Worrying Experience

[chris dancey]

Yesturday I was in the process of bringing the '38 10hp coupe home from the workshop. Part of the journey involves driving through Ditchling ( home village of Vera Lynn ) just north of Brighton when I ran over a large pot hole that was'nt there on my last visit.

The car shook violently which sprang open the drivers door and I nearly fell out ( no seat belts ), I grabbed the door but unable to hold in the wind ( very large and light, being aluminium ), it crashed back into the bodywork causing some damage....a word of warning...the doors can spring open if the body is flexed enough !

I am now going to experiment with fixing a secondary bolt locking system, probably using a budget lock and small lever handle, safety comes first and originality second in this instance..I will report on my efforts.

Suffice to say that this has'nt happened to me before..although I have heard from a couple of friends so far that have experienced something similar...so a word of warning...watch out for pot holes...there are plenty around at the moment.

[lakesrally]

Had something similar happen to the 16/50, the rear passenger side door came open and doubled back hitting the wing. Damage was fairly minimal being just small dents in the wing and door, although a wooden spar inside the door has sprung and torn the leather inner panel slightly. It might not have been so bad if the check-strap had been attached in the correct fashion which would have limited the movement, I've now put this right. When travelling with the car on the trailer I tie the door handles together, the front doors are hinged at the front and the rear doors are suicide doors so the handles are close together.

[chris dancey]

Very Sensible Stewart,

Like you, damage is minimal but annoying...just goes to prove the perils of vintage motoring !

Now that I am aware that this is a possibility I will be more wary. Mike Evans emailed me with a similar story.

I am hopeful that the secondary budget lock set up will aleviate the possibility of it happening again, if successful I will write it up...its a problem particularily with the coupe with the big, wide light aluminium doors for sure and other models must be liable ( according to my painter )

[47p2]

Also happened to me many years ago returning home from a rally, although I was lucky enough to catch the door before any damage was done. When I arrived home I started investigating as to the cause and found the gap between the lock and the striker was slightly more than it should be by just a tiny amount. I removed the striker and cut a thin piece of plastic the exact shape and fitted it behind the striker and I've not had a problem since. For the plastic shim I used a washing up liquid bottle cut to shape. Hope this helps

[chris dancey]

I had thought of fitting a thin backing plate..on further investgation I have found that there is very little space and the door is a tight fit anyway. It looks as though the retracting lock tongue is worn and not locating fully into the keeper, I am toying also with the idea of building up a small weld new surface to the tongue, I think the secondary lock system addition will give me more piece of mind, the coupe doors are large in comparison to ordinary saloons and therefore more difficult to hang onto in this situation...at least I now know what I will be doing over the next couple of weeks !

Also heard from Mark Luff that he has a nice couple of dents in his '37 10 from the same situation.

[David Bliss]

Wooden framed coachwork or all metal bodies will get looser and weaker with age, due to flexing. This then causes the doors to gape in certain situations such as driving on rough road or cornering. Some of the problem can be that the chassis needs attention. Often overlooked are the road leaf springs, these usually will need attention due to their settling and responding more like a solid lump of metal rather than as a resilient spring. If you have ever driven a properly restored car you will know that the difference in ride and handling is very marked. Properly working springs alleviate any shake in the bodywork. However, doors should not be able to spring, if they do it is a fault of the type of door lock used. The door lock should have either a peg or a hook that goes into the lock plate, this completely stops the lock moving away from the plate and becoming detached. I don’t have a photo of a good lock but can probably get one if it would help. Someone mentioned trying to modify the door by fitting a safety latch but did not have enough room to do so. The anti-burst devices that I have seen normally need very little room and could be added to the lock and plate.

As a child I bailed out of a moving car on two occasions. I had a habit of holding on to the door so that I followed the door as it burst open. Fortunately the worst consequence was rolling into a nettle-filled ditch, I was wearing short trousers at the time! I still had to go to school.

[chris dancey]

The apt name of ' suicide doors ' springs to mind !

[chris dancey]

I have now fitted the secondary safety locking system to both GEVs front doors. I am very pleased with the result.

Since the incident with the pot hole and the resultant drivers door springing open, I found a contributing factor in that both the rear spring shackle hangers were fitted upside down, this meant that there was no spring effect and the rear suspension was in effect solid. Previous owner Neal Powell was not aware of this and suggested that this was an error by Ely Services who had been commissioned to rebuild the car back in the 1990s. I did speak with the current owners of Ely Services some time ago, the business was sold to the current owners who have no knowledge of the previous ownership, or indeed GEVs restoration.

So maybe the fitting of the locking system was an unnecessary exercise, but its done now and should save any future problems, it was quite an unnerving experience..although not original, the result is pleasing and I do have the added safety feature.