I bought a Pro Plate for £22 + postage from www.ebay.co.uk/str/carandcomm... and requested the black version. All arrived, and I've been procrastinating for ages! Anyway, today is the day....
The idea of this plate is the Sevel vans are susceptible to a simple attack where a screwdriver puncture under a keyed door handle will "unlock" the door. I thought deadlocked doors were protected from this but I was told otherwise and looking at the mechanism it does appear to be the case. A deadlocked door forced this way would trigger an alarm (if fitted) but the door would open trivially. The external plate protects the vulnerable sport and reinforces the area and is a visual deterrent. The internal frame is what prevents the standard attack working as you can't simply push the catch up. The size of the internal plate would make it very difficult to lift the catch externally without a major hole in the door. Suffice to say nothing is 100% but this will stop the common thief.
The instructions were OK, but there were some bits I didn't understand which fortunately were not needed !! Phew.
Knowing what I do now, its a 1.5hr job I reckon.
My tips:-
1 - Ensure the external plate has correct profile before you fit it. My bend at the bottom was too angled - I had to flatten it. Fitting it as provided did not sit flush and would've damaged paint
2 - You do not need to disconnect the cable to the internal handle; or to the external handle. (The plate can be put on sideways and rotated over the handle). With the internal handle connected, the top door panel is "retained" but can drop down and you can work around it.
3 - When undoing the 10mm nuts on handle, don't drop them. And on re-insertion use tape on the socket so they are retained and not dropped in.
4 - The speaker connection is from the front of the speaker, not the rear, so route the cable through the hole before fitting trim
5 - The "electrics" panel is vv tight - lift rear, and once raised unclip sides then hope!
6 - The only lock mechanism you undo is the "key bar to lock" which is awkward, and blind. Its a "u" clip that clips over the bar. Undoing is easy, you can squeeze it out - but note the "end" of the 90' goes into the centre axis of the rotating bit. So when reassembling, put in the and of the 90 first then clip it in. (See video)
7 - The corner trim section on mine was too tight, I just undid bottom and accessed the T30.
Of course, if you can remove the lock mechanisms based on the instructions then do so - just for the life of me I couldn't without feeling like I was over stressing the part, so opted not to.
I had to take it apart 3 times - don't do the same unless you want practice :')
21 сен 2021
