'A' panel fixings - help please!

[maz_r]

Hi,

The near-side 'A' panel on Patch is loose and after driving for a while, it starts to edge out at the bottom. This causes it to foul the passenger door when it is opened, causing yet more damage to the already poorly bodywork

I can see the problem - the plate that holds the panel at the bottom is loose. However, the bolts which are supposed to tighten up just go round and round (not so captive!) and are as rusty as a rusty thing.

Any clues/ideas on how on earth to sort this out. If I cut then off, what do I replace them with and won't the (not so captive) nuts fall into the sill and rattle about for ever more?? I can't see a way of getting to the other end of the bolts without taking the sill off, and frankly, that isn't going to happen as knowing me, I'll end up with a kit of parts!

Any ideas/thought gratefully received,

Martin.

[Marcus_uk]

Hi Martin,

Have a search around on the forum, im sure ive read something on here a few times along a similar line when I looking into the same problem

(my passenger door rubbed with the 'a' panel making a horrible clunk sound... but curiously only in warm weather... must be some expansion going on somewhere). I just put a small amount of vaseline or silicone grease where the panels touch and it solved the horrible noise but there is a full fix listed somewhere on here... im sure someone will be along with a link soon...

[Enright]

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=11657

Link duly provided which should help a bit.

[Elanlover]

Just a thought on the A panel jutting out. I had this issue for three years and finally just got it fixed permanently. It appeared to me that the A panel kept popping out near the door causing it to bind when the door was opening. I replaced the rubber well nut 3 times, which is the usual fix, and the same issue kept cropping up. I decided that there had to be something else going on.

I carefully examined the other door and A panel to see how they were fitted and I discovered something. It wasn't the A panel that was the problem, it was the door itself. The door had been mounted slightly inwards at the hinges and the reason the A panel kept "popping" out was that I was pushing it too far in to compensate. The A panel was simply returning to its "correct" position after I had pushed it in. A slight adjustment of the hinges and no more binding problems.

While you may need to replace the well nut you might also have a look at the other side of the car to ensure the A panel and door line up the same way (assuming they don't bind either).

[Specky]

There are a couple of more reasons for why the A pannel now catches:-

On the internals of the door, the lower hinges corrode allowing the door to drop,

The lower A-posts begin to crack where the lower mount is bolted on.

If your worried about knocking the rubber mounts into the sill, the rolling around issue. You could pour in rubber solution and stick them to the inside of the sill.

TTFN