Cyberpunky

The door stop bracket, that is mounted to the car(a triangle bracket the connects to door stop arm) has broken on my car.


I got all new OEM parts and what should have been a 5 minute job, of course has turned into a major pain.

The bottom bolt is stripped but that isn't the biggest problem. The top bolts captive nut, that's welded into place inside the door jam, has come loose

I pulled off the kick panel trim today hoping to be able to get at the nut, but on my 952(RHD) the hatch release button mount is where I need to get at, and it has solid metal behind it.

Can I get to the nut via the wheel well ? My car still has plastic wheel well liners in place and I ran out of light before I could suss out how to remove it too see. If I can't get to it that way. I have no idea how to fix this.

Is the plastic wheel well liner hard to remove ?
any pointers greatly appreciated

peace
Cyberpunky

royalschwarz

I don't know if that's accessible from the wheel well or not. If I had to get that off, I'd drill out the bottom bolt head and then take a dremel with a cutoff disk and cut the top bolt off. As to how to put the new regulator on, beats me. Someone else surely has an idea.

Sysgen

I think you'll need to remove the fender, that's all I know. Never had to do that.

Good luck.

Edit: I pretty sure you could get to it from the wheel well but if you have ABS the pump might be in the way.

dme

I spent a year trying to figure that out. Finally sold the car.

Cyberpunky

selling the car isn't an option. It's an 86 so no ABS, so hopefully I can get to it from wheel well. I can only hope it doesn't involve removing fender. Does anyone know of a solution for getting at the nut ?

TRACKIN951

I'm thinking youre hosed...I have my fender and door off right now and don't believe there is any access to the backside of this nut. I can check again tomorrow but think I remember correctly

TRACKIN951

try getting at it from the interior

Cyberpunky

There is no access from interior as the only hole is below(near bottom hinge). The rear hatch release is where the nut is and it has solid metal behind it

royalschwarz

If you can access in the wheel well, you'll have to remove the fender. The fender has a solid panel that bolts flush to the door pillar. And the more I think about it, the more I don't think you can access it from there but it's been a few years since I've been in there.

MAGK944

Those captive nuts are a real pain. There is no need to figure out how to get at the back of that panel, I used a more modern solution, drilled out the bolts and fit stainless rivet nuts and new stainless bolts all from the front.

Been a while but do a search for "rivet nuts" on mcmaster.com, match up the bolts and your done.

CurtP

Sorry dude - if you want to get to the back side of that panel, you're going to have to cut some sheetmetal to get to it, either from the interior or remove the fender and cut it from the outside.

But I'd work on getting out that bottom bolt first. If you can get the bottom bolt out and figure out a way to get the head cut off the top bolt, you might be able to use either a nut insert or a rivet nut. I'd take the door off to make it easier to work on.

Nut inserts and rivet nuts are available from McMaster Carr. I'd check the dimensions first to make sure that the hole is the right size before ordering. You'll need a setting tool too.

Cyberpunky

Cheers Curt, was thinking that that might be the case. Will get bottom one out and should be able to cut head off the top one with dremel. Will have to investigate these nut insert or rivet nuts

MAGK944

...as for getting the bolts out I used a grinder to take the heads off then pushed the remnants of the bolt & nut into the door jam using a punch or screwdriver. The nuts are held will some tabbed sheet metal inside the jam and will bend releasing the nut. Now drill out the holes for the stainless rivet nuts mentioned above^^

CurtP

I wouldn't use stainless - galls too easily. I'd use cadmium or yellow zinc chromate plated steel ones. They're not exposed to the elements, so rust shouldn't be much of a concern.

Toran

From years of owning an A4, 911, and 944 it caused me to have such a signature!