Guys, I am trying to track down some new front latches. First, how do you adjust them to make them clamp tighter? And what's the best process to clean them up for rust removal and new paint?

As I recall there are a couple nuts which hold the hook part to the lever. Be careful not to overtighten them. You'll just strip the threads and be in the market for another pair. I messed around quite a bit and bought a couple different sets from people. Even after I was sure I had a set without stripped threads my top was still loose. The problem turned out to be the front targa seal. Once I replaced that it's much better. No rattles, no latch hooks dropping from the sky.

lossen teh nut on the lever and you will find it is in a slotted hole so the length can be adjusted.

wirewheel to remove the old paint,then rattle can it black is good enough a Semi gloss seems to match my old levers well.

have fun!!!

Thanks guys. I believe the strip is new. I will start with the latches and circle back if I need more help.

OK, car is home and I understand the front latch adjustment. Seems that you loosen the (2) nuts and adjust the overall legenth of the latch. My driver's side is snug, but the passenger side is loose and I am adjusted all the way out. Can I remove the latch from the roof panel, and elongate the adjustment slots to gain another 1/8 to 1/4 inch of travel for the fronts using a drill press?

On the rears, my driver's side is super tight but again, the passenger side was loose. I tried the PVC tubing from an air hose trick on the metal tab and it snugged up just a bit. In looking up and inside of the roll bar, I see (2) bolts. Can I loosen then and try to pull the latch mechanism down a bit to gain a little more bite?

Any other tips would be much appreciated. And yes, all of the seals are brand new.

What ever you do dont remove that back latch all the way unless you have to.Serious pain in the ass to get those back in.

Measure the diagonals between the windshield frame and targa bar (LF-to-RR, RF-to-LR) to make sure your opening is square. If not, then I would think that tweaking the adjustment of the latches is just hiding the real problem, even if you can get the latch tight by elongating the holes.

S

Measurements are nice and square. Thanks for the tip.

Try puting some spacer material under the latch to targa top mount , may have to get longer screws / bolts , that way you haven't modified any parts yet . It may get you the 1/8- 1/4 inch you want .Just a shot in the dark ...

Jack / Jaxdream

You sure can. However, i would look for the actual reason why your latches need that much more adjustment.

Obviously, something is not right. I never had a 914 where i had to drill out the slots.

If the seals are new and the opening is square, what else could the problem be? It seems there should only be a small number of possible causes. In fact, since we are discussing one of the front latches I don't think the rear latch setup should be involved. Can you keep the rear latches undone and just latch the fronts? Do you have a spare latch you can swap out? Can you swap the left and right latches?

S