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I'm in the process of restoring a ton of things that have worn on my 92 in the last years and 150k miles. I have that troublesome door problem going on, but mine have broken on the flat top where the ribs attach to the door. Anyone face this issue? I have seen the metal retainers and rivets but I need a way to attach to the top without a bolt sticking through my door panel..... also since I know it is coming I have used search for days and had trouble finding a fix that deals with this twist.
I know the photo isn't great but the top of the door is on the bottom of the picture. The light areas are where the top of the ribs have separated from the door lip that holds it on.
I am definitely thinking about making some steel brackets with an L shape on the top to hold, but what would I use to hold them reliably??
Rivets to the rib and fabricated bracket, industrial grade epoxy the piece to the underside. Clamp it and let it cure.....that's how I would tackle it anyway. Couldn't hurt to epoxy the surfaces on the end getting riveted as well for further support. I'm sure others will chime in with different fixes.
Not sure about steel versus aluminum.. rust. There are adhesives made for this SMC (sheet molded compound) that will adhere like new or better. THe chemistry in all these new, specialized plastics and other compounds darn near calls for a Chem major. A body shop supply place should have it.
Not sure about steel versus aluminum.. rust. There are adhesives made for this SMC (sheet molded compound) that will adhere like new or better. THe chemistry in all these new, specialized plastics and other compounds darn near calls for a Chem major. A body shop supply place should have it.
Thanks for the info! I need to find some of that stuff!
Aluminum is probably a much better choice, easier to heat and bend too.
Anyone ever use Bondic? It seems relatively new, but if that would really be like "welding" plastic that would be absolutely ideal for this fix.
Use Permatex Black Plastic epoxy, it is absolutely the best epoxy product I have used on my C4, it's sandable, bonds like no other and can be used on every material in the C4.
I've tried other brands of "plastic epoxy" and this so far for me has been the absolute best.
Here are some pics, before I sanded down the epoxy. The "gold epoxy" is an older job i did, and it's holding okay but the epoxy is starting to turn brittle. The black epoxy is the new job, i can post pictures of it smoothed out later, these pics show a messy job but it's all nice and smooth now.
I made my brackets out of Aluminum, no need to heat it, just bent it. I placed epoxy with between the bracket and the spline as well so really the strength is coming out of the epoxy + the aluminum + the rivets holding it in place.
I also had the top side of my door panel with a massive crack towards the rear, so I epoxied it, and used WAX PAPER to wrap around it, then used a clamp, wax paper will not stick to the epoxy so it peels right off. Then i sanded the top edge, and it looks perfect.
Use Permatex Black Plastic epoxy, it is absolutely the best epoxy product I have used on my C4, it's sandable, bonds like no other and can be used on every material in the C4.
I've tried other brands of "plastic epoxy" and this so far for me has been the absolute best.
Here are some pics, before I sanded down the epoxy. The "gold epoxy" is an older job i did, and it's holding okay but the epoxy is starting to turn brittle. The black epoxy is the new job, i can post pictures of it smoothed out later, these pics show a messy job but it's all nice and smooth now.
I made my brackets out of Aluminum, no need to heat it, just bent it. I placed epoxy with between the bracket and the spline as well so really the strength is coming out of the epoxy + the aluminum + the rivets holding it in place.
I also had the top side of my door panel with a massive crack towards the rear, so I epoxied it, and used WAX PAPER to wrap around it, then used a clamp, wax paper will not stick to the epoxy so it peels right off. Then i sanded the top edge, and it looks perfect.
thanks so much for posting this! This gives me a ton of good ideas to fix my problem. Most of the fixes seem to address only the ribs and not the top part being broken like ours are (were). I was headed down the road of adding a couple screws under the weatherstrip to hold the lip to the door metal. This is much much better.
I'm busy searching the web/catalogs for those little plastic clips that the screws go into on the door. Can anyone save me some time and tell me where I can buy them? I would like to replace them all when I fix both doors.
I'm busy searching the web/catalogs for those little plastic clips that the screws go into on the door. Can anyone save me some time and tell me where I can buy them? I would like to replace them all when I fix both doors.
Pretty sure ecklers has them. Or the auction site.
Pretty sure ecklers has them. Or the auction site.
it always amazes me that you can search for hours and not fine em. As soon as you post on here you will find them in 2.7 seconds. ha. Thanks for the help, got a set of em ordered and some new door ajar switches
You're welcome on the pics. I'll post more after i'm totally done. I have a bunch of little "tricks" My car is almost out of the paint shop, i rebuilt both of my inner aluminum door skeletons as well, here are some pics.
I replaced all the pads with velcro and door seal material. New door lock actuators, and new plastic pieces for the screws. Also used some carbon fiber 3m Vinyl on the edges where the old stuff fell off.
03-05-2015, 12:47 PM
New Twist on an Old Door Problem
