly happy with how it turned out. I reran the laser level against the hood. She is still within 1/8 of inch left to right.