Door Latches

[Davidbr_48]

The doors on my mark IV have an annoying habit of opening up by themselves. This has happened several times and is clearly a hazard! Any suggestions for how to fix this?

Thanks - David

[Gumball]

Make sure that they are adjusted properly and that the latch is closing completely. Look at the position of the lever in relation to the slot in the cover when the doors are shut. Is the level all the way to the rear of the slot? If not, then you're not getting a complete interface between the pin and the receiver hole in the striker.

[edwardb]

Chris is right that alignment is critical. Couple of supporting points:

First, make sure the pin actually fits into the hole. Pretty common apparently, and true for both of my builds, that the pin in the door latch mechanism was a very tight fit into the hole in the piece mounted on the body. Just the tiniest bit of misalignment and it will not seat properly. Or it will go in and then not want to come back out. It should go in with very little resistance. I enlarged the holes in the stationery piece with some emery cloth wrapped around a metal dowel in a power drill. Doesn't take much as the metal is pretty soft. I also put a small chamfer around the opening.

Second, if you haven't done the famous door latch mod, do it. Pictures and description here: http://www.ffcars.com/FAQ/doors.html This will keep the latch from falling apart sometime in the future and also keep it in good alignment.

[Davidbr_48]

Thanks for help on this: Turns out I installed the latches on the body incorrectly -- only the tip of the pin was engaging in the little slot, rather than the whole pin engaging in the round hole! Jeez I love this forum!

David

[Todd Buttrick]

I did the same on my build way back when. Went to go show it off to friends down the road on its maiden voyage and when I entered the driveway, both doors flew open. There are two positions.. safety and closed. The first slot latched is safety and the hole latched is closed.

[MPTech]

Similar to the previous post, these are a MUST! (more than just an upgrade, these will prevent you from damaging / breaking the FFR door latches and they will work smoother and easier!)

Door latch mods for greater reliability and function (http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/303080-door-latch-mods-greater-reliability-function.html)

[Gumball]

Also, I had to .... ummmmm... "persuade" the ears on the chassis where the strikers mount just a bit. That is, I whacked them really hard with a hammer to move them forward slightly so that the hole in the striker would align perfectly with the pin on the latch. They didn't have to be moved much, but they did have to be moved.

[Avalanche325]

Two clicks as they close. I had one that was only going one click. Thankfully, it never opened even during autocross runs.

[Davidbr_48]

I made the fix - what a difference!

btw I can't imagine how the "safety" position is supposed to be safe -- can anyone explain?

[Todd Buttrick]

As you fly off a 100 foot cliff going 90mph and flipping end over end, the safety latch should keep the door from flying open thus increasing your chances of survival.

[MPTech]

Did you remove the additional spring? It will save the wear & tear on the lever and make it MUCH easier to open.
Some white grease on EVERYTHING mechanical also helps quite a bit!

[CraigS]

The black arrow points to the spring that should be trash canned
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y91/craig-s/LatchwithCarriageBolt_zpsa5c1c6ef1_zps0163d6b1.jpg

[Jeff Kleiner]

To the OP; as mentioned there are two positions and it sounds like your latches are/were only engaging the first. You can help them to latch fully and positively by adding a chamfer to the hole in the strike to allow the pin to engage more easily.

Jeff