Fitting Pro-plates to Fiat Ducato 2015 model (1 Viewer)

[Riverbankannie]

Will do pics tomoro as I have left the in the van in disgust.......
But look same as yours bar your extra bolts lower down

Yes, I hopefully another day tomorrow, hope you have downed a stiff drink and get a good nights rest. I have to say, John didn’t the first night. We were supposed to play golf on day after “day 2” but he said I’ve been awake worrying about the fit on the drivers door and I am going to take it off and start again. That’s when he did the bit of fettling.

 

[Riverbankannie]

Fitting instructions header note comment te plates

Just blown up our photo showing those instructions!!! Himself has gone to bed so I’ll point them out in the morning

 

[gerry mcg]

Same chassis as me I think
Adria twin 600 sp on 17 plate

Maybe I'm fussy on fit lol......

I'm fussy on fit too
You have seen photos of my driver door and rear doors on the other thread. Here it is my passenger door. I'll take a photo in daylight tomorrow.
Tbh, I'm surprised if there is any difference in the plates and I think the passenger / driver: L/R sliding door and rear doors are different on the ducato and thinking the Web order might be a standard form for all vans and is more relevant if the handles are mounted sideways on the body, and handedness would be a real important issue then

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[gerry mcg]

Photos of the passenger door and sliding door in daylight

 

[skylinersi]

Our order showing what I ordered exactly

 

[Riverbankannie]

garrison locks didn’t ask to specify which doors. Just ordered 2 Ducato plates

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[Riverbankannie]

It looks like the plates come from the same manufacturer as the instruction sheets look the same judging by our 2 photos. I think maybe a generic instruction sheet too.

 

[Deneb]

All four of my plates were completely identical. Other than altering the amount of curvature slightly on the extended lower edge I had no problems with their fit. They might be a bit "loose" around the profile of the handle inner casting, but if you're using a vehicle based polyurethane adhesive sealant between the plate and the door panel, there won't be any movement once it's cured. It's the same stuff that windscreens are bonded to the vehicle with. When fitting them, don't tighten the handle securing nuts fully until you've got all 3 or 4 back on. You can then go outside and centre the plate around the handle profile, before finally tightening the nuts. As I say, once the sealant has cured, they aren't going anywhere.

 

[skylinersi]

All four of my plates were completely identical. Other than altering the amount of curvature slightly on the extended lower edge I had no problems with their fit. They might be a bit "loose" around the profile of the handle inner casting, but if you're using a vehicle based polyurethane adhesive sealant between the plate and the door panel, there won't be any movement once it's cured. It's the same stuff that windscreens are bonded to the vehicle with. When fitting them, don't tighten the handle securing nuts fully until you've got all 3 or 4 back on. You can then go outside and centre the plate around the handle profile, before finally tightening the nuts. As I say, once the sealant has cured, they aren't going anywhere.

That's pretty much what I Did
Had to enlarge lower hole areas to get it to fit properly
Not massively impressed on the whole
And
The plates are way off for rear and side door
May settle or send them back?

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[skylinersi]

Drivers on..... what a pain tho....

 

[Riverbankannie]

Nice job

 

[NPlusM]

I have just done this job as well, I cut the membrane away by peeling it off in one go using a Stanley blade. The adhesive just reattaches. If it does tear a bit of gaffer tape dose the job. Go slowly as you would craving meat.
I clamped the arm rest up out of the way with a thick cloth and solo clamp.
With the foam membrane off, I used a 6mm ring spanner to push out the white clips that holds the hardboard on (push spanner over clips from the inside of the door and it closes the "ears" and you can reuse them) and then slotted them back into the hardboard.
The one thing that I should of done was to use a black sealer!

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[skylinersi]

I have just done this job as well, I cut the membrane away by peeling it off in one go using a Stanley blade. The adhesive just reattaches. If it does tear a bit of gaffer tape dose the job. Go slowly as you would craving meat.
I clamped the arm rest up out of the way with a thick cloth and solo clamp.
With the foam membrane off, I used a 6mm ring spanner to push out the white clips that holds the hardboard on (push spanner over clips from the inside of the door and it closes the "ears" and you can reuse them) and then slotted them back into the hardboard.
The one thing that I should of done was to use a black sealer!

brilliant idea using the ring spanner to get the white clips out, i used pliers which was bloody awkward!

 

[skylinersi]

right, to clarify re plates.

spoke to tvl and protecta van.........got told to fone the other and then vice versa, and so on for 1/2 hour

eventually spoke to someone, they did offer to get 2 plates changed as he said while he was reading the tvl instructions they are different, so i asked if he could check with the tech guys, just to see what the difference is, he comes back on and says he has spoken to them and theres no difference!!!!, so why does it state they are i asked?, to which he said theyre all the same and a tech guy will phone me back, that was 7 hours ago, no reply yet!!!! stunning service, about as good as the plate fit!!

i will tackle the rear door again, after having given up with both tvl and protectavan and have now modified one plate. i will put pics showing std plate fit and modded plate fit, then you will all see what im raving about!!

on the plus side i fitted the heosafe locks sunday afternoon which took all of 30 mins, significantly easier!!!!

 

[skylinersi]

it also appears its pointless fitting the plates to handles which have no lock barrel, as the screwdriver trick wont work as theres no locking mechanism to attack...................

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[Riverbankannie]

According to @Deneb on the other thread
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/heosafe-deadlocks-and-proplates.135670/
It is worth fitting to all handles.

 

[skylinersi]

According to @Deneb on the other thread
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/heosafe-deadlocks-and-proplates.135670/
It is worth fitting to all handles.

buggers then..........

 

[skylinersi]

All fitted. Took 3 hrs to do cab sliding hab door and rear barn door.......
Won't be volunteering to fit em again.....

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[DerryW]

excellent tip. looks a bit of a fiddly job, but well worth the hassle.

 

[Simon says...]

Hi, a bit late to this thread!
Very informative esp for anyone with Fiat’s of a certain age.
Being careful with the pennies tho ( ok, Yorkshire and tight ) here is my alternative.
Total job took about 40 mins - cut and bend the steel and glue in place - and total cost...£0.
How effective you think it might be - I’d be interested to hear!
Cut from a bit of scrap stainless steel and fixed with very strong adhesive.
I guess someone could get under it with a hammer and chisel but may deter someone just armed with just a screwdriver.

 

[skylinersi]

looks good, how far under the door handle casing does it go?

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[Simon says...]

About 14mm, until it hit something solid!

 

[skylinersi]

lower retaining bolt or casing maybe? looks promising tho bud

 

[ManTheVan]

Great tutorial post!

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[Simon says...]

lower retaining bolt or casing maybe? looks promising tho bud

Cheers, hopefully we will never find out!

 

[Deneb]

About 14mm, until it hit something solid!

The lower edge of the lock cylinder casing I expect. If Simon says... version is just a rectangular plate the size it appears to be in the photo, it's probably only useful as a visual deterrent.

The pro-plate is slightly larger than the lock handle and follows the handle's contours all around it, secured by the lock handle studs and nuts where they locate through the door skin. It also has an inner reinforcing plate which includes a box section shield to encase the lock cylinder. That has the additional benefit of reinforcing the door skin section behind and around the lock handle to prevent the door skin being bent back under the handle and preventing a thin tool reaching and manipulate either the lock cam or the lock cable actuator.

The original pro-plate just followed the contour of the door lock handle. The extension below the handle was added on later versions to further resist a blade being inserted between the pro-plate and the door skin which could still allow access to the lock cam. In other words the extension below the lock handle is an additional but integral part of the entire pro-plate, not the primary security feature of the design.

So I'm afraid a small rectangular plate below the lock handle won't do much mechanically to prevent manipulation of the lock mechanism unless it extends around the entire contour of the handle plate and secures through the handle fixing studs, to provide the rigidity to resist it being deformed by a blade inserted behind the handle.

 

[Simon says...]

If @Simon says... version is just a rectangular plate the size it appears to be in the photo, it's probably only useful as a visual deterrent.

Hi Deneb, thanks for feeding back in detail. I totally accept that my cut down version would not be as effective as the proper proplate.
It is a bit bigger than you see in the picture in that it extends up behind the handle by about 14mm. It is also 1mm thick so is hard to bend. From the pictures that I have seen of the damage caused by this type of break-in I think it might make the job a bit harder. I guess unless someone tries to break in we’ll never know!
Hopefully the plate and the VanBitz alarm stickers will deter anyone from trying!

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[Deneb]

Simon says... I'm not disparaging your efforts, but as someone who worked in the vehicle crime field (on the investigation side, not a baddie) I just wanted you not to be under any illusions.

Forewarned is forearmed, as they say

 

[Simon says...]

I just wanted you not to be under any illusions.

Forewarned is forearmed, as they say

Thanks, under no illusions. If someone really wants in there are plenty of weak points on the MH!

 

[L' Hobo]

Once the one screw undone, the blind just lifted off so easy to put to one side for safekeeping. Just found it easier.

I think Globecar known for good winterisation. Now we know how to get the trim off, we could do ours but we don’t have a problem as we do not knowingly camp in very cold weather. My husband feels the cold very badly and we wouldn’t be able to enjoy the days. We did have some cold nights in Spain but heater works well in evening and morning and overnight we snuggle under feather duvet and wool blanket. The main problem was the draught through the centre edges of the barn door, our heads are against it because we have to move the back cushions to get the whole bed length, both of us being very tall.
We solved that on the couple of windy nights, by hanging up a picnic blanket, trapping it between the upper cupboards and the doors so it just stayed up.

I solved the problem of wind coming between the rear doors by getting some small bore, grey foam pipe insulation from DIY store, and squeezing it down the crack and around the inside handle.

If one wants to open the rear doors, just pull it out and replace later. (sorry so late, just came across tread )

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