Door Alignment Wedge

[pininfarina79]

Replacing the door alignment wedges, but the backing plate with the threaded holes for the screws fell off. It's a little tiny thing, maybe an inch wide by a quarter inch tall. I retrieved it out of the inside-bottom of the door. Because of the window mechanism and structure inside the door to support the window mechanism I can't get in there to hold the backing plate in place. Now what? Any ideas? Anybody had this problem? I figure I need a forearm and hand about a quarter my size with several joints between my wrist and elbow, that should do it.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

I just had this problem a few weeks ago, although it was a '71 spider. So here's what I did: Forget about the rubber door wedge initially. Find a long bolt that matches the threads of the 1" x 0.5" rectangle "nuts" on the inside of the door, and (with much dexterity), use this long bolt to screw into one of the "nuts" in that rectangle metal piece, through the door jamb. OK, now that you can (sort of) hold the rectangle in place, put one bolt for the rubber door wedge into the wedge and screw it into the remaining "nut" on the rectangle piece. Tighten it down slightly but not fully. Remove the long bolt, insert the other wedge bolt into the wedge, and screw it into the now-open "nut" on the rectangle. Position both and tighten. Sit back and enjoy a beer.

Long story short: Don't try to get both bolts of the rubber wedge into place at the same time, and leave out the wedge when you first get the rectangle nut into position. The door card should be off for this operation, with the window fully up, and you should be able to get your hands inside the door innards enough to do the operation.

-Bryan

[DieselSpider]

The L-bracket that holds it in place rusted away?

I usually remove one bolt at a time and put a longer one it its place so I can swing the old wedge out of the way when i remove the second bolt just in case the L-bracket has come off and then reverse the process to install the new one.

A length of mechanics wire with a "T" bent into one end can be threaded through and used to pull the backer plate back into place if you have trouble getting your hands in there. I keep a spool of mechanics wire handy as I am similarly afflicted wearing XXL sized gloves.

Note that if you completely remove one bolt before breaking both of them free you can end up flipping the backer out of its holder when you remove the second bolt. I sometimes have to resort to removing one bolt and running a tap through it to clean up the threads in the backer, replace the bolt and do similar to the other bolt hole before changing the wedges when they don't turn freely enough.

[pininfarina79]

A plethora of really good suggestions. The L bracket isn't rusted, I'm lucky that way. Not much rust on her at all.

I'll dig in and keep you posted. Can't wait to get to the "sit back and enjoy a beer" part of this door wedge thing.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Hang in there Steve! I know it can be done, but maybe not without a lot of swearing. In my case, the rectangular nut bracket had completely broken loose and was lying in the bottom of the door. I was able to get my hands inside the door just enough to hold this bracket enough to get a long bolt in it from the door jamb side and thus hold it. From there, I could maneuver the bracket around to get one of the real wedge screws in place (with the wedge), remove the long bolt, swivel the wedge into position and insert the other screw. But I think I am repeating myself.

Just keep an image of that beer in mind!

-Bryan

[pininfarina79]

Thanks for the encouragement Bryan! I found a 3" bolt and followed your advice. After more unnatural grunts and contortions than a Trump press conference I was able to make it functional. The same bolts wouldn't work...they weren't long enough to bite. Makes me think the backing plate "nut" isn't in there quite right. Used a tad bit longer bolts and cut them back so they aren't hanging out, making trouble for the window rolling apparatus. After it's been in there a bit and had a chance to settle I'll see if I can get the original bolts to work.

Seems like the frustrating projects make the beer somehow better.

Now on to the other side!