Installing Door Handles/Gears

So, does anyone have a good trick to getting the gear racks to line up with the interior door handle and gear when you are assembling them IN THE DOOR POCKET? As the plans state, the assembly doesnt fit in as one piece, so you have to assemble it once the racks are placed inside the for and aft holes. When I putting the assembly together initially, it was easy to get it all to go together, but the racks and gear to be such close tolerance, that it's hard to get it to line up properly so I can insert the door handle and gear when the racks have been placed inside the door holes.

Short answer: practice.

Long answer: more practice.

Seriously though, I found that if I drew a line on the left/right side of each gear rack, I can get them lined up pretty well and thus the circular cog fits in.

BTW, I had to create a custom epoxy 'bed' for them to sit into in order to rid the friction within the cog itself because when I tightened down the screws, it dis-formed it enough to cause excessive drag.

After some tweaking, my CP's door has 6 in-lbs of force to open and close. This includes the front pin, the aft pin, Steve's flush door locks, and Sean's center rotational cog.

Hope that helps.

-Jim

That's the right answer. I'd also throw in patience. Lots of it.

It would be nice if they beveled the edges of the mating teeth enough to assist in alignment. That would make the process much easier.

Like Jim's, mine also had a slight bind when I tightened them dowm and I also bedded mine in flox. I hit the edges of my gears and racks on the deburring wheel also.