jonvolk

on my driverside door panel the metal tab the bolts the panel to the door on the lower rear part is bent and the hole that it screws into is too big. the problem is that the tab is cuttin into the door jamb evertime i open and close the door, if i unbolt the tabe the door panel doesnt want to stay on the door when its opened and closed. any suggestions on what i could do to remedy this problem? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

SharkAttack

Simple solution: Tap a larger screw into the door to hold the metal tab against it.

Correct solution: Remove the door panel, inspect and repair the tab as well as the door panel as necessary. This may include replacing the plastic "velcro" tabs that are designed to also hold the door panel to the door.

Juliet

You could do that, or you could take off the panel, weld something into the hole retap it and put the screw back in. Or you can use some soft copper and put a little bit of wire in the hold along with the screw. It will deform and take up the slack. Depends on what your objectives are. If you're into the purist correct bolt thing etc, then you might not want to do the bigger screw thing. :)

john73bb

If you just want to make it work, drill it out and put in a nut-rivet. They are kind of like a pop rivet but they are threaded for a machine screw. You could then get a 8-32 or 10-32 flat head machine screw (to match the nut rivet) and it should hold forever. There are aluminum and steel nut rivets. (you will also need the nut rivet gun, but they are so useful that everyone should have one anyway). You can get the nut rivets and gun at most Ace hardware stores I think.

Chuck Gongloff

Agree with others. You can also buy a new "tab" for literally $1.00 or so and replace it. In addition to the "wrap the wire" trick and the nut inserts, it you take off the door panel to replace the tabs and/or the velcro gizmo's, you could also POSSIBLY do some creative metalsmithing on the back of the screw hole....pound it out, etc, and maybe get enough "meat" for the original size screw to bite. You could also possibly put a "J" nut behind the hole. Hope this helps. Chuck