Vent window lock broken

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CBeak
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by CBeak »

Kai wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2019 9:49 pm Mike,
thanks for the update. Would you mind posting a picture of the bronzed metal latches? I am curious how they turned out
Will do. Might be a couple of days since work seems to interfere with my flying way too often.
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by cptndavid »

I just got two latches they came quickly and look good, but, I will need to ream the hole to fit the bushing prior to use and they are not exact replacement. I guess for $12.00 they are good enough. I am glad I did not order the gold latches. Reaming out the hole would be a waste of nice gold.
Happy new year.
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CBeak
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by CBeak »

A couple of photos of the bronzed finish latch
77CE5D9A-8ED8-4FD9-8097-AAA022A79A81.jpeg
B91C9EA4-A44C-4BDE-940C-8E995B5C6292.jpeg
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by cptndavid »

I did order the bronze latches and will put the plastic latches I bought in the tool box for use if needed.
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by Boatguy »

I thought I had ordered a bronze latch, but when I went back to check apparently I did everything but click on Place Order. So today I clicked on Place Order and it should come in a couple of weeks.
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by cptndavid »

The bronze latches look good on my airplane. I did have to reem the holes for the bushings to fit. Very nice parts.
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by CBeak »

Boatguy wrote: Thu Mar 19, 2020 9:33 pm I thought I had ordered a bronze latch, but when I went back to check apparently I did everything but click on Place Order. So today I clicked on Place Order and it should come in a couple of weeks.
I have a similar issue with lottery tickets. Never seem to win anything if I forget to buy the ticket :lol:
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by Boatguy »

I received my new latch a couple of days ago. I'm kind of surprised that it's a dull silver rather than bronze. I know bronze is silver + tin, but do these use an unusually high percentage of tin?

I'll install it next week.
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by Boatguy »

I finally got around to installing my new latch. The metal sleeve that goes inside the plastic latch doesn't fit, but is probably also no longer needed. I had to file the plastic washer a bit and then "press fit" it into the metal latch. And I had to dig out a 7mm socket, but beyond that, it looks and works fine!
2020-05-01 150802.JPG
2020-05-01 150740.JPG
2020-05-01 150732.JPG
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Rich
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Re: Vent window lock broken

Post by Rich »

In my case there are several things to deal with:

1. Bushing doesn't fit and not using it makes for a really sloppy fit.
2. The original nylon washer between the vent window and the latch is thinner than the counterbore in the latch, meaning the metal latch would scrape against the plastic vent.
3. Left side can not be closed due to latch thickness, possibly exacerbated by fix, below.
4. Right side can not be latched because the rectangular-ish corners of the latch prevent it fro engaging. No. 3 might be an issue as well, as I can't tell.

1 and 2 solved by these from Ace hardware:
Window latch bushings.jpg
3 & 4 will require some massaging with Dremel.
Last edited by Rich on Mon May 04, 2020 12:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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