I have a 67 SS and my drivers side lower door bolts are stripped. THe plate they bolt to is floating in a spot welded frame in the firewall. Can I buy this plate somewhere or do I have to get one from a junk yard?

This leads me into the big question. The piece of the firewall just left of the emergency brake where the vent window is on the floor is badly rusted. Can I replace this? I am conserned about the vin that is riveted into the door well on this piece. Actually the outer part where the vin is riveted is ok, it's just the inside between where the dimmer switch is and the door opening.


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If it's just the moving plate that's the problem you could always drill and tap to the next size bolt, should be fine.

I second what Frank G said.

mine all stripped out while I was learning to hang my doors. drilled and tapped them for next size and it worked great and was very easy (less than 2 min. a bolt).

You might consider doing them all while your door is off. It'll look neater to have the same size bolt heads. Besides, they all will strip eventually.

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Charles Perrell
cperrell@yahoo.com
65 malibu SS Convertible
283 2v powerglide

Put helicoil in the bolt holes and then you will not have to go with a larger bolt. I did this to one of mine and it worked perfect. I also put loctite on the helicoil before I screwed it in. This will be as strong as the original hole.

A much easier solution is to put a nut on the original bolt from the inside of the door. That way you can still use the original size bolt head size. This is important if you want to retain originality for serious judging shows.
Gordon VM
Restoration Motorsports

Well using a nut on the inside is kind of like rigging it. By using a helicoil you retain the original bolt hole size, and of course you use the factory bolt for show purposes. Also by putting a bolt in the door it also makes it harder to adjust door when trying to line up body panels (have to put wrench in the inside of the door to keep nut from spinning).

Thanks guys. I might do just what you are suggesting.

I saw recently that www.shermanparts.com (http://www.shermanparts.com) sold a Lower Door Pillar as a replacement. Has anyone replaced one of these before? Mine is in pretty bad shape. Lots of rot, not just stripped.

Thanks