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Droopy doors

The doors on my box saloon are falling off. The screws no longer tighten fully. I have been putting it off for a while, but with the mention of strange compounds in the last jottings does anyone have any suggestions? I was set to try glueing the screws in with araldite with the weight of the door supported. Or, how can it be done 'properly' without dismantling the car?

?

Re: Droopy doors

A temporary repair can sometimes be made with plastic wall plugs, the small thin variety, as long as there is some wood for them fit into, this then gives the screww something to bite on.

Not very PC but will certainly help for a while.

Re: Droopy doors

My recommendation for wood screws that have "stripped" out the wood is to drill out the inevitable black stuff + a bit, and make a wooden plug of the right size for an interference fit. It is an advantage to provide a small groove down the side of the plug (eg hacksaw cut) to allow glue & air to escape & avoid the hydraulic lock that will split the wood in the next step: Smother the plug & hole with PVA glue (avoid hard epoxy) & hammer the plug in all the way & cut off flush. Allow to dry & Re drill with the root size of the (new) screw and re-attach the door whilst supported. Of course this doesn't address the worn hinge pins!

Good luck.
DG

Re: Re: Droopy doors

Many thanks for the suggestions. I will investigate both and let you know what happens. It will need doing soon to avoid turning into a 'clowns' car with bits dropping off as it goes!

Re: Re: Re: Droopy doors

Its along the same lines as the above, but if you are in a fix matchsticks with the heads taken off pushed in the hole with some PVA works very well. Provided the wood isnt rotten obviously!!

Re: Droopy doors

OH! hello boys . I was not wearing my glasses (I'm so vain,but lovely)so I told my friend Abigail you had asked a question about Droopy draws! well,we had such a laugh.I might tell you a story when I am feeling braver. Well the doors on the chummy are a bit woobly at the hingy bits I will have my motor man have a look. ,also I will tell Hortense to stop hanging her hand bag on the handle!! Tiggs xxx

Re: Droopy doors

I too have droopy doors on my Chummy and have been meaning to do something about it. Thanks for the advice. I was going to stuff Araldite in the holes and re-drill for the screws. They were only a little droopy until a somewhat posh lady was visiting and just before I could say "don't slam the doors" - she did. Now they droop some more! Mind you, that's not the only droopy problem I've got!

Re: Droopy doors

One of the problems of pushing matchsticks or shaped wooden plugs into the hole is that the screw cuts into end grain in the repair which is never as strong as the original where the screw goes across the grain so that the fibres of the wood lie across the screw in the grooves. The repair may be effective short term but will loosen over time ( or slams ! )

Re: Droopy doors

I overcame this problem by replacing the woodscrews with 2BA countersunk screws going right through the frame and screwed into 3/16" plates about 1" square let into the inside of the frame. The bottom one is easy but the other 2 require some cunning work to fit the plates behind the window channel. This is a very interesting site.