Storage Bay Door Repair U270
The main cargo door on the passenger side broke after driving 16 miles on a washboard, gravel forest service road - total of 32 miles. It took an hour and 45 minutes each way. We were north of Pagosa Springs Colorado visiting our all-time favorite campsite.
It took a couple of days Before the effects of all that vibration showed up. The door had been repaired previously by drilling between the existing holes where it attaches to the top hinge. That is where the door failed, those represented all holes from left top edge to middle of the door. That repair was made by a previous owner. It broke while we were traveling to Texas from New Mexico and I duct taped it in place until we got to our destination a couple days later.
After reading a couple of posts here on the forum and consulting with two friends who restore Corvettes, one of which also works in the defense industry with airplanes and was an Air Force A&P, I came up with the following repair:
I bought flat aluminum stock 1/2 inch wide by 1/16 inch thick. This was placed against the lip that is revealed when you lift the door, the area where the rivets go through the fiberglass and then into the hinge. There was some fiberglass that was still intact along the edge, and that is where we drilled the new holes. After clamping the hinge and new aluminum backer in place we riveted it together. I then used fiberglass jelly resin to fill in the old holes and broken sections.
Basically I created a sandwich with fiberglass door lip between hinge and aluminum stock. It did not change the geometry of the door so everything lined up beautifully. To do this you have to take the aluminum trim that runs from the fenders along the bay doors off, so you can get at the screws that hold the hinge to the body.
I painted the aluminum and jelly resin, which is green, white. I accidentally put the rivets on the wrong side but that's more of an aesthetic problem. I'm not sure it could be un-done as the jelly resin really bonded tight to the aluminum backing. If my hinge wears out I'm in big trouble.
Topic: Storage Bay Door Repair U270