HELP Please: Rear quarter panel door catch captive nut broken off

SLO_NA · Postby **SLO_NA** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:11 pm

Hi guys as the title suggests i need some help/ideas for this problem i have created
So.. i was trying to remove the passenger door catch and while i was in the process of removing the catch the captive nut welded BEHIND the rear quarter panel which attaches the catch to the rear quarter panel broke off for both of the bolts (i nearly had a panic attack)

so now the catch can be screwed in or attached to the quarter panel thus rendering the passenger door useless
Due to this the passenger door cant be closed and the car obviously can't be dríven
I am not sure of this is even fixable.... :shock:

Any help/ideas are appreciated as this is my dads daily car and it needs to be fixed asap
I have attached some photos of the problem:

SLO_NA · Postby **SLO_NA** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:15 pm

IMG20171008184348 by SLO_NA, on Flickr

IMG20171008184404 by SLO_NA, on Flickr

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:44 pm

Could try a Rivnut.

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SLO_NA · Postby **SLO_NA** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:53 pm

Thanks KevGoat for your suggestion

but i think due to the thickness of the flange on the rivnut the door might not be able to close properly?

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 7:56 pm

I thought that would've been super strong as that is what holds your door shut in a massive t-bone accident.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Sun Oct 08, 2017 8:07 pm

You can get riv nuts for different thickness materials

SLO_NA · Postby **SLO_NA** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 6:56 am

Thanks everyone for their suggestions!

so my plan is to take apart the side interior plastic which covers the seat belt tower as i saw a little access hole which opens up the sill area from the inside, if that's true i may be able to recover the nuts that fell into that cavity and place the nuts behind the panel and tighten the catch using the original torx t40 bolt onto the nut behind the panel , i hope this work

I am surprised this even happened as there is now way the welds around the captive nut could've failed as there was no rust in that area, as bruce said this is the only thing that holds the door to the car in the event of an accident :shock:

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 8:17 am

Yes, I have just had a look at the stripped NB8B shell I have. There is an access panel (hole actually) low down on the inside side panel covered by a piece of plastic, a bit higher than the location of the nuts. I can feel the nuts, they are welded individually, I had thought they may have been welded to a plate as a pair but not so.

You will need to find the loose nut, as it will rattle around if left in there.

I wouldn't worry about the weld strength (or lack thereof), it is the tight nut and the strength of the panel between the catch and the nut that is doing the work holding the door closed. I would be using a decent rattlegun to do them up, with a dose of locktite.

Good luck!

:mrgreen:

SLO_NA · Postby **SLO_NA** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:54 pm

Thanks greenMachine for your help

the problem has been solved and here's what happened:
So since today was the first day back at school for term 4 after the school holidays, i asked my dad to see if he could rectify the problem as i would be away at school. To get to the access hole was difficult because in order for the plastic cover to be removed the hardtop and roll bar also had to be removed, so after all that had been removed we could access the hole and what had happened was there was a small rectangular bracket which had two nuts welded to it. As i loosened the bolts the bracket had simply fell back and all that needed to be done was to rotate it 180 degrees back up so it would meet the hole where the bolt could be inserted and the catch be tightened up. I am glad that everything is fixed and the car can finally be dríven and the door can be closed :lol:

Thanks everyone for your ideas/suggestions and helping me out

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 7:20 pm

Great result and handy to know .... just in case ...

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a30guy · Postby **a30guy** » Mon Oct 09, 2017 10:16 pm

Just as a follow-up, i had a similar thing happen with the Frankenstein bolts on the rear deck of the NA. The captive nuts let go, probably due to a little corrosion due to water leakage. There is no access to the cavity, so an access hole had to be cut. Fortunately it's hidden by trim, carpet and the soft top once everything is reassembled.
So, be careful undoing your Frankenstein bolts, and don't over tighten them.

Cheers