A Pillar door bolts

[Matthewjb]

Hi all,

I was fitting my passenger door and this piece fell off in the a pillar just behind the kick panel. I was able to cut the kick panel and access it, but my question is how do I fix now?

[Matthewjb]

Bump

[swamp rat]

I think thee is some kind of an L bracket in there that keeps it in place, can you fish a magnet sown into the lower A pillar and see if you can snag anything?

I know i have see the answer once before, just don't remember where.

[swamp rat]

Its actually a cage.. Here's a couple threads of dealing with the lower A pillar needing replacing up higher than the cage mounting point.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...4&postcount=24
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...te#post6794620

[RodnRudy]

Not sure if you're needing to replace the bottom of your A pillar cause of rust but if so I think Nate at Nsane Hot rods has the A pillar patch panel that includes the cage. Check with him.

[Matthewjb]

Thanks for the feedback. I've replaced the lower a pillar that the fender bolts too, I'm just not sure how to get this piece back in there so I can hang my door

[RodnRudy]

You'll have to open up your kick panel to access where the cage goes and fab some tabs and weld them in to hold it in place.

[Matthewjb]

Ok, I'm with you to that point. But aren't they supposed to move in there for wiggle room fitting the door? If I tack them they won't move

[RodnRudy]

You don't weld the cage, you make two tabs with a step in them, one for the side of the cage and one for the bottom. Make the step in the tab deep enough so that the cage can move. Put the cage on the pillar centered in the slots with a couple of bolts and snug it down. Then put the two tabs you've made in place, one on the bottom and one on the long side and spot weld them to the pillar. If the cage wants to tip or fall out make another tab for the short side of the cage. Hope this helps. I can't post any drawing of this cause I don't know how. If push comes to shove you can always open up the other side and use it to see how it should go.

[Matthewjb]

Thanks for that, I have a visual now. You've been a huge help!

[old Chevy guy]

I think your initial confusion was in the wording. The piece in your picture is not the cage, it's more along the lines of a backing plate. The cage is like a sloppy box around that plate that traps it against the back of the pillar but allows that adjustment. I have some cabs that are cut up I'll see if I can get a picture of what that looks like in a bit.

[Matthewjb]

That would be great if you could do that. So the old cage must be in there if it just fell off, right? Hopefully, that way I can have a visual

[RodnRudy]

Sometimes the cage rusts away and lets the backing plate fall down when the bolts are removed. The factory spot welds could also be a little sloppy, on my floor pan to fire wall joint the spot welds were right on the edge of seam and mostly broken loose. You could see day light through the joint.

[old Chevy guy]

Here you go, this is the lower on the passengers side. I cut the entire vent out of the side wall of this truch for a repair panel in my cab. The right side of the picture is the top looking down. The bottom of that probably rusted on yours allowing the plate to fall out. Hope this helps.

[Matthewjb]

excellent thank you