"A" Panel Outer Assembly

[Tuga2112]

im having some dificulty putting back the "A" panel after removing it to paint.

the issue is. all 4 nuts were seized, the bottom ones ended up spinning freely, and the top ones broke the fibreglass in order to remove.

as far as fibreglass broken, its not a big deal as its not a visible area i can ment it using repair kits.

the issue i need help with its the bolts part.

for the bottom part. they are just spinnign freely, so i can put the panel back, but I wont be able to tight the bolts in order to keep the panel still,
For the top part. i dont know what type of bolt am i looking for in order to replace the bolts in place with stainless.

had a look at the parts guide V8 and im getting the impression
the bottom bolts are held in place using rubber rawlnuts (why is it that every time i find out they are always spinning free?)
the top bolts state "shim A panel outer".
from measuring, all 4 bolts are M6
google for "M6 shim" doesnt return anything that looks remotely like what i need. T SLot Bolts are closer to the type of bolts used on the top but still not flat enough to be a suitable replacement. does anyone know the correct terminology to search for these flat head "must be glued in" bolt type ?
any suggestions how to remove the bottom bolts ? is there some way to get access to the other side with vice grips and trying to separate the 2 parts ?

im also considering using the dremel to remove the heads of the bottom bolts ans just try to let them fall in, then replace with new rawlnuts with some decent quality glue..

Thanks in advance

[Fetnas]

Hi Tuga,

I've had a similar issue with the drivers side A panel on my car. The bottom bolts had rusted and bonded to the brass insert in the rubber rawl nut, so when trying to loosen or tighten them, the brass just tears away from the perished rubber and spins! On my car, someone before me tried to lever the rawl nut out and damaged the fiberglass in this area so a new rawl nut doesn't have enough material to grab onto, which is a pain. Not having the bottom of the panel secure is a problem as the panel moves and catches the leading edge of the door as the door swings open. I've been using tape to hold it in the right place, but that has been a stop gap solution. Fixing this properly is on my to do list that I've been working through recently.

Cutting the heads off the nuts is probably the best solution to get the rawl nuts out. I was able to fish out bits of the old rawl nut through the fixing hole as I didn't like the idea of something rattling around in there, it was a bit like key hole surgery but I think it was worth it.

I didn't have a problem with the top fixing, so I can't help you there. Good luck with getting this sorted.

[clemo]

I too have the same issue as Fetnas. My tops are ok but the bottoms ( now removed ) leave an even bigger hole than when we first started. Tried using some metal type rawl fixings attached to a steel plate but there is nothing decent left on the fibreglass to pull up to.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-holl ... pack/12229

With a bit more thought i reckon these would work. some how insert a washer before pulling it up.

[Simon_P]

You need what are called Jack nuts.

[clemo]

These are the original looking things ? i think

https://www.sjsportscars.com/parts-and- ... B0488K.htm


Whats a jack nut ? off to find out

[Fetnas]

Well I finally got around to fixing this problem properly.

What I ended up doing was cutting a thin strip of metal about 14mm wide that was the maximum width I could easily fit down the more damaged hole. The metal was long enough to cover both of the fixing holes and extend a bit further beyond each hole. I then drilled 2 holes in the metal to take a M6 rivet nut, but didn't install the nuts. I threaded a piece of wire through the oles in the plate so that I could pass the wire in one of the fixing holes and hook it out the other prior too sliding the plate in. I then applied a coating of JB weld to the top of the metal strip and the underside of each fixing hole in the fiber glass as best I could, fed the plate in and using the wire, pulled the plate up and tied it to the hinge whilst the epoxy dried.

Once the epoxy had cured, I attacked the area with a dremel to remove traces of old adhesive in the area, clean up the epoxy squeeze out around the hole for the rivnut and provide a key to the edges of the fiberglass. When I installed the first rivnut (the forward most one) the plate started to break free, a bit annoying, but not a problem. I screwed an M6 bolt into the rivnut with a short length of PVC tube over the thread. Mixed up another batch of epoxy and liberally pushed that in around the PVC tube back up to the level of the top of the fiberglass. I tied a loop of wire around the bolt head and secured it to the bottom door hinge whilst the epoxy cured.

Both fixings have been fixed this way, with one complication that the rear most location doesn't have enough space to fit the setting tool under the door hinge. I had to drill out the thread in a nut to slide on a M6 bolt so I could use a longer M6 bolt and nut to pull up the rivnut, this also required grinding down a spanner to less than the thickness of the drilled out nut to avoid further damaging the fiberglass. This process also cracked the initial epoxy, but it was filled in the same was at the front fixing.

Finally, the temporary wire was removed, the bolts removed from the rivnuts, leaving the PVC tube stuck to the epoxy. The PVC easily broke free leaving a clean hole in the epoxy and clear access to the rivnut below. I gave the epoxy a light sand to knock down any high areas and finally installed the A panel. It's never been as secure as it is now!

This has been a problem I'd known about for most of the time I've owned the car and I'd spent a lot of time thinking of how to fix it and have a better out come than the original rawl nuts. It was a bit of a fiddle, but I believe I've achieved my goal.