Joined
·
152 Posts
The **** door check straps on the Duetto just could not be made right, and after reading many, many posts of frustration on the matter I decided to do whatever it took to find a solution. There are (as many of you may know to your cost), two kinds of aftermarket check straps available from our friendly Alfa spares venders; both of which are pretty much junk.
1) The most commonly supplied one is an overly heavy section, shiny black and rock hard plastic part which will destroy the door roller catch assembly and which also de-laminates from it's steel inner core very easily. This part does however, have a very strong, spring steel core.
2) The other kind have the correct shape sectional thickness, but are molded using low grade rubber which is not only too soft, but degrades in the elements very quickly. This type also has an additional problem in that the steel core within it is not spring steel, but (easily bent) mild steel and they have a tendancy to bend under use!
So , what to do? Take #2 and create molds from it. Buy #1, tear out the inner spring steel core (easily done due to the terrible molding). Degrease, prime with bond promoter and then insert spring steel core from #1 into mold taken from #2 and pour part with UV resistant, marine grade polyurethane (colored black). This grade of material is used for the molded pivot rod at the base of windsurfer masts.
I am going to surface grind the poured side on these parts and deflash this weekend. These should virtually last forever and give the doors the correct opening feel and hold.
This was a pretty major project for what many probably think a relatively unimportant part of the car, but for me it became a quest to solve the problem of totally unacceptable aftermarket parts, and a poor spec. part from the factory in the first place.
I am delighted with the way the parts turned out and look forward to fitting them to the car. Unfortunately, these were a serious PITA to make and it is not economically viable to make more of them to sell.
1) The most commonly supplied one is an overly heavy section, shiny black and rock hard plastic part which will destroy the door roller catch assembly and which also de-laminates from it's steel inner core very easily. This part does however, have a very strong, spring steel core.
2) The other kind have the correct shape sectional thickness, but are molded using low grade rubber which is not only too soft, but degrades in the elements very quickly. This type also has an additional problem in that the steel core within it is not spring steel, but (easily bent) mild steel and they have a tendancy to bend under use!
So , what to do? Take #2 and create molds from it. Buy #1, tear out the inner spring steel core (easily done due to the terrible molding). Degrease, prime with bond promoter and then insert spring steel core from #1 into mold taken from #2 and pour part with UV resistant, marine grade polyurethane (colored black). This grade of material is used for the molded pivot rod at the base of windsurfer masts.
I am going to surface grind the poured side on these parts and deflash this weekend. These should virtually last forever and give the doors the correct opening feel and hold.
This was a pretty major project for what many probably think a relatively unimportant part of the car, but for me it became a quest to solve the problem of totally unacceptable aftermarket parts, and a poor spec. part from the factory in the first place.
I am delighted with the way the parts turned out and look forward to fitting them to the car. Unfortunately, these were a serious PITA to make and it is not economically viable to make more of them to sell.
