Cracked doors.
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Cracked doors.
In my persuit of a much improved sound system, I decided to fabricate some "pods" in my door to accomodate larger speakers which allow for a wide variety of speakers to choose from. This means taking off the interior door panels from the door. Yesterday, while i had the door panels off, I also removed the water shield so that I could see how much clearance I had to recess the speaker.
Basically, to make a long story short, I found that the metal on the door had cracked near the lower rivets of the window regulator motor on the driver's side, and it's almosted cracked on the passenger side, but not yet. It looks like it had weakend from being under constant back and forth torque from the motor with every roll down and up, and eventually the metal cracked. My question is, is this a common problem, and if so, what's the best way to fix this?
Basically, to make a long story short, I found that the metal on the door had cracked near the lower rivets of the window regulator motor on the driver's side, and it's almosted cracked on the passenger side, but not yet. It looks like it had weakend from being under constant back and forth torque from the motor with every roll down and up, and eventually the metal cracked. My question is, is this a common problem, and if so, what's the best way to fix this?
FTE Community Team
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 252
From: Oak Harbor, Washington
Yes, it's a very common problem, but only with the power window equipped Aeros. The mass of the motor oilcans the inner door sheetmetal every time you slam it.
Here's a pic I took of my '90 a couple years ago:
I had those cracks welded up.
And here's the fix I did on my '89 in 1999 when I had to replace both PW motors in the space of three months, and then the driver's PW motor again last summer:
Note that there are two layers of alum. in that pic (click on any pic for larger). There are G5 nylock nuts behind the panel, hard to get them in there -- I think I used putty to hold the nuts on the wrench on that job.
The dual layers of alum + bolts reinforce the door skin and spread the load, whereas welding it doesn't. I was selling the '90, I was keeping the '90.
Don't slam the doors! But plan on having to reinforce the skins anyway, even if you're gentle.
Here's a pic I took of my '90 a couple years ago:
I had those cracks welded up.
And here's the fix I did on my '89 in 1999 when I had to replace both PW motors in the space of three months, and then the driver's PW motor again last summer:
Note that there are two layers of alum. in that pic (click on any pic for larger). There are G5 nylock nuts behind the panel, hard to get them in there -- I think I used putty to hold the nuts on the wrench on that job.
The dual layers of alum + bolts reinforce the door skin and spread the load, whereas welding it doesn't. I was selling the '90, I was keeping the '90.
Don't slam the doors! But plan on having to reinforce the skins anyway, even if you're gentle.
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Thanks a million! Those pics show exactly what I'm talking about. When you reinforced the door, I see you've used the holes for the window reg motor... What about the other 3 bolts? What determines their placement?
FTE Community Team
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,839
Likes: 252
From: Oak Harbor, Washington
I honestly can't recall. I did that repair seven years ago; I took a pic last summer when I had the door opened up again for the PW motor replacement (dang! Only got seven years from the Checker/Kragen/Schucks PW motor I bought in 1999!).
I do remember that I had made a cut sheet and layout drawing of that fix. I had in mind that I'd make a kit of the fix and sell them to other Aero owners. Alas, a relative threw the drawings away, and I eventually forgot all about it until last summer.
I do remember that I had made a cut sheet and layout drawing of that fix. I had in mind that I'd make a kit of the fix and sell them to other Aero owners. Alas, a relative threw the drawings away, and I eventually forgot all about it until last summer.
