Problem with Beck bonnet latches?

Friday, upon attempting to close the bonnet on my Beck, I found that both latches had separated. Anyone else have this problem?

More specifically, the latch plate is sandwiched between two pieces that are held together by a metal-tabs-through-slots "system." The upper piece is riveted to the body holding the latch in place.

Upon examination, both lower pieces were bent and had straightened the tabs to the point that the latch came apart.

I am assuming that the failure is the result of maladjustment of the latching mechanism attached to the bonnet (Nothing new with this car...So far EVERYTHING has needed adjustment).

I drilled out the rivets, removed the latches, straightened the pieces and put the whole affair back together, but haven't put the latches back in the car yet.

I am considering spot welding the tabs as they don't appear to be particularly sturdy, particularly after being straightened and re-bent.

Any ideas, opionons, theories, advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

You are refering to the lower section that is cable actuated right?

I have a theory that the springs in the top section are too weak. I think they allow the upper bonnet/boot/back to hammer away. I am changin to stiffer springs to make the latched system more rigid as a unit. My springs are both distorted and when I am driving - if I watch the back - it is vibrating away.

Also, if you haven't clearanced your back deck around the spring plates to the rear wheels, on big bumps the spring plate will hit the back of the car and work to push bonnnet/boot/back up - this puts force againts the latch system.

Mike

Mike - Yes, it was the "female" piece that came apart. The two photos shown below show the latch after repair.

"Latch1" is the view one would have by looking up from the underside of the car into the space immediately adjacent to the rear of the door. The three arrows indicate the tabs that straightened and allowed the latch to come apart.

"Latch2" is a side view of the same latch. The red dashes indicate the degree to which the bottom half of the latch was distorted before I repaired it.

Upon further examination, it appears that perhaps the "male" portion of the latch is adjusted too long and when the bonnet is closed, it is not only pushing past the latch lever but hitting the bottom section of the "female" portion and distorting it.

Does this make sense to you?

And if so, assuming I can get the length of the "male" portion adjusted properly, do you think there would be added utility in tacking the tabs with a small spot weld?

I had already checked the bonnet for bounce while the car is in motion and there is none and the spring on the "male" piece is quite stout, so I don't think I have the problem you have.

Thanks in advance.

Wow. I don't think spot weld could hurt at all. However, they don't solve the cause of the problem.

I just looked at mine and it is identical to that...hmmm.

Mike

Terry,

I got to thinking...

On the male side, at the very bottom point of the boot/bonnet below the male part of the latch in the wheel well. Is your boot/bonnet solid or slit in this area?

Mine was slit and this allowed the two parts to separate and latch alignment to change...

I made an aluminum double to make that are rigid.

Mike

Here is what I did to mine...

Mike - Yeah, I understand about the spot weld not solving the problem and that's where I'm hung up. If I weld it and still have the problem, the latch will eventually bow out and the catch plate will slide out of place and with it welded I'll have screwed the pooch in terms of any possibility of repair.

I have decided that instead of putting rivets back in, I'm going to attach the latches with 6mm stainless bolts and nylock nuts, and work toward solving the problem. Once I get it "right" I'll remove the latches and spot weld them.

I took a look at your photo and it appears that my "male" component may be a different and more sturdy that yours. It may be that if they are indeed different, a newer set might help your problem.

To be honest, I haven't looked at the fender well, but will do so tomorrow. Since I've got my latches out or the car, I'm going to take a good look at how the components fit , particularly in the "latched" position. That may help me understand the problem.

I'll let you know what I see tomorrow.

GET THE BONNET SAFTY STRAPS


I was driving my beck spyder (kit) to my new home in Palm Springs today.
about 120 miles.

3 miles from my new place the bonnet latches let go.

I was going about 60 mph. The bonnet lifted up. The rear drivers side hinge broke out of the fiberglass and that corner draged on the pavement until I got to a stop.

I lost my tail light and ground a hole just above the tail light.

the crack in the rear end goes from the hinge inward to the licence plate area.

I checked the latches before I took off. They were tight.
Perhaps the heat of the 2 hour drive changed the alignment of the latches?

I wish the hell I had the leather straps, It would have been no big deal.

Anyone know a good glass shop in the desert?

Wow! Sorry to hear of your misfortune! Always wondered if the wind would lift the rear without the latches attached. You answered the question unfortunately.

I have the leather straps, but am not sure they would prevent what you experienced. The screws for the straps are not substantial and could easily be torn from the fiberglass if enough force was applied. Even with the thin washers on the underside, I am not convinced that the straps would be effective.

Theo, my guess is that it would probably be cheaper to buy a new rear deck from Beck vs having the old one repaired. I'm not sure about repairs shops in PS but I do know that a lot of restoration shops are in the desert. Grab a phone book and call one of the shops, they will probably have the answer regarding glass repair shops.

I know it's a long ways from PS but as I remember, there is a great Corvette repair shop close to the 57 and the 91, you can see the shop from the NB 57 just north of the 91, on the east side of the 57

Hi Theo,

Wow, bummer. The exact same thing happened to me on a trip back from and Ortega highway run. Driving about 70 on the freeway just heading uphill got a gust of wind and WHAM, the whole bonnet flew over and drug on the ground upside down. The tops of both fenders were ground down and on the back both sides of the licence plate cracked up about 18 inches. I made it home using bungie cords that I pulled over and bought and just hung my head for the rest of that Saturday (actually I played video games online for 5 hours, getting over it). The next day I got up and said I've got to fix it and I glassed my way the whole day and got everything back together on that Sunday.

Luckily my car hadn't yet been painted and, for whatever reason, I don't love the straps so I put pin locks on the back. Took some 'engineering' but it works great and I really like the 60's look of it. You can see a picture of one of them on the attached.

Theo - Sorry to hear that my nightmare came true on your car. I know you're focused on repairing your car, but have you looked at your latches to see if they are damaged or distorted? Any info you can provide might help others in preventing such a disaster.

I agree with Terry with regard to the leather straps and their ability to hold the bonnet on at speed. In the case of my car, they are more decorative than anything else.

I think that once I get mine back together, I'm going to focus on a second "system" for holding the bonnet down.

I like Bert's pins, but I like the straps better, so whatever I do, it will have to be "invisible"...

Anyone else have ideas?

I have been toying with the idea of fabricating a latch system which would use the latch key holes in the top of the rear fender like the originals. It would require removing the catches and pins of the present arrangement and installing some sort of cam-lock or similar fastener and the use of a long "tool" inserted into the latch key hole to twist the fastener loose.

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak with the fellow who designed the molds from the original 550 in the late 70s. He claims Chuck Beck then took his molds and created the Beck 550. He says the latch system on the original Porsche 550 was not very reliable. I am sure a more reliable modern fastener could be designed, but am not inclined to put my Spyder out to pasture for a few months to use it as a mule for the design. Anyone have an inoperable Beck or Vintage that could be used as a mule? heh, heh

Mike - Continuing our discussion from yesterday, the photo below shows the upper section of my latch system. It looks as if my bracket may be a little heavier than yours, but the spring isn't any heavier and may actually be lighter (The latch is adjusted all the way out in this photo, so just ignore the gaps between the pieces).

I put the lower and upper sections of the latch together this morning and it appears that the upper piece on both of my latches was adjusted too long. The result being that every time I closed the bonnet, instead of just resting in the beveled hole in the lower piece, the beveled end of the upper piece would hit the lower plate in the lower piece and, over time, bowed it out, finally causing it to straighten the tabs and break loose.

My problem is exaserbated by the fact that the weather stripping at the closure of my bonnet is quite thick and it takes some force to get the bonnet to compress the gasket well enough to engage the latches.

Clearly, careful latch adjustment is the key to minimizing this particular risk.

I can see that if, as in the case of your car, there is excessive movement in the bonnet while in motion, a similar thing could occur. That excessive motion could be due to weak springs (aAs you stated) maladjustment of the latches, or perhaps older weather atripping that is compressed and not providing the support it once did.

I know this....Once I get this back together, I'll be checking the integrity of my latches every time I check my oil.

Sorry...Forgot to attach the photo.

Terry,

I agree that your set up does look more stout...I may have to go there if the spring change doesn't cure me.

See the aluminum plate I riveted in my photo. It is to make a solid junction between the two fiberglass sections at teh seam line at teh bottom point of the bonnet. Is your seam split or joined?

I found that mine was split and this allowed the bonnet sections to move and misalign the male end.

Mike

Total bummer Theo. But the nice part is that Glass is relatively inexpensive and you can be back up in no time.

I have Darios straps and I have to think that they will keep the bonnet from lifting. The have three screws at each end with nylocs (I installed nylocs on mine). I changed out the hardware to standard thread stainless and bigger washers. I also have the straps fairly tight so that the bonnet won't lift far.

Mike - Forgot to say that the seam on my car is not split. It is joined and is quite solid....No obvious play or torque in that section of the bonnet.

I'm going to follow your lead and replace the screws on my bonnet straps with stainless, large washers and nylocks but I'm also going to explore some type of simple, invisible securing device(Perhaps a thin steel cable tie down?) as a final fail safe.

One final question and I'll shut up....Where do you think you will locate the stronger springs you spoke of? I may need them in the future.

Thanks again...

How about looking at how the Corvettes handle the hood latch? As I recall my 1979 Corvette had one latch on each side and was operated by a remote hood release inside. The obvious difference is the Vette hood is reverse of the 550. Maybe some kind of cable could be glassed into the underside of the bonnett which would hook to the frame where you could reach it from just ahead of the rear tire?

I was at an ACE Hardware store in Medford Oregon and found a large selections of springs. I also have an industrial hardware store near me that I use.

I haven't checked a place like Lowes or Home Depot, but they might.

I would think that most auto parts stores should carry a spring selection (albeit they might be smaller springs).

Why not a safety cable from bulkhead to bonnet that can be unlatched after poppin ghte bonnet? At least the thing won't flip on you...

I thnk the straps are the way to go - they look great too.

Mike

This site is great. I noticed this winter that my left corner of the rear cover was seperated just below the latch pin. I just left it. There is some minor movement of the rear deck with the latch closed. I wasn't going to worry about it until I read these posts. Thanks guys for the advice, I would hate to ruin my summer fun.

Heiko

Yep...The local hardware store had the correct 4mm nylocks for the machine screws holding the straps on. Also got some 1/2" fender washers to keep the nylocks from pulling through the fiberglas....My springs are in good shape right now so I'll wait on that...I'm going to give some more thought to the "fail safe"...Now that I've listened to everyone, it may be that between well adjusted latches, properly secured straps and keeing a close eye on it all, there will no reason to add another "thingy" under the bonnet.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and advice...I always do better when I have someone to bounce things off of.

Thanks guys for the kind thoughts.

My car is going via flatbet out to see Greg at vintage.
It needed paint and I wanted to replace the tail lights with darios anyway.

The vette shops around here want too much money.

My feeling is the straps will give you the time to pull off the road before the lid breaks free. I could see the bonnet lifting in my rear view when it went. If it poped up out of it's latches, I feel confident that the straps would hold long enough to see that it was trying to lift off. Good fasteners on the straps for sure.

I feel like I'm not being clear:

I will continue to use the 2 original latches and as a backup, fix the leather straps.

I will try to post a photo of my latches, I think they are un damaged.