Interior Door Panel Repair Thread

[bbade]

Okay guys, some updates will be coming next week, ran into some problems on the drivers side plastics. One stud was broken off at the base and has given me a real headache, I have gone through two attempted repairs so far and am finally going to do it the right way this time.

My first attempt was to take the broken stud and reattach it with the Plast-Aid. While attempting to glue the stud and plastic together everything shifted and would not line up correctly with the door panel. Also, I decided it was a half-assed way of doing it so on to attempt two.

Attempt two started with a nylon bushing similar to the stud repair outlined above. Everything went together without a hitch and appeared to be fine, but turns out Plast-Aid does not form a chemical bond with nylon. When I repaired the last stud I used more than enough Plast-Aid to form a mechanical bond; however, there was no way to get that much on this stud. I am not worried about the last stud I repaired coming apart because of this revelation, but I realized I needed to take a new approach.

This third fix will work as I am done playing around . I have ordered ABS rod from McMaster Carr and am going to make one heck of a robust stud. I will outline the process and post it here sometime next week.

[bbade]

Originally Posted by bbade

This third fix will work as I am done playing around . I have ordered ABS rod from McMaster Carr and am going to make one heck of a robust stud. I will outline the process and post it here sometime next week.

My apologies for never finishing the write up. I logged in today for the first time in months (years?). The FD is currently sitting on jack stands in the garage awaiting a new coat of paint in the engine bay. Anyway, back to the write-up. I don't have detailed instructions as it has been quite some time since I finished this project; however, here goes.

The ABS rod worked out very well. Using a lathe I machined the rod down to the diameter of the original stud or just a bit thicker. I left a nice base at the bottom for ease of bonding.
DSCF4140.jpg
Make sure you cleanup the bonding area (you can see the nylon attempt mentioned earlier).
DSCF4139.jpg
Put some Plast-Aid under the post, then reinstall the plastic piece in the door panel to line everything up. After this initial bond sets up reinforce with additional Plast-Aid.
DSCF4144.jpg

In summary I am more than happy with the result. Hope this helps, happy new year!