Door safety catch

[Bill_qaz]

Does anyone know how does the spring locate in the front door striker (1st catch) My spring has popped out and cannot see how it locates to stay in?

Screenshot_20250709-221329_Samsung Internet.jpg (41.29 KiB) Viewed 267 times

[ManyMinors]

I think the spring can only come out once the catch is damaged/worn. The spring fits in from the rear where a plate is attached with rivets. They're not usually repairable and new ones are not expensive.

[mike1864]

There is a little pip on the back of the moving part to locate the spring, with the other end sitting in a slight hollow in the riveted plate.
So ManyMinors is right. Furkling it back in is nigh on impossible. So it's a plate removal job, with the consequent problem of re-fixing it.
If/when you DO buy a new one, check that its mounting hole spacing is the same as your original. I had one from a rogue batch, where the spacing was a mm wrong, and it wouldn't align with the threaded holes in the pillar's captive plate. The supplier - David Manners - remedied the issue.

[Bill_qaz]

Thanks Guys, at £18 + delivery for a repro lm being tight and will have a go at refitting the spring. I have a bid on fleabay for a nos one as the drivers side is mullered

Outbib

[svenedin]

Last time I bought a new boot catch it had been made by WBH (Weston Body Hardware in Redditch). Very good quality. Presumably door catches are made by the same company? It seems WBH has been taken over though...

Stephen

[simmitc]

If the catch is cleaned thoroughly, then the rear plate can be secured with superglue or JB Weld or similar. Clamp until set, but once fitted to the pillar, then the plate will be held in place anyway.

[ManyMinors]

You've probably realised but 2door and 4door are different.

[Bill_qaz]

You've probably realised but 2door and 4door are different.

Yes thanks, different widths, even in pics 2 door is easy to spot as less material either side of screw holes

[mike1864]

It's not clear if the OP has a 2 or 4 door.
But on my 1956 S2 convertible the hole spacing of the fitted catch (and therefore the back plate) is 38.5mm.
I have a spare catch that has a 40mm spacing; so presumably that's what David Manners sent me, that didn't fit.
My first (and only) experience of this catch was on boarding the Dover ferry, when my wife couldn't get out of the car.
The "chin" of the catch (that hits the catch body, preventing the whole caboodle swinging out) had fractured. So the sprung-loaded catch bit firmly into the rear face of the door, rendering it unopenable. Fortunately there was a small gap to get in with with screwdriver and release the impasse. I did without this halfway catch till I got home.

[Bill_qaz]

Hi Mike its a 4 door as per my avatar.
Long nose pliers two small screw drivers and perseverance and I managed to get the spring back in
Don't know how long it will stay
But drivers side the spring has left long ago and the wedge is a bit mangled, I hope it stay in flush and I dont have your issue
I will replace the catch when I find one at right price (cheap)

[mike1864]

Hi Bill. So are your fixing centres 40mm, perhaps a variance from the 2 door’s 38.5? In which case my gash one was never a rogue; just wrong for a 2 door. And I don’t need it!

[Bill_qaz]

Hi Bill. So are your fixing centres 40mm, perhaps a variance from the 2 door’s 38.5? In which case my gash one was never a rogue; just wrong for a 2 door. And I don’t need it!

Thanks Mike, I'll be over to the storage and measure it Sunday and let you know .

[mike1864]

Given that the body is not markedly different, I'm suspecting that my variant item resulted from the manufacturer simply converting 1.5" to a close (but not close enough!) 40mm "equivalent". Fine if just fastening into wood or a steel panel. But useless for a tapped backplate.