Help!!!

[Bill D]

There is simply no end to my agony with this car. I decided to fit the door hinges and guess what? Nope. The mechanism attaches to the door with no problem. But the mating part has no way of attaching. Plus, it requires notching the body to clear the mating part. Do I cut out the curved steel bar that Bruce added and try to weld up some Mickey Mouse mounting flange? Should I epoxy a piece of .080 aluminum to the back of the underdo aluminum and attach the mating piece to it? Strong enough? WTF do I Do?

[Dangerous Doug]

Where there is a will, there is a way. Not being there to look at it, here are some of my thoughts:

First, the striker needs a solid base. I think having a mounting plate welded into place is the right way to go. You'll want to fabricate something that the base can screw into, so having some nuts tacked into position would work. Or, use a thicker piece of steel and tap the holes for the screws. Easy to do.

Second, you may be able to add a spacer behind the mechanism (mounted on the door) to get it to better align with the latch.

Third, maybe not cut a notch, but drill a hole? Feed the striker thru the hole into the base?

Fourth, this should be fun, not stressful. If I've been working on something and it's not making sense I've learned to walk away from it for a bit, or work on something else that isn't going to piss me off. I worked on my Cobra to relieve the stress of getting my then five-year old son through chemotherapy. Working on your Cobra should mostly be a Zen-thing.

DD

[Bill D]

Thanks Doug. This is certainly not fun. I've pretty much lost all interest in the project and getting closer to selling it as is

[lippy]

Agree with Doug. You need a strong base that is adjustable. I wouldn't epoxy it. I would weld up a bracket. I'm having trouble understanding the specifics so if you can add a bit more detail maybe we can come up with something.

[Bill D]

Lippy-
The mating piece that fits inside the body currently has no where to mount. The mechanism isn't flat on the bottom and requires notching the curved portion of the frame piece in order for it to sit flush. But still unresolved is added a steel plate of some sort to mount the attaching mechanism.

[Bill D]

I thought I had it resolved. But no.

[Paul F]

The part on the door is mounted too deep into the door. It needs to be mounted on a block so that a notch is not required. This will also allow you to make a bracket for the striker that mounts to the curved bar without having to cut the bar.

[Bill D]

Great idea Paul. I'll check into it

[LMH]

Bill, does the body need to slide back a little? That would make it closer to the square tubing. It definitely will need a solid mount to hold the striker in place.

For what it's worth, when it gets frustrating, best thing to do is leave it be for a couple days. It happens for sure to everyone. Besides, you'll spend those days thinking about how to work out this problem anyway. But everybody needs a break now and then!
Larry

[Bill D]

No, the body is correctly positioned.
I verified that already.

I'm thinking of cutting a one inch section out of the curved frame piece and welding in a horseshoe shaped piece of .120 mild steel

[Bill D]

I may have found a solution. There is a hole in the body (see pic above) into which the striker fits. I elongated it slightly so the striker aligns with the latch. Seems to work. I will add a backing plate to increase strength

[LMH]

It's funny but I was looking at that hole in your previous photo's and wondered if that's what it was intended for. You beat me to it though!
Larry

[Paul F]

Ahh, nice and clean. Life is good once again and the project will continue.

[1795]

Bill,

Nice to see that you figured it out. I to was wondering what that hole was for, but did not want to look stupid and ask. As I figured that everybody else saw it and said nothing, so it must be there for something else.

[Bill D]

I found two of these in a box of stuff from Bruce with no idea what they're for. I could use them by mounting them to the curved frame piece and attach the striker to the steel angle.

[G-Pete]

Yeah the door brackets, little hard.

Anyhow, don't drop the chrome piece and do not the "washer job" like in the factory 5.
Fab a sub-bracket bolt or weld it to the frame and then it looks right.

[Bill D]

Pete-
I would prefer to use the chrome piece supplied. I also thought of the horseshoe bracket as well. The problem lies with the curved piece Bruce added. It sits up too high relative to the plane of the latch assy. I would have to remove almost half the thickness and it's a solid piece. When the under door aluminum is installed it covers the striker chrome piece since it sits lower.

An alternative would be to mount the striker chrome mounting piece flush with under door aluminum and build a spacer plate to move the latch mechanism

[Dangerous Doug]

Ah, the thrill of victory!

Keep in fun.

DD

[Bill D]

Using the original chrome piece that houses the striker just wasn't workable. It would end up behind the under door aluminum on this body and this frame. So I cut off the top of the acorn nut and installed the striker in a hole already in the body. Added a fender washer behind the body and voila!!

I also had to add a 1/4" spacer under the latch, but no big deal there.

[lippy]

Is that mounting spot reinforced or is it in the fiberglass? If not reinforced, you may want to create sort of an L bracket that mounts in the steel and provides a reinforcement for the location shown in your photo. Just a thought.