Door stop reinforcement: Please help!
 

So I have the door apart, putting in the reinforcement kit among other things.

Come to find that I may not have the proper door stop? I removed my stop, removing the two bolts and the interference fit roll pin, and see that the "nuts" are one piece with the assembly: I cannot remove them to put in the longer bolts provided in the Pelican kit required allow extra threading to clamp both reinforcement plates once you cinch the bolts down. Question: Does the '78 feature an "old" door stop assembly? Must I purchase a new set?

Next question is I do have a tear, but that tear is restricted to the "outer" skin of the area, not the inner section on which bolts this assembly. In other words, once I clamp everything in place, I will not have touched the ripped area: only reinforced the inner structure. Is this enough?

What I've done is put in the inner reinforcement plate and cinched everything down. I have to say simply removing and cleaning the assembly, especially the four ball bearings inside, has done wonders for the way the door opens and closes. It is smooth as can be and stops just where it ought to.

Many thanks,
John

Bump - anyone? Or let me know if this post is just confusing. Not finding these answers in our Search archives.

Many thanks,
John

Sorry, but I have never seen one with the nuts attached as you describe. Perhaps you could dremel them off and use the new ones.
If the outer skin is torn, it does not really matter strengthwise...only cosmetically. The reinforcements are only attached to the inside structure and should be sufficient.
Your door stays/stops should cause the door to slightly "catch" about halfway open and then at "fully open."

You need the later style door stays to make the reinforcement kit fit. They have the bolts instead of the studs like you have. I just installed these on both doors and it certainly instills much more confidence in opening my doors.

Fintstone is correct about the door structure. What you have is just cosmetic damage. No worries there.

Here's a twist: I went into the driverside door yesterday to pull the door stay and clean it, and found a nice thin reinforcement shim that looked very factory inside (nothing on the outside skin).

I do recommend that folks pull these and douse them with Gumout or similar to get the entire assembly to move easier. I also squeezed the lump down just a little bit to get the door to ease over the hump a little bit easier.

Doors are very quiet and easy to open. Also greased the hinges while I had full access to the grease nipples.

John