This past Monday I was stepping out from my truck when the mailman appeared, he had the long awaited pkge plus some bad news as he stated. Apparently the postage was shy $11, this post wasn't leaving and I quickly forked over the cash and shook the box. Ahh the sound of joy lay within...at least I thought so. I opened the big box and found a tiny box, inside was my latch, catch and assorted nuts and washers. I wondered why such a big box for such a little item, was it all that was available, I dismissed the thought and concluded this was the reason for the added postage. Now the game begins.
When I spoke with Dennis first he made aware there might be two spot welds on each side of the latch faceplate. My first glance inspection didn't reveal that obstruction but on further review under closer scrutiny... they were there. This required as Dennis had stated the use of a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel attachment. I had this tool within my arsenal, all seemed pretty straight up to this point. However, the handle on the KK isn't removable, an obstacle, so any straight cut to remove the weld required some clever hand manipulation with tool to remove the faceplate. If your unaccustomed to working in tight positions with some tools the way forward could be a bit arduous/difficult. I would best describe the situation as trying to start a screw in a comprimised position with worn threads, the task is challenging yet attainable. It was, and after finding the correct cutting wheel a task that came to fruition. There are 3 cutting wheels, the first is the cheapest for very light jobs which breaks within 5-10 seconds upon use, then the thicker more reliable wheel that'll last, does the job but wears before your eyes and also needs replacement. Lastly the reinforced wheel, it wears slowly, is thicker and reinforced for a more reliable cut. So after quite a few rounds of experimentation of changing this and that the plate came off.....finally. Your going to scratch the bottom plate it sits on a little, it's unavoidable but if your careful it's minimal. After all the work was completed I realized at the bottom of my Dremel tool box there was an attachment for tight working areas, sometime your focus is just straight forward and you forget, anyway I posted the pic to show what it was next to the Dremel.
The positioning of the latch needed some tweaking, keeping in mind my worn gasket that needs replacement so for a tight click and good spacing it took a few minutes to find. I wouldn't want to do this everyday, it requires an approach, not too difficult given the obstacles but it's within the field of achievement. Mind you now, after all was said and done.............I like my old one better, call it nostalgia, change, feel, it just seemed to work better....it'll pass.