Holy previous PO crudapolous!!!?!?!?!?!
So I am going to install my new mirrors, I searched the theads, learned about the plate and tack welded nuts and thought, hummm, a few screws through the door panel, few minutes work and I will be done. As usual, what should be easy goes bad. The PO had removed the original mirrors and bondo'd over the holes, fine. I will just tap them. But when I get the door panel off and look up in there with a flashlight I find the tack welded nuts - yeah! along with bolts already running through them? I have owned the truck for a while but I had to look at the outside of the door once again just to be sure - nothing there but a little bondo. How is this possible?? Then it hits me, they stripped the screwheads and bondo'd over them??? I can only guess they didn't want to wast .0000001 percent more bondo. So now what? I thought I could drill them out very precisely which I have done before to a bolt - once in my life successfully. But I knew that was out, because I didn't want to tear up the new paint so I ended up moving the three hole pattern 3/4 of an inch towards the rear of the truck and drilling new holes. Now I drilled these holes using four bits working up to the right size. On hole number one I am just starting to turn the bit (target has tape on it) my phone vibrates in my pocket, I jump and the bit walks up the door panel all the way to the glass then stops. I went thermonuclear for just a second and my drill hit an altitude outside that all of the birds on my farm just had to have envied as it passed by on it's way up to into the stratosphere. (Side Note: Rigid makes a good drill.) To make a long story longer, the call was of course unessessary. I went back to work, got my 3 holes drilled, yoga'd my arm up inside the door and used lock washers and nuts. Not ideal but still on the metal plate. I button up everything still feeling a little proud of my work until I see a point of light coming out of my door. What could possibly still be inside? You guessed it, my flashlight. Ahhh the joys of tinkering. =)
Last edited by ubtripn; 04-25-2011 at 10:11 AM.
|