Manta Mirage Door Latches

[Sulley]

My car does not have any door latches. I was going to install the small version of the Bear Claw. Does anyone have any advice on a new installation?

I am concerned about the exact location and adjust-ability. Does the install have to be spot on or can I adjust these for proper fit?

Does anyone have good close up pics of theirs?

Do I put the pin in the 'pillar' and latch in the door or the opposite pin in the door and latch in the body?

Thanks!

[Blueovalz]

I put the latch (I used the Bear Claw trunk latch for my doors) in the door itself, and the pin in the jam. The latch itself does not really promote any adjustability, mainly because to make it as clean an installation as possible, I needed to countersink the 1/4" holes and use flat-top screws to hold the latch. The pin can be made adjustable by drilling a larger hole than needed and using that to move the pin to an ideal location, but that is about it as far as adjustability, at least from my perspective. A concern I had when I first acquired the trunk latches was that they would be single-sided (because there is no left or right side trunk), but the ones I got were indeed left and right handed.

[Manta22]

I used the small bear claw latches on my black Mirage. I installed them on both the front and rear of the lower door since I spliced the upper & lower door together and so had no front hinge to guarantee that the front edge of the door would not be pulled upwards at high speed. This is probably not something a street car would be concerned with, though.

I reinforced the fiberglass with aluminum for additional strength. Since I have two latches in the driver's door, I needed to operate them together-- so I used a rotating handle that is linked by rods to each bear claw. Rotating the inside handle pulls the rods to release both latches at the same time. The handle is made by Southco.

[Sulley]

Thanks the pictures are very helpful.