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I had my guy copy the technique from this thread. You can see PO had the strap welded from the outside, but this failed. So, door off and access gained from behind. Reinforced with extra metal from behind and welded back. Didn't get as many photos but you get the idea.
Spokes - I don't mean to be negative or critical, but I have to say that the pics from your fix show that even if you give someone step-by step pictures on how to fix something, you still need talent. Looking at your pictures, I see some very specific and obvious flaws between your job and the job I had done in Las Vegas.
Here is a slightly different take on this repair. We followed the similar procedure of cutting the exterior wall piece as the welds had both cracked on the inside facing the rear of the car. It also seems that the factory at some point (mine is a 97) reinforced the rear wall with a double plate. It did not stop the factory weld from splitting however. My welder, after examining the stress direction suggested on repairing the weld and tacking a large steel block on the back of the cut off plate that rests tightly on the door bracket. That will keep it from flexing and possibly breaking the weld again in the future. Will paint tomorrow but i'm feeling very confident that unless I open the door in a tornado it will work fine. Doug
you can see the factory extra reinforcement . Welds still broke . Back is solid.
The block was slowly ground until the fit was exact with just contacting the door bracket.
The final closing with the block preventing the movement of the strap inside
Been searching for pictures of this issue on this site before tackling the job without success... obviously I had the wrong keywords! Here is another version of Doug's fix, I think the forward end of the bracket is where the problem starts, I think it is originally only spotwelded. When these let go, you're off with onlu two beads around the cutout... obviously not enough. My car was previously "repaired"... my advice, don't go half the way, you might end up with what I had to start with... enjoy the show:
Just completed the welding this week, bought the paint yesterday, need to do some preparation still.
To answer an question asked long ago on this thread, removing the wing will only give you like an inch more space to do the work since the bodywork where the wing attaches is coming all the way out to the wing contour...
Last edited by mesprit87; 03-22-2015 at 04:35 PM.
Reason: add info
is anyone worried about rust proofing the backside of those welds ? - the factory zinc coating is obviously blown away and there will be bare unprotected metal and the weld backside (which can be really ugly) in that cavity.
I am...but what are the options? Even a professional job won't answer that.
I was able to prime the upper portion of the rework from the wires feed thru. I then injected rust proofing from the same hole and around the cutout. No way anybody is going to make it like the factory did (it breaks anyway) and there is absolutely no access from the bottom. I will live with it as the car won't see snow and sleeps in a heated garage but I agree with you that anything welded is so much more prone to rust. Then again, changing the whole beam wouldn't butcher the car less and you would be stuck with the same problem of rust proofing.
I know I won't miss the clunk-clunk.
All I strongly suggest is for everybody who doesn't have this problem already to do the mod suggested on P-car. Personnally, I still have to modify the passenger side before the welds let go. There is no way to tell if this original was done on a Friday night, don't chance it...do the mod!
07-26-2013, 06:36 PM
) and there is absolutely no access from the bottom. I will live with it as the car won't see snow and sleeps in a heated garage but I agree with you that anything welded is so much more prone to rust. Then again, changing the whole beam wouldn't butcher the car less and you would be stuck with the same problem of rust proofing.