The stock Mirage door latches are installed at the rear of the swing- up doors; the bearclaw latch is in the fixed fiberglass body and the striker pin is in the door. This works OK for the stock setup but I need to change this latch arrangement for two reasons:
1. The bearclaw is slightly off the travel arc of my doors now that I’ve made them into a one- piece gull-wing type.
2. I think that for safety reasons, the door needs to be latched at its forward edge so that it can’t be pulled up by high-speed aerodynamic forces. I remember what happened to Bruce MacLaren.
If possible, I’ll put latches on the forward edges as well as on the rear edges of the doors—they should hold the doors solidly in place.
I bought four brand-new surplus Hartwell H430 trigger latches that I thought would work very well in this application but it looks like they won’t be suitable after all. They would be great for opening the doors from the outside, but I need to be able to pop the latches open from the inside of the car as well and I haven’t been able to work out how to trigger them from inside the car.
I think I can adapt the bearclaw latches to do the job; by mounting them in the doors and placing the striker pin in the fixed bodywork, both latches can be opened simultaneously by a rod or cable from inside or outside. Getting out of this race car without any unnecessary fumbling around is important—it might be on fire.
I ordered a L & R Slim-Line latch with pins and mounting plates from Speedway Motors—enough for one door. If it is satisfactory, I’ll do the passenger- side door as well later on. These Slim- Line latches are a bit smaller than the originals so they should be easier to mount in the doors. Photos will be forthcoming as this project gets underway.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
