Help! Door Stay Is Beyond Reinforcement

[jyl]

I started to install the door stay reinforcement kit today. See other thread for the tips/tricks I received, thanks everyone.

However, the situation seems too dire for "reinforcement." When I removed the pin holding the door stay to the door jamb, the stay mechanism fell down - CLUNK - to the bottom of the door. Along with a piece of door to which the stay was bolted. Along with what looks like a piece of reinforcing metal that had been previously tack-welded to the original door. Peering inside, there's a basically a large hole where the stay used to be mounted. Bummer. I will try to get some pics posted, if I can get a lens in there.

So, what are my options and anyone have experience with the cost of all this, or recommendations for someone in the Bay Area to do it?

I'm thinking I have to either (1) find someone to fabricate the missing bits of interior door panel and weld it all back together, or (2) buy a used door from Parts Heaven and have it fitted, painted, and installed, or (3) find some other way to keep my door from swinging too far open.

Please don't ignore (3) in your suggestions, as (1) and (2) seem ominously expensive. How do racecars, Lightweights, etc restrain their doors? Is there some sort of fabric check strap I can use? I handle my door v-e-r-y carefully (this damage occurred pre-me, I'm sure) so I don't need an industrial-strength door stay mechanism - not that the stock one was such anyway.

For now, I guess I'll put everything back together and stew. The old door stay was sort of performing its function, simply because it and the bits of old door attached to it are too big to fit through the hole in the exterior panel.

[Halm]

John, if you do a search on the archives I think you will see that you will need to remove the door and strip it to bear minimum, and then take it to a welding shop and have the primary piece of metal welded back in. As memory serves me, this usually requires a repaint of the area where the stay attaches and protrudes.

[jester911]

Your sure that the torn metal around the hole can't be bent back to give you enough to attach to? Mine was torn pretty badly but I was able to make it work. It wasn't the hour or so repair that some others have talked about.

It took several hours of work to make it right but it has lasted 3 years now.

If you definately don't have enough metal to do the repair you probably will have to have some welding done. That would be way cheaper than a door replacement.

A decent welding shop would be able to handle it, I am sure for not too much money.

As for keeping the door from opening too far in the mean time you may need to use a little ingenuity. I am thinking something that you could attach inside the hole in the door and then maybe to the pivot pin. Maybe some nylon cord or something just to keep it from opening.

Hope this helps
good luck

[jyl]

Jerry, I ended up installing the reinforcing plates. I also disassembled the door stay and trimmed the plastic/rubber wedges inside to greatly reduce the detent force, in order to reduce the stress on the door stay attachment area. These two things, combined, might work - I can open and close the door without hearing any scary cracking, and the door won't swing too far open. It may not stay open if I'm parked uphill, either, but who cares. If it lasts even 1 year I'll be delighted.

Next problem - when I'd gotten the door almost all buttoned up I noticed that the lock won't move to the locked position. I have the power doors. The actuator (down at the bottom of the door) is the culprit. It won't move to the locked position. Maybe nothing is wrong - I'm not sure if the door is supposed to lock when "open". Hmmm, still investigating.

[jyl]

Yeah, I'm an idiot - when the door is closed it locks just fine. Time to wrap this up. Thanks to all. Hope it lasts.

If anyone else has a worrisome door stay attachment point, consider that trick of weakening the detent action of the door stay. All you have to do is uncrimp two tabs, take the stay housing apart, use a file on the nylon wedges and a razor on the rubber wedges. Takes 15 minutes. I've read the door stay problem is endemic in our 911s because the door stay detent is simply too stiff for the sheet metal of the door, so I think of this as fixing a problem the factory overlooked.

[jyl]

Just for completeness, here's the doorstay as it fell to the bottom of the door.



And a mouse-eye view of the torn metal, from inside the door.

[cyprusx]

I replaced my stays earlier this summer. At first I bought just the stays because my doors are fine. But then I just decided to also pickup the re-encforcement kits for each door after looking through 101. Cheap insurance.

For those that do not have the re-enforcement kits installed, heed the pictures above... It will happen if they are not addressed... I would consider it one of those baselining items after purchasing.

[john70t]

A cheap option might be to get a piece of 1/4"(?) steel plate(<$10) at the hardware store and dremel out the bolt/slide holes and mount the stay.
Take off the inner door panel and hammer/punch the torn mounting surface smooth, and have it welded into the right place(($15)with the door open and the other side in place with pin installed.
I think one of the shops in the 11thst/13th area might do it for cheap on a slow day.

Grind off slag smooth, mask the area and prime/paint inner edge.
Paintmaster sells disposable spot spray paint units with CO2 cartriges for like $8 if you have the paint materials.