[Shiny]

Thanks to you both.

I now have a "custom" latch that is working well!

I concluded my latch had a difficult childhood so I spent some quality time with pliers, vice grips, and a hammer after a visit to the hardware store.

I straightened the arm, bent the "u-shaped" end of the arm to reduce clearance between the arm and the pawl/fulcrum, and bent the frame to allow a little more travel for the safety arm:



This is where I wanted to reduce clearance:



Finally, I found a flanged plastic bushing at Ace Hardware that I put in the rod hole to tighten it up:



If this proves problematic, I may have to roll over and buy a repro latch but for now, I'm good with it.

Mike