Hood/Bonnet latches and handles

[cobrakiwi]

Kirkham's 1.42, CSX 4000 1.225 these are from both cars in my shop at this time. It is interesting all the different measurements, any body have there original csx 2000 3000 that could share the same measurement?

[ACademic]

Originally Posted by mickmate

Steve they are 1.38"

Originally Posted by cobrakiwi

Kirkham's 1.42, CSX 4000 1.225 these are from both cars in my shop at this time.

Nick, thank you.

Kiwi, I trust your digital caliper is as golden as Nick's. Wow, what a range.

In the end, I still believe that no matter which ones I end up with, I'm still dealing with some paint work (and possibly some minor bodywork) during any swap. Good knowledge to have beforehand. Thank you, all!

[KevinW]

Sorry for the tardy response on this, others have probably answered already, I remember Gerry muttering something to me about original latches being hard to get hold off, but i cant remember if he makes these up or if they are OEM items - Im sure he'd be happy to talk to others. But for the record,

on my latches (which came from Gerry Hawkridge at Hawk Cars):

the base is 36.2mm diameter (approx 1.42 inches);
the external diameter of the handle shaft is 18.6mm (0.72 inches);
the distance between the two screw holes in the base is approx 27.2mm - this is only accurate to about a mm or so, as i measured this between the centre of the crosses on the cross-head screws.

Any other measurements, let me know, as I'm relaxing/working on the cobra project now before going back to salaried stress in a week or so.

[BERNIE]

Base 34.40 m/m (original cox car )

---- 36.28 Kirkham car

[Dan Case]

Rereading the original post, like many subjects Cobra, there is not "a single" answer.

The first Cobras used a flip up little chrome plated cover (Triumph something I believe) and a separate tool to put through the hole exposed when the cover was raised to work the latch mechanism below. I never heard of anyone enjoying using them. Once several decades ago I watched a very 'excited' Cobra owner fumble around the cockpit looking through the glove box and door pockets looking for his latch tool while electrical smoke was escaping from the closed engine bay. Fortunately he found the "key", got the bonnet up, and disconnected the battery before any damage that couldn't be repaired on the spot before day's end was done.



Shelby race cars got custom fabricated "tear drop" handles permanently mounted. The first ones were just painted black as I understand it. Soon they were upgraded to chrome plating and came into use on street cars also.



The common Wilmot Breeden handles people associate with Cobras replaced the hand fabricated Shelby pieces and were used from then on. I haven't seen any in a long time but there was another British application that used keyed lock cylinders in the handles and in the 1970s and early 1980s I would occasionally see one or both handles on a Cobra/427 Cobra owner upgraded to the locking handles. Photos of the original hardware samples from a CSX24XX car damaged badly decades ago.

[xb-60]

Originally Posted by Dan Case

Photos of the original hardware samples from a CSX24XX car damaged badly decades ago.

Dan - the limits of your resources for pictures and information never ceases to amaze me!
Cheers, and HNY!
Glen

[rsk289]

Yes, Dan's resources know no limits! Great. Sheet metal screws into the aluminium? Cheaper, I suppose.