Reinstalling door pocket lids........refitting springs
 

....I took them off to get rid of the flaking rubberized paint. The dishwasher treatment worked well, and the paint easily rubbed off. I am going to leave them "bare" for now, rather than painting or covering in leather.

My problem is the little springs on the rear-facing hinges. I'm afraid I don't know how to refit them properly. I tried a search of the forum to no avail. Does anyone have any tips or pics to point me in the right direction?

Sorry, I don't know how to refit the springs.

What is this "dishwasher trick" you mention?

Interested. Mine stopped being able to hold itself open and I'm sure a spring came loose.

I found that the only way I could install the spring is with the door card off.

Dishwasher
 

You can take the plastic door pocket lids, door sill trim, etc. - anything painted with that rubberized soft-touch paint - and put them in the dishwasher. It loosens up the paint so you can easily rub it off with your fingers or a non-abrasive pad.

It seems this paint on all these older cars starts rubbing or flaking off on high wear areas (e.g. door pocket lids where elbows rest). It looks cheap and horrible, but can be removed by using the dishwasher.

Then they are ready for sanding/painting. Some people cover them in leather (I will eventually), but for now I'll leave them bare.

Its the dang spring that has me baffled. I reinstalled without it and now the lids won't stay up when opened.

After I removed the paint from the driver's side cover on my car, and had the same problem with reinstalling it. Finally figured out that by using a small nail as a dummy pin to hold the spring in place worked. You push the dummy pin out with the regular pin when you install it and the spring stays in place.

Hmmmm....interesting. But I guess I'm still not sure I understand without more detail sor pics. I see where the spring hooks on to the post in the rear, but do you have to pull it over the nail/pin? I'll try to fiddle with it this weekend. Ah the life of DIY - it's never as easy as it seems!

I covered mine in Leather
 

I purchased some high quality thin leather off eBay (a seller in Nashville) and covered mine, they came out great. I don't remember putting the springs back on as being a problem and I did not take my door card off. I do seem to remember (almost 2 years ago) having to have the card halfway in the "Up" position as I installed the pins in the hinges...one was much easier than the other

Just replaced both door pocket lids with new ones. The little holes in the lid part of the hinge made things difficult. To reinstall I put the front pin in, then held the lid as near to the closed position as possible, keeping tension on the spring so it didn't come out of the little hole on the lid. Be sure that the coiled part of the spring is down. I used a small screwdriver to push the end of the rear pin in place. It took several tries. I don't think it's possible to see what you're doing because of the design - if you hold the lid up, you may not be able to force the pin holes into alignment. Be patient.

Thanks, I'll give that a try!

Geez! I didn't make much sense. The little hole I refer to is the spring hole. The design is such that with the spring in place on the plastic boss on the back door bracket, the other end of the spring will stay in the little hole for the spring in the door itself, if you keep tension on it.

I think I get it. So rather than the spring going over the hinge where the rod is inserted, it is inserted into a little hole on the underside of the lid?

I'll look at it later.

Thanks, again.

Viola!
 

That's the ticket! Passenger side fixed good as new.

The tiny little hole is on the plastic mount for the hinge post. So small as to almost be missed. And yes, it's a little tricky to get the spring in the tiny hole. I angled it in with the cover in the half closed position, then carefully inserted the post on the rear facing (with spring) side, then did the front facing post. Caution - the little metal bushings (where the posts are inserted) fall out and can be easily lost.

Now on the driver's the plastic mount had been gouged out by someone prior to me. When I removed the door a little piece of plastic fell out - the piece with the little hole. Basically, a "half-pipe" remained with nothing to hold the spring in. Therefore, Mickey Mouse engineering had to come into play!

I fashioned a small piece of metal into a "roof" for the half-pipe and attached with epoxy. I let it dry and then applied more epoxy to build up the assembly in a more sturdy fashion. It worked :)

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/a...psrxov3lo7.jpg

http://i989.photobucket.com/albums/a...psbvifeb7b.jpg

Thanks, Morgal48!