Over Centre Catches

[AndyH]

Hi,

I've now managed to fit the doors (amazing with very little hassle)... I'd love to say the same about the front panel which has been a real swine to fit and line up.

I seem to have taken a huge amount of fibreglass off the passenger side and almost none off the drivers side to get it all to line up reasonably well?

Has anyone else noticed this.. or are they just all different??

Now that the panel is a reasonable fit, I wanted to fit the toggle catches (ex X1/9), but for the life of me can't see an easy mod to make them fit.

I had hoped to retain the neat male / female connection to ensure the front panel always closes to the same position.

I can't see how I can do this without huge spacers and / or major surgery to the base mounting alloy plate.

I've already ground off the raised mounting points to make a better fit, but can't see a good / neat fix.

They would be spot on upside down, but didn't think that was how they fitted..

There are no threads or photos on this (that I can find) which makes me think I'm being thick.

Can anyone throw any light on this please.

Cheers

Andrew

[chris.richard]

I'll try and post some pics of mine this evening.

[CorseChris]

Andrew,

Big, hard rubber spacers is the answer. Gerry does some nice ones made for the job - about £10 a set I think. They need some gentle trimming to get a nice level fit but they are spot on. If you have Gp4 round arches at the back they need a LOT of trimming, but are still the perfect thing for the job.


...and as you brought up the matter of catches :)...what do you plan for the SVA?? I can see that the 'nose' that sticks out would be a fail but if that is removed, will they pass?? I tried to measure the radius of the projections but couldn't decide if it was pass or fail. I decided to chicken out and remove mine for the test, but if they are OK then it would be a lot less bother if I can keep them on.

[colin artus]

Don't feel bad about removing the 'nose' projection on your catches - the original Stratos didn't have them either.

Colin

[CorseChris]

It's funny you mention that Colin - I finally got around to watching my copy of the La Lancia DVD on Saturday and almost the first thing I spotted was the catches! Sad or what...but that does seem like a good way over the SVA problem, and it's original too. Maybe I'll trim them flat and try my luck with the SVA man after all.

I also spotted the missing patch of paint above the door latch on the red Stradale as well :(

[mogul_x]

Originally posted by AndyH
I wanted to fit the toggle catches (ex X1/9), but for the life of me can't see an easy mod to make them fit.

I had hoped to retain the neat male / female connection to ensure the front panel always closes to the same position.

I can't see how I can do this without huge spacers and / or major surgery to the base mounting alloy plate.

I've already ground off the raised mounting points to make a better fit, but can't see a good / neat fix.

Andrew,

The overcenter catches do require major surgery to make them fit, or at least look like the ones used on the Stratos. The part that goes on the moving panel (without the handle) gets the "nose" chopped off, and an additional hole drilled in the front of the "socket" for the locating tab.

The part that goes on the body tub (with the handle) gets a lot of material removed, and an additional hole drilled in line with the center mounting hole. I also ground the raised mounting points off of the back.

As Chris said, Gerry makes a set of extruded rubber blocks that are a good fit for the "panel" half of the overcenter catch. I've been told that it may be neccesary to make a rubber spacer or wedge for the handle baseplate, although it won't be anywhere near as thick as the block for the other half.

I've attached a diagram of the overcenter catch before and after modification. I made this up to confirm with Guy that I correctly interpereted the instructions he gave me, and he told me that this is what it should look like. Note that the handle has been omitted for clarity. The catch is oriented in car position.

[guy mayers]

Scott's reply is correct Andrew. Gerry does supply the correctly shaped blocks for the smaller of the 2 halves but it will need it's mating surface trimming to fit the underside of the catch - if you look it has a couple of steps in it. My old Dad always says measure twice and cut once! I did this but still trimmed the wrong areas so they didn't mate! You have been warned.
The rubber block needed for the handle half will be wedge shaped to suit. On the front panel the block is thicker than on the rear as it has to cover the swage line that runs through the door. If it was as thin as for the rear body it would pull the sides of the nose panel out and they couldn't then align with the front of the door.
I actually hope to have the Stratos out soon - a weekend on the Spider and then I can call the lift engineer after payday so if you want to come across I'll let you know when.
Guy

[Andrew Way]

How about replicating the red stradale (not a prototype) in the promo poster with the catches fitted on the inside? Looks neat (IMO) and it's something I'm considering - not very practical but it keeps the exterior lines tidy.

Andrew.

[Andrew Way]

Originally posted by CorseChris
I also spotted the missing patch of paint above the door latch on the red Stradale as well :(

Your pause button must get some abuse Chris ;) ;) nudge nudge

[chris.richard]

I was going to take some photos and post them, but when I looked closely, I realised I'd be too embarassed! Three of the handle side baseplates had been trimmed down, but one was still full width; two of the catches were attached by woodscrews into the glassfibre. So that was tonight's job, hacksawing and remounting with stainless bolts and backing plates. None of the handle ends are on rubber blocks, just the smaller upper catch ones. None of the "shark's fin" or "nose" protruberances have been removed - do they need to be, and why?

[Andrew Way]

Originally posted by chris.richard
None of the "shark's fin" or "nose" protruberances have been removed - do they need to be, and why?

For the SVA.

[CorseChris]

Originally posted by Andrew Way


For the SVA.

...and as Colin observed, for originality.

[AndyH]

Thanks very much for all the input...

I spent a chunk of lat night looking at the catch and doing "trial fits"... I can now see that with a wedge shaped spacer under the toggle baseplate and a spacer to the catch plate will make it fit..

I've now butchered a pair of X1/9 catches, C'est la vie.

I fitted the hinges to the front section last night and have what looks to be a good compromise in terms of fit.

I need to push down slightly the bit at the door, but when I do all the lines follow through and looks good.
I guess a bit of heat when the bonnet is in it's final position will help retain the final shape?

One final questions though.... I've got the front wheels set at max castor (as previous threads) and the wheel is miles off centre to the arch... There is no way that any amount of trimming will make this central.

I can see three options.

Pull the front section forward slightly (and live with a load of filling on the edges to make up the gap).. this would bugger up the arch alignment at the rear edge near the door / tub, so doesn't feel right.

Reduce the castor to help centralise the wheel.

Make the best of what I've got.

It's all good fun ( I spent most of the rest of the evening removing splinters of fibre-glass from my fingers !)

Have I missed something?

Andrew

[AndyH]

Originally posted by CorseChris
Andrew,

...and as you brought up the matter of catches :)...what do you plan for the SVA??

I forgot to answer this... SVA seems a long way off yet, but to save any potential problems, I'm probably not going to fit them and see what happens.

Cheers

Andrew

[CorseChris]

Andrew,

I too was orignially going to dodge the issue by leaving them off for the test, but that would mean finding some SVA acceptable way of keeping the bonnet 'ears' in the right place. I have some locks in the upper corners so it can't come open, but the 'ear' where the catches fit on mine need some 'help' to stay in the right place. The rear cover isn't a problem as I am using the internal catches and locating pins at the bottom, but I might give the catches a go at the front after removing the 'nose'.

Still hoping for someone to say they got theirs through OK in this form really.

David May did a neat thing on his car - flush-fitted stainless over centre catches that not even the most pedantic SVA man could fail. Also seen them fitted inside the arches as well.

So many choices....

[Sando]

Chris / Andy

I'll let you know in few weeks.......... Catches on, and SVA forms sent in..... no dates as yet............

Chris Smith has put several through now with the catches on. The 'nose' needs to come off anyway, but apparently the trick is to round off the top protruding part of the exposed Alloy mounting which is touchable by the SVA mans balls:eek: and is thought to be <2.5mm radius.

I think I might run a sweepstake on how many bits they'll pick up on!!!

cheers
Rob:cool:

[CorseChris]

Originally posted by Sando
apparently the trick is to round off the top protruding part of the exposed Alloy mounting which is touchable by the SVA mans balls:eek: and is thought to be <2.5mm radius.



Ah, that makes sense. I made myself a 2.5mm radius gauge and was concerned about that bit - obvious answer really :rolleyes:

Keep us posted and good luck.

[AndyH]

Small balls then ??

[Sando]

:D :D

Booked in to see the spherically challenged Ball Meister, - 4 weeks though !!! AAArgh

Rob:(

[Sptwoman]

Having mod'd all the catches and hooks, I'm now left with the choice of how to refurb the items.
I'm happy to use an aerosol of smooth black Hammerite for the catch handles but what about the alloy bodies? Having smoothed the edges down where necessary I've now got exposed ali.
Apart from using silver spray, what other alternatives have people chosen?

[chris.richard]

"Natural patina" cheap & applies itself!

[Sptwoman]

MMmmmmm.... thanks Chris :rolleyes: Ali's a beautiful metal to work with and always cleans up nicely as well. Unfortunately it doesn't like our climate and looks unloved when weathered.
Half of the body has still got the original silver finish. I assume it's paint and not a natural finish. So it's a full clean up with lacquer or silver paint I think.