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The baggage door and latch blocks were completed, so it was finished. However, in its present state, the door needs to be held open with one hand while loading and unloading, which severely limits efficiency. How to keep the door upright is left up to the builder's imagination, and many different methods are used from the marine and auto applications. I have seen everything ranging from a stick to a gas cartridge. I chose a permanent but simplified option, and I am using a boat latch spring. The spring is an elegant solution because lifting the door open pops the spring into a straight line (in compression) to hold the door open. When you are ready to close the door, you bend the spring slightly and close the door, and the spring bends in half out of the way.

Since I followed Rob's lead on this and sourced the same spring from the same online store, it was time to get more detailed intel from Rob on where he placed his spring, as he has already done the heavy lifting. Rob quickly sent me some pictures, so I duplicated his process. I drilled out one of the door rivets and drilled an additional hole for the spring door attach plate. From there, it was a matter of deciding how much the door should be open at the top and how best to incorporate the cowl pin retainer by sharing rivets on the front of the firewall. I worked out my preferred attach location using gorilla tape, tested the door's opening and closing, and ensured negative contact and full functionality. With the proof of concept complete, It was time to drill holes, make the cowl pin retainer, and test fit the cowl pins one last time before cutting the pins to final size and riveting the door spring and cowl pin retainer in place. With that, the baggage door is complete.

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