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[GrahamK]

My drivers door cracks and creaks on opening, but it is not within the door that is the problem.
I've looked at the Fix discussed here in several places, but my problem appears to be on the jamb.
The plate that the plastic bush fits into appears to be coming away from the door jamb and you can see the jamb metal flexing.
what to do? I've seen some posts about welding in this area can be tricky as there is wiring behind. Any ideas?

Graham.

[VXL V6]

Yes can be welded, there is wiring to the indicator but it's a fair distance

[Doctor Gollum]

Yes can be welded, there is wiring to the indicator but it's a fair distance

Ahem...

The gearbox and alarm/central locking ecu are in the A pillar along with the dash to body loom

[johnnydog]

The spot welds on the door stay bracket on a previous Omega had started to come away from the 'A' pillar. My local body repair shop mig welded mine back to the 'A' pillar whilst I waited. A bit of paint and a squirt of Supertrol via a nozzle to as much of the back of the weld as was possible to access, and all was good.   No subsequent issues or problems encountered after.

[Doctor Gollum]

Luck rather than judgement.

[johnnydog]

Luck rather than judgement.

I thought DG was an abbreviation for Doctor Gollum, not Doom and Gloom....

[Doctor Gollum]

Simply stating a fact.

If you choose to ignore the potential damage that's on you

[GrahamK]

Thanks for the responses so far, although I'm not sure i'm too certain of where to go next!

I had thought about attaching a strengthening plate on top of the bracket. Instead of welding this on, i could attach it with 6 or so Rivnuts. that should be pretty solid.
Then a couple of blobs of weld on where the new plate and the old bracket meet. (I'd imagined the cover plate with a letter box opening where the other existing plate poked through.)
This would be a welded joint, but any weld penetration into the A pillar would be minimal. Does that sound like it could work?
If the Rivnuts are not thought strong enough, could be cover plate be plug welded on? is that still taking too much of a chance? Thoughts?

[Doctor Gollum]

Absolutely no problem with rewelding the stay plate, just be mindful of what is behind it. 

Removing the vent/glovebox from the end of the dash and the kick panel will afford you reasonable access to the contents of the A pillar. Remove EVERYTHING, (there's foam blocks, cardboard covers on unused plugs as well as the looms and ecus, so plenty to burn), you can find and tie the loom back to the dash/brake pedal (enough to keep it well clear of the metal work.

This area is three layers of steel, and a repair will require decent penetration to prevent future tearing. 

[cam.in.head]

is there access behind so that you could just bolt 4 m6 countersunk bolts through. that would also save any paint damage due to the welding as well as wiring problems ?
just a thought .

[Doctor Gollum]

Nice idea, but you would still need to clear the pillar to get a back plate/washers/nuts on. Also, you're drilling through four spot welds and three sheets of metal

[johnnydog]

Luck rather than judgement.

That statement is actually an opinion rather than fact.

When mine was done, there was no damage to the paint on the A pillar - it was merely the blobs of weld that needed to touch of paint, which suggests there was probably minimal heat in the area of the bracket.
It worked for me and I would probably risk it again should the need arise.
Not having removed any trim in that area, does anyone know actually how close the components referred to are to the hinge bracket or how easy it is to access them to potentially shield them from heat?

[Doctor Gollum]

Within four inches.