Misaligned frame latch, can it be fixed?
 

I have a Dahon folding bike. I recently bought a used one, however it seemingly was damaged in the mail, the front part of the frame seems to have been moved up relative to the rear by a few mm, so it wont close (unfold all the way) now. See picture below, the middle center piece under the chrome latch cover (front part of frame) overlaps the top metal piece on the other side (rear) of the joint. The middle is no longer able to go in between the metal pieces on the other side (rear) of the joint, it hits the top one. Also wasn't sure if I should post this question in the bicycle mechanic section..

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=F211EBE72496065A!9285&authkey=!AKuwXXbHB1_OF20&v=3&ithint=photo%2cjpg

hmmm pretty beat up blocks too. Seems that the owner has closed the latch without unfolding the frame all the way ... like hundreds of times ..
ofcourse its hard to say
bring to dealer t make sure

I gotta agree,... Bring the bike to a dealer to have someone check it out. If the latch is too badly damaged it's a safety issue.

One block is perfect (the lower one not being hit), the top has its bottom corner gouged a bit as the sharp corner form the middle block eats it up pretty quick if you try to close it, which i did a few times. Ive left alone now.

one dealer said maybe, one said no way. The hinge needs to be bent about 2mm for it to fit (Ive discarded the idea bout grinding a block to make it fit). Bending is obviously do able as that prolly is how it got this way in the first place. I know aluminum is not as malleable as steel, but it seems like its a pretty small adjustment that would need to be made. I'm thinking maybe a metal bending shop could do it if a bike shop cant/wont. Thoughts?

frame bend ? forget about it....but unlikely . clamp and rods bend ?
there are rebuilt kits available

Thanks for your input Thor. So you think the frame wasn't bent? How do I know if it was the clamps and rods (IF I'm looking at the right parts, they look fine to my untrained eye atm), do I just buy and try a rebuild kit?

let a dealer decide I hate youspending money and than its the same

I took the latch off and as you can see the two blocks on either side of the frame don't line up. The rod onto which the chrome latch screws looks fine as far as I can tell.

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resi...t=folder%2cjpg

guide for latchpin is missing ... that might be the problem ... or it has allowed to be crocked over a long time ....

If the guide is a metal piece that goes around the rod and screws onto the inside of frame joint with two screws, then i just took it off to look around.