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LT trunk latch repair.

10K views 11 replies 6 participants last post by  BMW_forever 
#1 · (Edited)
If anyone is interested in a low budget LT trunk latch repair, I just finished one and am very confident in it's durability. Being my first, it took about 6hrs. A couple pieces of scrap steel, and some basic tools did the trick. Doesn't look stock, but doesn't look at all bad. What you see from the back is a small step up in the thickness on the upper half of the latch with 4 evenly spaced 3/16 rivets that bond the steel to the original latch. I,m sure my second one would be much better, but don't think I'll be needing one.
 
#3 ·
I'd like to see a picture to consider the preemptive merits of your fix.

Thanks,
Jer
 
#7 ·
Looks much better than being broken and sure costs a lot less than a replacement or the upgrade to keep the latch from breaking. Nice.

Thanks for the pix,
Jer
 
#8 ·
Repaired mine about a year ago. The upper right arm broke off the whole corner of the latch paddle. After disassembling the latch mechanism I turned a rod in my lathe to use as an alignment tool & glued the piece back on with a 2 part epoxy (like J-B weld) See pictures #4 & 5. Then I dremel ground the black finish off the back where I was going to brace the broken piece. I cut some pieces of thin aluminum angle from an old storm door to use as buttress pieces & laminated them in with epoxy. (I sanded them to remove the anodized finish) My photo record of this fix is not too good so I drew an illustration of the buildup. (Freehand, so cut me some slack) The illustration just shows how the pieces were cut & set in. It doesn’t represent the Epoxy (J-B) between each layer & it sure isn’t to scale. Also I troweled a nice layer of epoxy over the whole laminate with a good fillet at the base. Picture #6 shows a couple of the aluminum pieces before glueing & picture #7 shows the first of 3 layers set in. After the epoxy cured, I sanded the bead of epoxy off of the side that shows & used surfacing primer to smooth it further then finish painted. Picture #8 is after the fix. I think it’s as strong as before it broke (which may not be saying much) so now I push down on the trunk lid when opening & closing to take the strain off of the latches as they cam over. It’s been over a year & so far haven’t had any more trouble.
 

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#10 ·
RSG said:
Hey Robert, Very clever work. Seems like a strong repair, and is far better looking than the "hack" job I performed on my latch. I'm sure with all the thought you put into it, you'll have great success ....... Scott
Thanks Scott. I don't think it's a strong as yours but I wanted to try something cheap that would preserve the looks of the latch & I think it will do fine as long as I take the strain off of it when opening & closing by pushing down on the lid.
 
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