[Anchorman]

My driver's door stop is no longer functioning. The sheet metal in the door to which the stop was fastened has broken, and there is no longer anything (other than my care) preventing the door from opening too far. I've removed the stop mechanism from what I guess would be considered the "A" pillar. It's pretty clear that anything like a proper fix will involve removing the door and getting some welding done. This is not a small challenge, given that this is my daily driver. Can anyone tell me what's involved in removing the door? I've taken the interior panel off a number of times, and I can probably figure out how to disconnect the various wires running through the door to the body. How about the hinges? Do the pins come out (thereby preserving door alignment)? How heavy is the door? I'm tempted to see if I can rig something temporary - I seem to recall some sports cars having a strap as the door stop. Thoughts?



Ugh! I just spotted a typo in the sub-title, but I don't know how to edit it.

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[Kim]

Well, I don't know much about how to do it properly, but.... I once had a 1984 Rabbit that had a broken stop. So I took the door off by unscrewing the hinge, bought new hinges and stop, then couldn't get the door back on because it was too heavy and I had no help. Took it back to the local VW shop in the trunk (drive around with no door and then everyone who had any doubts about my state of mind received good confirmation) and they fixed it for me for only marginally more than if I had just taken it there in the beginning. Take heed, my friend. Then again, in the world of automotive repair, my skills are unique.

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[Anchorman]

Kim, it's in light of experiences such as yours that I'm approaching this "little" task with great caution. However, since it's preventing me from allowing anyone else in the driver's seat (because I have no doubt that the first person to drive the car other than me will forget any warning I give and fling the door open with unacceptable results), I must get this fixed. Taking it to my OPC is certainly an option, but I have no doubt that they'll end up sending the door out for the welding work, so why shouldn't I avoid the middleman?

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[flash]

word of caution - if you have to remove the door, beware the connector at the mirror - it is extremely fragile

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[Anchorman]

Thanks, I hadn't even thought about the mirror connection. There's no question that any repair will have to involve removing the door. The challenge is to get everything done efficiently enough. My son works at a place with a welding shop, but...maybe the OPC if I can get a loaner. Or, I guess I can rent something for a few days.

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[huskydog]

I had the same problem with mine. I asked my friend who painted it to fix the door hinge. He actually had to remove the left fender. remove the door, drill a hole in the column between the door and the fender, then insert a backing plate to hold the hinge in place. he is a body mechanic and it took him a couple of hours to fix. I can get specifics of exactly what he did, if you need to know, but I assume any body shop could make a similar repair.



Here is a picture of the left side.during the repaint. If you zoom in at the door you can see the hole that was cut to make the repair.

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[Anchorman]

Husky, it looks like you had the approximate opposite problem. The door area you show in your photo is fine on my car. It's the opposite end of the door stop - the place where it fastens to the door (not the body) that's broken. I'm imagining that the "fix" will be similar. Do you know - can the door be removed simply by driving the hinge pins out? (Of course, all of the electrical connections need to be handled first.)

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[Stephenwz968]

It's easier to remove the door with the bolts and then realign it. I had to have my hinge welded on the drivers side top, the door was sagging due to the PO leaning on it. Anchor, I can give you the info on a good shop here in NJ that did mine. PM me if you're interested.



Steve

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[gryphon]

Anchorman, if I am not mistaken, body shops have tools to remove hinge pins, somewhat like a screw clamp. Beating the pins out is probably not a good idea.



Tom

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[Anchorman]

Thanks, Tom. I think I'm concluding that this "little" repair is best done by a qualified body shop.

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[gryphon]

Anchorman, you may be correct if you need it repaired with minimal down time. One final thought is that Pep Boys has a fairly extensive catalog of special order auto body specialty tools--sorry I don't remember the brand but it's obvious if you look at the aisle of similar tools.

Tom

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