I needed to repair the door latches on my XK120 DHC but could not find a set of backer plates for the latches, so I had some made. These plates fit behind the B Post for door latches P/N 2130 and 2311 for the XK120 DHC, the XK120 FHC and the XK140 DHC.
The original latch plates were chrome plated and painted over the chrome, so they were well protected from corrosion and many remain in tact although the rubber bushings frequently need to be replaced. The same cannot be said for backer plates. Reproduction front plates are available but I could not find any backer plates from the usual sources so I had these made.
These plates are water jet cut from stainless steel plate with a thickness of 0.185". They use the original pattern for a XK120 Drop Head Coupe and are drilled and tapped for that bolt pattern. Eight stainless steel, chrome plated, 10 x 32 x ¾", oval head slotted machine screws are included. Price is $59 for the pair.
The original backer plates are made from simple carbon steel and were basically unprotected from rust. Most original backer plates are not far from dust as were the original chrome plated oval head slotted machine screws that secured them. This stainless steel set should long out last any of us.
Note that the drilling pattern has been machined to match the original bolt pattern. Many of the reproduction front latch plates have a bit of a different drilling pattern. If you are fitting these to a set of reproduction latches, you will need to flip these over and make a new bolt pattern. For those applications, you can order the set without tapped holes for $10 less.
Also note that originally all the doors for the early Jaguar XK’s were hand fitted. Over time, the door hinges on virtually all of the cars have worn a bit causing the doors to droop some. You can use these latch backer plates to correct those issues, but it is possible that you will need to cut a notch in the plate to accommodate the individual nature of your particular car. You can contact me at clewis66@verizon.net