Door Faff!

[jamescooper47]

Hi all,

Been a little while since my last post which is no doubt a good thing. Nothing major to report and loving it! Had a small misfire for a little while which has now cured itself after a fiddle which hopefully wont come back - thinking maybe a lead or plug breaking down, or bad connection - service soon!

Anywho, thought id report and post some piccies of the interesting job of fixing the 12v socket...grrr.... well i say grrr, much easier than i was expecting and hope this shows some inspiration to those of thinking of ignoring door foibles.

I prepared well for some serious swearing after reading the endless posts on the forum of removing the door cards.... but hey,..... easy peasy! I think everyone needs to buy a Mini, then you will learn a new world of contortion, swearing and squeezing into tiny places... lol

Anyway for those who are interested, to remove the door cards you need

1 x standard spanner
1 x screwdriver
and an arm
> That is all

Step 1

Open door and swear at it for having something broken inside (to be fair, i knew the 12v socket wasnt working because the kind seller told me so)




Step 2

Remove Speaker fascia



Step 3

Sit with your back towards the pedals, insert arm (with spanner in hand) first upward at a 45 degree angle behind the motor, and then reach downwards with your spanner to undo the nuts securing the door card. Dont worry about dropping the nuts at this stage as once the card is off, its easy to get them out. see previous posts on the forum for location of nuts (http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=28&t=967231&mid=0&nmt=Getting+the+dam+door+trim+off!+grrrrrrrr)



Step 4

Pull out ashtray and unscrew self tapping screw behind



Step 5

The outer card will no loosen up. The 12v socket will unscrew from its holder and drop out. The bottom connection had come off, so i pushed it back on and hey presto... power for me phone.



Step 6

With a jiggle upward, the outer card will unhook from the top of the inner card and the whole part will come off. The wiring for the mirrors is quite short so careful not to stretch them!



Step 7

Unscrew all remaining screws and inner card will come off too...... you see.... easy peasy.. I gave the window runners a little greasing to speed them up a bit and take the pressure off the motor. Hey presto.... mission accomplished.



Well enjoy, i hope this helps the odd novice.... and dont be afraid to do these things. After all the car had to be put together in a production line, and therefore must come apart as easy as assembly. Plus being the British shed industry, everything uses proper screws and nuts.... no silly clips that break when trying to get them off.

Thanks

[jojackson4]

Try the pas side
I can do the drivers no prob, but it's with my left arm
Tother side right arm no chance I have a man for that side

[jamescooper47]

nice

[phazed]

Great thread!

My lighter socket hasn't worked since I've had the car.

I've fitted a new one on the passenger side for the sat nav but the door one is useful for phone charging as you can slip the phone in the door pocket.

Job for Saturday

[Chuffmeister]

jojackson4 said:

Try the pas side
I can do the drivers no prob, but it's with my left arm
Tother side right arm no chance I have a man for that side

You're a natural… next step…

[jojackson4]

It's good to have tosspot mates I had him under a floor this week
Dew to my larger mass

[Goaty Bill]

phazed said:

...

My lighter socket hasn't worked since I've had the car.

...

Neither has mine.
Always thought it was a TADT sir.

[Chuffmeister]

I must be one of the lucky few then, mine works okay. I use it to charge the satnav, not that I can hear the satnav anyway!

[Goaty Bill]

Chuffmeister said:

I must be one of the lucky few then, mine works okay. I use it to charge the satnav, not that I can hear the satnav anyway!

99% guaranteed that a previous owner fixed it himself

[swallet]

I have incredibly long thin gibbon arms and found stripping the door relatively easy as I could get my whole arm in as it were.
Makes up for all the teasing for being the skinniest kid in school.

If anyone needs a hand then let me know!!

[over_the_hill]

Note - tie a longish piece of string around the spanner for easy retrieval should you happen to drop it inside the door.

[Chuffmeister]

over_the_hill said:

Note - tie a longish piece of string around the spanner for easy retrieval should you happen to drop it inside the door.

+1

Also recommended when doing the manifolds!

[jamescooper47]

Ha, some great responses!!

Not sure about the cow though ;-)

[pb450]

What about doors without ashtrays?

[jamescooper47]

pb450 said:

What about doors without ashtrays?

Sorry, not my problem :-)

[pb450]

jamescooper47 said:

Sorry, not my problem :-)

[Hedgehopper]

over_the_hill said:

Note - tie a longish piece of string around the spanner for easy retrieval should you happen to drop it inside the door.

Not my original idea but if you replace the nuts with wing-nuts you won't need the spanner again.

[AV8]

pb450 said:

What about doors without ashtrays?

I wish my doors didn't have the hideous Morris Marina/Allegro ashtrays. I hate when someone is in the car and tries to get out and thinks the ashtray is the handle. How embarrassing to have to explain why a car built in the second half of the twentieth century has such tacky pieces of crap in it.

Anyway, I would love to know if anyone has successfully got rid of them or replaced them with something else or covered them over, aside from re-trimming the whole door.

[over_the_hill]

Hedgehopper said:

over_the_hill said:

Note - tie a longish piece of string around the spanner for easy retrieval should you happen to drop it inside the door.

Not my original idea but if you replace the nuts with wing-nuts you won't need the spanner again.

I've done that on the dash but haven't gotten around to the doors yet