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Originally Posted by chuck 1  I was under the impression that some 40s had pull cable latches. I actually like the pull cable better as far a ease of use, compared to my CAV which has the above type latch. The SPF system should certainly be more stout however, it is too fragile. I bet Dennis Olthoff can fix that. |
Okay, here's the deal. I pulled things apart last night for a look. There was just enough slack in the wiring harness to pull the inner door panel out far enough to see the latch assembly. Bottom line is that my latch shaft was not rotating, even after being released by the cable. Sooo... the first reaction is to pull a bit harder on the cable, which overstressed the connector at the cockpit end, and it failed. The return spring seems fine, and exerts plenty of return tension. There doesn't seem to be any physical restriction on the latch shaft, so I'm hopefull that simply lubricating the thing will solve the problem. My rolling chassis sat in Dennis Olthoff's shop for nearly a year waiting for the drive train, so that may have contributed to this. There is no evidence of any factory applied grease or other other lube. Aside from that, I think the cable attachment point is too near the centerline of the shaft. If the cable were attached farther out, perhaps at the same point as the door handle rod, there would be a much more favorable lever arm. There might be a bit more cable travel required, but the tension on the cable would be substantially reduced. We'll see what happens after I oil things up. As for the cable versus lever question, I have a photo of Jochen Rindt driving a GT40 with a cable operated door, so I guess it's certainly authentic. It's a moot point, though, if the latch shaft won't rotate.