While waiting for parts to come, we revisited the doors which just needed their rear latch pins installed.
Allen showed up with what looked like a cheese grating board but it turned out to be an ingenious device for holding the rods steady while we used the drill press to drill the tiny cotter pin holes in the end.
Genius! And available for sale at all good ‘seen on TV’ retail stores…. 🙂
The pilot side door didn’t yet have the rear latch on so we drilled and fitted that.
The latch goes into an angle to keep it in place.
Allen cut and ground down the end of the rear latch rod for the passenger side door so that it would fit in just right and we had a fully locked door.
Except not really because the top front of the pax door is not snug against the frame when closed and locked. Apart from the wind and noise, this won’t work as most likely the wind would tear the door off in flight. The pilot side door does fit snug so it must be something slightly off with the door handle fit. I suspect there is nothing I can do about it except to rig something up at the top of the door (small bungie, I suppose) to keep it closed.
We still have the pilot side latch to cut and file (also will need to move the angle down the frame one rivet hole for it to fit), and then after some red paint on the metal, the doors will be done.