355 Door Removal and Refurbishment

[Terry]

With the door removed, good access is available to clean up and repaint the hinge end of the door frame.

[Terry]

The key locks were looking scuffed and a little tatty.



The locks can be easily disassembled by removing a spring clip and circlip





Whilst apart the locks can be painted.



The locks were cleaned, regreased, assembled then ready for refit into the door.

[Terry]

The external handle can be disassembled by removing the lock pin at one end. A suitably sized drill works well as a punch.



The square shaft can be withdrawn to expose all parts



With the handle apart, a thorough good clean and lube prior to reassembly.



Ready to refit to door.

[Terry]

Handle and lock ready to fit.

[Terry]

Passenger side frame prepared and ready for door installation.

The stool and wood supports the door at around the correct height for hinge alignment.

[Terry]

The lock mechanism refitted together with key lock and external door opening handle. The plastic couplings between the key lock and lock mechanism can be seen in this picture. A few people have reported that these have failed causing no reaction from the door lock key to unlock the door.



The front hinge retaining plates and with wiring harness installed.

[Terry]

The new windows seals have an adhesive strip pre fitted. The seal is a one piece around the rear window support pillar to the front of the door glass.

Attachment 83017

Hook the seal under the lower edge of the door edge then sqeeze upwards to hook the upper lip over the top edge of the door removing the adhesive cover strip at the same time.

Attachment 83018

The seal will finish a little short of the door mirror support but this is covered after the wing mirror is fitted.

Attachment 83019

[Terry]

The rear glass support is a push fit into the seal which surround it on three sides.

Attachment 83020

The seal is fitted into the support and is held in place with two screws. One of the two screws can be seen in the picture below.

Attachment 83023

The post in place.

Attachment 83021

The post is secured in the door via the two allen head screws in the rear face of the door.

Attachment 83022

[Terry]

Whilst the door was stripped, I fitted some additional insulation to the inner skin of the door and along the bottom inner surface. I used the solid rubbery self adhesive type which is around 3mm thick. Be sure to leave the drain holes open on the bottom of the door.

It may be my imagination but with the insulation the doors have a more solid feel and the bass from the speakers is slightly better.

Attachment 83024

[Terry]

I had previously repaired the LH door rear mirror but the RH side also seemed a little loose at the hinge point so I decided to strip it down for investigation.

One attachment point for the inner support at the hinge point had broken away so I made up a new one from hollow carbon rod and bedded it into some epoxy resin impregnated with carbon fibres.

Attachment 83025

Did a trial fit before sending the mirror housing off to the paint shop with the support frame away for powder coating. Prior to painting I sanded the hinge area to ensure a good fit especially to avoid any chaffing at the hinge point which could later chip the paint.

Attachment 83026

Everything prepared ready for re-assembly.

Attachment 83027

It is necessary to remove the plug from the mirror motor connection in order to feed the wires through the hinge point. The RH mirror has the additional two wires for the sensor which I cut at the door connector then reconnected and covered with heat shrink. A bit of a fiddle getting the wires through in the right orientation.

Attachment 83028

Attachment 83029

The assembly ready to fit the glass. I found that the glass clip can be fully fitted and the glass will then "pop" into place. Be careful to only push in the centre where the glass is supported to avoid you know what.

Attachment 83030

I used a new mirror seal and new foam inside the mirror support.

Attachment 83031

Attachment 83032