Installing the Trunk
Handle |
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| The Bear deck lid has a recessed rectangle
that's a good place to start for an access hole. I
put masking tape around the inside perimeter of the
hole, and will cut out the area inside the tape. This
way, we can make up an aluminum cover later on to
hide the hole, and it will be recessed. I've got the
center marked on the other piece of tape. |
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| The time consuming part
of the deck lid latch is getting the slot in the correct
spot. Mark the area with masking tape, measure your
mounting hole centers, then figure out where the sweep
of the "flag" is going to be. The distance
from the flag to the outside of the deck lid is very
important in our case, because we're not using the
bracket that goes on the body. We're going to mount
the handle so that the 'flag' will brush against the
inside lip of the trunk when it's closed. That way,
there won't be anything for the suitcases to catch
on! I can't possibly explain all the little dimensions
I had to take- just remember to allow for the thickness
of the fiberglass, and also the curvature of the trunk
lid. |
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Voila...
pretty trick, eh?! We'll be using flathead allen
bolts to clean it up even more. |
Installing
the outside handle |
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| This
was a tricky part- transferring the measurement
from the inside of the deck lid to the outside.
I used a square and two eyeballs. |
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| After you drill the hole,
check the location with a scriber or something else
that fits in the little hole. |
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| I got it pretty close the
first time, but I had to offset my hole a bit to get
it centered. Do the same thing as the door handles:
mark the tape with the hole, then cut out the inside
so it's easier to see when you're filing it out to
size. |
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| This is the trunk
handle locking mechanism. Because of the lip on
the Bear trunk (and every other fiberglass trunk),
putting this in its proper location was nearly impossible.
The hole centers would have been about 3/8" below
the outside surface of the deck lid. So I machined
a piece that replicates the original locking ring,
only about 3/4" higher. This lets us mount
the latch further away from the outside surface
of the deck lid --> hopefully, right at the
inside lip of the trunk. |
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Here is the locking
finger locked in the slot. You can see from this
picture what I was talking about in the last description.
You see where the handle mounts to the lid... then
take away the spacer I made, and that piece is mighty
close to the outside of the lid too. Write me an
email if you don't get it. Actually, write me an
email if you DO get it, just so I know the email
button is working.
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| Oh yeah, that's what we're
talking about. Don't forget about the little rubber
gasket that goes under the handle! |
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Here's why the
rear end isn't in the above picture. |
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