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Me, I formed thin metal reinforcements to fit under the bad holes and JB Welded them in place. Had to open up the fastener bases a little on a couple of them. So far held up OK. I am not a fan of the plastic Christmas trees myself, so I wanted to re-use the metal fasteners.
Me, I formed thin metal reinforcements to fit under the bad holes and JB Welded them in place. Had to open up the fastener bases a little on a couple of them. So far held up OK. I am not a fan of the plastic Christmas trees myself, so I wanted to re-use the metal fasteners.
I did the EXACT same thing with 24 gauge (approx. .025" thick) sheet metal. It does take some fettling to get the clips to stay on due to the slight increase in thickness and the clips don't "bite" into the metal like the plastic, but it worked. I also grease the hole the spring clips go in so they pull out easier.
Another option if your metal spring clips are broken is to use a "blob" (highly technical descriptive term) of silicone adhesive in key locations and tape the panel to door until it sets. Use just enough to hold it and not so much that its difficult to pull back off.
This fastening system was probably one of the weakest designs on the Dentside (IMO) and was a headache even when the trucks were just a couple years old. Now that the plastic is over 40 years old its quite a challenge every time the panel comes off or on if one wants to keep their originals.
I would ditch the metal clips. Use what ever means available to rebuild the broken area. JB weld, 2 part epoxy, Plasti-weld...some spare plastic pieces and parts. I have even cut off good back side part from a bad outer panel and put them on a good panel. The sheet metal trick is a good one. Get the GM "christmas trees", they are longer and have a bigger head. While you are at it make a sheet metal overlay for the plastic tab that goes under the finger cup. Jb weld it in place. Also Dremel notch the area that the 2 bolt heads (for the opening handle attachment L bracket point) touch. No worries the arm rest covers it up. All that will make the door panel fit tighter. Also upgrade the finger cups to METAL ones from LMC.
Using the plastic trees you can very easily hack saw blade cut them come next time you need to remove the door panel and not worry about breaking your rebuild work. I use tape to make a handle on the hack saw blade and use painters tape to protect the paint when I have to remove a door panel. Make sense?
