Broken Door

[frankyb]

Hi everyone,frankyb from montreal ,finally fixed all the gremblins in my 69 +2, runs great, untill another problem arises, seems that the driver side door was not closed properly and turning right at intersection, the door opened wide , heard crunching noise , pulled over and when I checked the door ,it was just hanging from the top hindges,the bottom hindges are still intact, but the bottom of the door, its cracked,there seems to be no support holding the door, cannot close the door unless I lift the door while shuting it. First can the door be fixed or do I need to replace it! Not sure but it seems that the broken support seems to be made of metal , if so could it be possible to weld it back in place! frankyb

[gerrym]

Hi Franky, the Plus 2 door carcass is entirely made of fibreglass, there are no metal inserts for the door hinge except for a bobbin which the supports the bottom end of the hinge pin. Have a look in the parts book for a view of the various bits.

I sounds as though this has come adrift.

Best thing would be to remove the door and try and extract the hinge (top bolted bracket and lower screw accessed from bottom of door). By the way these are usually frozen/corroded in place.

The fibreglass of the door should be repairable. This would probably involve a full strip of the door (glass, window motor, frame) to provide access. The good thing about fibreglass repairs is that there is no need for expensive machinery, just skill and time.

Regards
Gerry

[mikealdren]

Franky,
As usual, I echo Gerry's comments. The door hinge pin is held at the top by two bolts through the fibreglass and at the bottom by a bolt that goes (vertically) through a bobbin in the bottom of the door and into the hinge pin.

It sound from your description as if the hinge pin has come adrift at the bottom. Has the bolt fallen out, it may really be that simple? Have a look at the other door and compare. It's probably actually still there but loose, it would be hard for it to fall right out. If it has, buy a new bolt and replace.

If not, has the bobbin come loose, they can be fibreglassed back into place quite easily, try to use the remaining parts to locate it in the same place.

Either way, the door will have to come off, not too hard but they are quite heavy with the glass and motors etc, get an assistant. Peel away the carpet on the inside of the pillar by the door hinges and undo the nuts on the hinge studs from inside the car. Lift off the door carefully!

Good luck, keep us posted.
Mike

[frankyb]

Checked with my bodyshop friend, the bolt is still in place, it`s the fiberglass holding the bolt that cracked under the door, have to bring in the car for a new paintjob ,so we will try to fix it then. Thanks ,always good to hear the good advise! frankyb

[gerrym]

Frankie, let us know how you get on with the repair, plus a few photos.
Best of luck

Regards

Gerry