Map pocket door fix - how to
02-03-11, 10:17 PM
#1
Map pocket door fix - how to
When I bought my car the map pocket door hinge was broken. I know this is a fairly common problem. I decided to tackle fixing the map pocket while I had my doors apart to clean/lube the power windows and fix the "tinny" door sound. Hopefully if your door broke similar to mine this will be a fairly easy fix.
I wanted to make sure it looked and work completely like new but would not break again. If yours is like mine the pivot point or hinge on the right side is broken. I believe the metal spring applies too much pressure on the cam to hold the lid open and closed. It causes the roll pin to bust the plastic that holds it. Or maybe you just bumped it with your arm. While I had it apart I made another repair and reinforcement to one of the tabs that hold together to plastic surround of the door handle and map pocket. That fix will be self explanatory with a few pictures.
Tools/Materials
Plast-Aid kit http://www.plast-aid.com/
small needle nose pliers
x-acto knife
rubbing alcohol, q-tips
normal sized straw
"hobby" grease - I used some from an R/C I built because I knew it would be okay for plastic.
bits of thin card stock, a business card
small rubber bands
disposable pipets or eye droppers
Once you have the map pocket out, watch for the roll pin that serves as the hinge. You can see in the first picture there is some original plastic left where the roll pin broke. This will be helpful to put the straw in the right place. Clean any areas getting plast-aid with rubbing alcohol and I'd recommend scratching the surface for a better bond. You want to cut a little of the straw to be a form for the plast-aid so you can rebuild the original part and fill the whole area for reinforcement. Cut straw the proper length so that the new area would finish flush with the original roll pin hole. Place the straw, make sure it's centered and up against any remaining plastic. Place the roll pin, make sure it's coming out straight. The roll pin should fit back in it's original place. Cut some small pieces of card stock to dam up the area below the straw so plast-aid fills up to the bottom of the straw. Mix up some plast-aid to a drippy consistency and using the pipets begin to fill then straw form. I decided to fill the entire area around the straw to make it stronger. If you need to add just a little plast-aid here or there you can use a pipet to put little piles of powdered plastic where you need it and just carefully drop some solvent on the area. It does not need to be mixed to work, a little goes a long way. Careful where you get the solvent, it will ruin nearly any surface. Once it's dried you can compress the roll pin and pull it out if you need to. Now to the spring. The plastic tip on the spring that rubs on the cam was broken where it locks in place. This plastic tip has a rather sharp point to it where it contacts the cam. I found that it makes it really hard for it to pass over the high spot in the cam and will put too much stress on the parts and pull the tip right off. If you don't glue it on it will pop off and screw the whole pooch once you've already closed your door panels up. JB weld on that point and you'll be good. File the tip down a little bit and round it off. I used a finger nail file. This will make the lid operation really smooth. The picture shows it before I filed it down. I filed the point down on the cam as well. Now you can fix the spring so it applies less pressure. Take the spring and trace it out on some paper so you can tell how much you've bent it back. You can see from the photo what I did. Put some hobby grease on all the areas that rub and reassemble. The only indication that it's been fixed is when the map pocket is open you can see the filled area with white plast-aid. I guess I could have painted it black. Any questions please ask.
I wanted to make sure it looked and work completely like new but would not break again. If yours is like mine the pivot point or hinge on the right side is broken. I believe the metal spring applies too much pressure on the cam to hold the lid open and closed. It causes the roll pin to bust the plastic that holds it. Or maybe you just bumped it with your arm. While I had it apart I made another repair and reinforcement to one of the tabs that hold together to plastic surround of the door handle and map pocket. That fix will be self explanatory with a few pictures.
Tools/Materials
Plast-Aid kit http://www.plast-aid.com/
small needle nose pliers
x-acto knife
rubbing alcohol, q-tips
normal sized straw
"hobby" grease - I used some from an R/C I built because I knew it would be okay for plastic.
bits of thin card stock, a business card
small rubber bands
disposable pipets or eye droppers
Once you have the map pocket out, watch for the roll pin that serves as the hinge. You can see in the first picture there is some original plastic left where the roll pin broke. This will be helpful to put the straw in the right place. Clean any areas getting plast-aid with rubbing alcohol and I'd recommend scratching the surface for a better bond. You want to cut a little of the straw to be a form for the plast-aid so you can rebuild the original part and fill the whole area for reinforcement. Cut straw the proper length so that the new area would finish flush with the original roll pin hole. Place the straw, make sure it's centered and up against any remaining plastic. Place the roll pin, make sure it's coming out straight. The roll pin should fit back in it's original place. Cut some small pieces of card stock to dam up the area below the straw so plast-aid fills up to the bottom of the straw. Mix up some plast-aid to a drippy consistency and using the pipets begin to fill then straw form. I decided to fill the entire area around the straw to make it stronger. If you need to add just a little plast-aid here or there you can use a pipet to put little piles of powdered plastic where you need it and just carefully drop some solvent on the area. It does not need to be mixed to work, a little goes a long way. Careful where you get the solvent, it will ruin nearly any surface. Once it's dried you can compress the roll pin and pull it out if you need to. Now to the spring. The plastic tip on the spring that rubs on the cam was broken where it locks in place. This plastic tip has a rather sharp point to it where it contacts the cam. I found that it makes it really hard for it to pass over the high spot in the cam and will put too much stress on the parts and pull the tip right off. If you don't glue it on it will pop off and screw the whole pooch once you've already closed your door panels up. JB weld on that point and you'll be good. File the tip down a little bit and round it off. I used a finger nail file. This will make the lid operation really smooth. The picture shows it before I filed it down. I filed the point down on the cam as well. Now you can fix the spring so it applies less pressure. Take the spring and trace it out on some paper so you can tell how much you've bent it back. You can see from the photo what I did. Put some hobby grease on all the areas that rub and reassemble. The only indication that it's been fixed is when the map pocket is open you can see the filled area with white plast-aid. I guess I could have painted it black. Any questions please ask.
02-04-11, 08:02 AM
#7
Great job but it's too much work for me.
My lid was ok on one side so it still stayed in place but rattled annoyingly when I turned up the music so I just took it off. Looks ugly like this but I put my wallet in it when I'm driving. Maybe I should glue mine shut too
My lid was ok on one side so it still stayed in place but rattled annoyingly when I turned up the music so I just took it off. Looks ugly like this but I put my wallet in it when I'm driving. Maybe I should glue mine shut too
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02-04-11, 08:16 AM
#8
It was not that difficult. Here you have all the tips to fix it right. I would not encourage anybody to glue theirs shut.
Buy a used one and ease the spring, file down the two points of contact (cam high point and plastic tip on spring) and grease it up. JB Weld was the only material I could find that would adhere the plastic tip onto the spring.
I think any stock pocket door will break eventually. My car came from Wisconsin, maybe they break more in colder climates.
With a little finishing one could probably make the pocket look alright without a door. I wanted mine to be good and original though.
Buy a used one and ease the spring, file down the two points of contact (cam high point and plastic tip on spring) and grease it up. JB Weld was the only material I could find that would adhere the plastic tip onto the spring.
I think any stock pocket door will break eventually. My car came from Wisconsin, maybe they break more in colder climates.
With a little finishing one could probably make the pocket look alright without a door. I wanted mine to be good and original though.
02-04-11, 08:25 AM
#9
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Great Writeup
Congratz, great job!
On a different note, mine is broken, but in a different way:
the lid has started to develop a crack along its length (front wheel to rear wheel), about 1/2 way from the hinge to the edge, where the notch is to pull it up.
Any ideas on that?
On a different note, mine is broken, but in a different way:
the lid has started to develop a crack along its length (front wheel to rear wheel), about 1/2 way from the hinge to the edge, where the notch is to pull it up.
Any ideas on that?
02-04-11, 08:48 AM
#10
If it were me I would substantially reinforce the under side. I would use some thin metal and embed it in the plast-aid on the bottom. You could use epoxy resin & fiberglass as well but if you don't already have all that material plast-aid and metal strips would be better. PM me some pictures.
