308 Door Bracket has fallen into the great beyond!

Custom hook-type tool to fish it out, is the only thing I can think of...
Good luck,
Greg

77 GTB

 

Not sure about the 308 but on the 328 you could pull the latch handle for the engine bay latch handle on the door jamb and look through the opening. That might let you see well enough to hook the nutplate with a wire or claw and get it back out.

To reinstall it, thread a wire through the upper hole in the striker plate and into the body cavity. Using the opening from the latch plate (described above) hook the end of the wire through a hole in the nutplate and then use the wire to pull it into the body cavity and then up into place. Install the lower screw and then you can pull the wire or cut it off and install the upper one.

I had to do something like this on another car once.

 

Time for a new tool - a borescope. It will allow you to see the part and the magnetic or whatever pickup device. And it's a neat tool-toy to have anyway.

Video or borescope:
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/general/demos/dcs200-dcs300-demo.htm

These 2 are inexpensive ~$150
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/general/fiber-optic-scopes/dcs200.htm?ganclickid=00048dcf8aa2d1600a605302bc1a7e0b#00033404?ref=gbase

http://www.unbeatablesale.com/doba10746.html?utm_source=froogle4&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=DOBA10746

.

 

problem with some of these is that the "head" is too big, sometimes, to get in there.

Ace

 

That 328 technique sounds like it should work. These cars always have an access panel for whatever job you need to do! Good luck, I know I thought about what a problem it would be to drop that in there.

How about on the passenger side, though? :O

 

If all else has failed, you drain the gas tank, remove it, remove the panel behind it, and you can get to the inside of the body that way. Yes, it is a lot of work.

 

Looking at your picture it seems like removing the bonnet latch would help. But, I have the bonnet latch out on mine. I just went out to the garage to see if I could reach up to the back of those holes...nope. My door bracket appears to be held inside a pocket of metal so that it couldn't fall down. Taking the latch out does no good.

This subject scared me though since my strikers are removed, I had to run out and make sure the backing plates were still there.

 

Mikey, I've sent you a PM mate. I've restored my car and that part was removed as can be seen in the attached photo. I'll try and get to my mechanic this afternoon on the way home from work and ask the question. I'll take some pics as well.

Cheers
Brett
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Ok Mikey, I managed to stop by and look at my car. Unfortunately you will need to remove the tank. Thats not a major job, just a pain in the backside. I've taken some pics to show you what the plate looks like, how its retained and a couple of places where you can try and access it from under the car. This isn't actualy my car (way too dirty ) as the fuel tank is back in. Phil just happened to have another 308 there with the fuel tank out. There are 4 photo's:-

1. Shows the plate with the retaining clip. This retaining clip must have fallen out.
2. Is just the iniside of the panel showing the area along the sill where it may have dropped.
3 & 4. These are two spots where you can have a look from under the car. Perhaps the plate has landed here and you may be able to drag it out. Alot easier than going through the holes in your photo.

I think you are better to try and find the part from going in via photo's 3&4. I Hope this helps. Thanks to Phil (Ferrarifixer) for spending the time to explain and show how it all works.
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Don't mean to offend you but isn't driving the car a foolish gamble as the bracket can now be somewhere on the street which is why it doesn't rattle. Personally, I'd love to have an excuse to spend $160 or so on the borescope against the numerous times I've spent bending coat hangers and lowering magnets into the vast unknown for retrieval of $0.02 items. I'm still missing my antenna switch nut which dropped 5" into the console and after 4 hours of hunting is still eluding me. There are better ways to bond with one's car but you sure get to intimately know its innards.

 

Is it possible US cars are different? My bonnet latch is out and I cannot reach upwards at all like should be possible based on that photo. There's a piece of metal between the bonnet latch hole and the striker backing plate.....Strange.

 

That is really funny!

 

If you look closely at photo 1 Jason you can actually see that there is a gusset. That's probably what you can feel???? Not sure but may be thats what it is, but yes this is an Aussie car (I think, could be UK car) but is RHD.

 

Mikey,
Have you got a resolution to this yet??

I freaked when I saw your post and the other pictures... since my car has been undergoing a long term restoration I realized I had FORGOTTEN to put those plates back in my car when things started going back together... at this point both tanks and the motor are back in!! CRAPPPPP!!!!

Not to fear. If you remove the wheels and liners along with the pleated tubes that run from the side vents, you can look over the top of the gas tanks and see the back of the B pillars where the 4 holes for the striker are. My plates are simple steel so I'm assuming yours would be too. You can drop a magnet down over the tanks on a string to fish your plate out.

Going back in - I pushed a piece of string through the door holes and over the top of the tanks using a coat hanger. I wrapped the door end of the string around a piece of wood so it would not pull through. Then you thread the nut plate onto the string and slide it down the string to the back of the door pillar. Reach through the 4 big holes with a spring hook or dental tool to grab it and pull it into final position. I used a couple of long screws to get things into place at first (M6 x 1.0 thread) then replaced them with the right screws once I had two of the correct screws in place. Whole process was less than 20 minutes. I left my camera at the shop but when I bring it home, I'll post some pictures.

Rick

 

Of course they are, all that stuff is on the opposite side....

 

Brett,

Pur-deeeeee !!!!!!

That is gunna be soooooooo SW EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEA TTTT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!