Re-tapping receiver plate inside door jamb

[BadDog]

Problem: The receiver plate inside my D/S door jamb has stripped bolt holes for the bottom 2 bolts. Since I can't find any way of removing the piece to replace it or repair it, I'm wondering if I can *carefully* fill those holes with something like JB weld and re-drill and -tap them. Does anybody have a better idea?

-Ken P.

[MikeW]

I don't think any kind of filler material would be strong enough. Those bolts require a lot of torque to keep the mechanism in place. I don't think you'd be able to weld them closed without damaging the sheet metal of the body. Why not just tap them up to a slightly bigger bolt size?

[kenz240z]

I can't remember, but if you pull the inner dogleg trim panel, can you access the receiver plate? Might be worth a look.

[a7dz]

I looked at my 70 passenger door it is apart. You can not really access it through the dogleg panel. I agree with Mike. Change the thread pitch or size as required.

[BadDog]

Thanks for the quick replies guys... after buying the car almost 4 years ago and finding them stripped, I had to re-tap them once already... and through the removed dogloeg panel, I can only get a finger on a corner of it. I see no way to remove the plate out of that area, let alone get it back in. I was hoping to attach a couple of nuts to the back of the plate. I can't fo it with it in place because of the metal that surrounds the plate.

I guess I'll have to *try* the JB Weld or something....

[Ed]

Would a helicoil work?

[V8-240Z]

Thanks for the quick replies guys...

I guess I'll have to *try* the JB Weld or something....

I don't think that JB Weld will work, but if that is the last

option can you JB Weld in studs and once its set up use

nuts on the studs.

[Arne]

I haven't worked on this part of my car yet. Is the receiver plate captive? Does it move at all?

[BadDog]

Ed, as far as a helicoil goes, I'm not sure if there's anough metal there for it to sit on (the plate's not very thick) and I've read that helicoils tend to get worked loose in an application like this... plus I've never used one!

Dave, that's a darn good idea! It should accomplish the desired result!

Arne, the receiver plate (at least on my '73) is "captive" in that it sits in some kind of cradle inside the door frame, but it can move <,>,^,v so as to properly adjust the door latch/striker/thingy. This all came about (again) because I had a lot of wind noise (and occasionally, water!) leaking in at the top of my door/window frame even though I have brand new seals (door was not flush with the body when shutting it all the way)...

-Ken P.

[=Enigma=]

If you are looking for a permanent fix, you might consoder finding a junker and cutting out that section, then welding it on your vehicle.

[a7dz]

I agee there is not enough material to hold a helicoil. Another option is to use longer bolts and fish lock washers and nuts in through the cut outs. The bottom ones could be done fairly easily.. Glue the washer and nut together and then glue them to your wrench with contact or rubber cement. Slide them through the lower hole. Start the bolts and pull the wrench out repeat for the second one. I would do the outside one first then the inside. It will make adjusting the door a little more time consuming. Truthfully how often do we adjust the doors? Beats cutting and welding in a new plate or door frame.

[EScanlon]

This is one of the hardest and nastiest of repairs to effect properly.

As has been noted by others, the simplest although not easy fix, is to drill and tap for a larger diameter bolt. Unfortunately, you are limited in that the latch receiving plate that bolts onto the car there also limits the size of the bolt you use. If you drill and tap too large, you might find that the bolt head will not rotate properly due to the curvature of the receiver plate's flange.

JB Weld is an excellent fill, drill and tap epoxy that for many applications is the ONLY solution, but not here. In this application there is an expected impact strength requirement that it will not fulfill. Due to the impact to the latch when you close the door, from prior experience you will be finding loose bolts falling out sooner or later. Simply put, the threads you make will not have the strength to hold the latch to the body without cracking after repeated impacts. If it were a static (i.e. non impact or fluctuating force) repair then it works well. It is the repeated impacting that causes JB Weld to fail over time.

But, if you use it to secure a Nut to the backside of the bolt plate that's cradled inside the fender, you ~MAY~ be able to make it work.

To do this, here's a cheater technique which I developed for mounting a nut to the backside of a panel where I couldn't get a wrench/socket to reach. Start by finding the corresponding mate to the bolt that you would use. Next with a length of rope whose diameter is close to the diameter of the bolt, thread it through the stripped hole and grab it from behind the plate via one of the holes in the inner dog-leg panel. Once you have the rope out, thread the Nut onto the rope and tie a knot in the end of the rope. The rope, with the knot on it, will allow you to pull the nut up tight to the back of the plate with the stripped hole.

Now before you pull on that rope, mix up your JB Weld, and apply it liberally and generously to the part of the nut that will be contacting the back of the nut plate. Once you have done this, THEN pull on the rope and snug the Nut and JBW to the back of the plate, secure the rope with a pair of Vice Grips, or by tying another knot. I prefer the Vice Grips as it makes it easy to retrieve the rope and doesn't allow the nut to slip while you're tying the knot.

Once the JBW has set, remove the rope. If everything is perfect, you should be able to push the rope through the nut and grab it as it goes into the panel cavity. The nut will have been securely JBWelded to the back of the plate and you can now bolt the Latch with the original bolts. I would strongly advise that you chase the threads so that you don't break the nut off the back in trying to cut thread with the bolt through whatever epoxy made it into the nut threads.

If the rope gets glued onto the back of the nut, cut the rope and either burn it out or drill it out, and then definitely chase the threads.

This isn't a Permanent REPAIR as much as it is a Temporary FIX. It will allow you to use the bolts to secure the latch, but in time will fail and require being fixed again.

The difference here is that the JBW is being used to afix a NUT to the back of the plate instead of being the threads the bolt is secured by. Once you've tightened the nut, the nut / bolt will receive the impact stresses and transmit them to the body.

If you want to effect a more permanent repair:

Solution A:

Drill out the stripped hole just enough to clean up the hole. Using a MIG Welder spot weld the hole shut, or alternatively, using some wire, and as done above with the rope, pull a piece of metal to the back of the plate, which you then MIG securely.

Then drill and tap accordingly. Don't forget to adjust the length of the bolt if necessary.

All of the prior suggestions can be done from the door opening.

If you want to do the repair properly without so much hazzling with pulling while welding etc, and/or your car is painted and you don't want to chance melting or burning the paint, then simply cut an access hole in the inside sheet metal. Once opened up you can remove the plate, weld the hole shut and drill and retap it without being hindered by the space and surroundings. You can always weld and hide the opening behind the dog panel trim and no one will be the wiser.

FWIW

E¢