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MG TD TF 1500 - Screw Hole Reinforcement

What are some good ways to reinforce screw holes that no longer grip screws tightly because the holes have been wallowed out from over tightening or vibration?

I've been using wooden toothpicks and super glue.

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211

LM Cook

Lonnie,
Get some 6mm (1/4") diameter beech or hardwood dowels. Drill the damaged hole out to 6mm (1/4") and glue in the dowel. Measure the depth of the hole before you cut the dowel if you cannot get a thin saw blade in to cut any protruding dowel off flush once the glue has dried. Allow to cure and re-drill a pilot hole for your screw.

Regards
Declan
D Burns

Declan's got it. the secret is to use a wood that's harder then the base wood and to get the glue surface area as large as possible.

Toothpicks have their place in this type of repair, but it's best to go large when you can.
MAndrus

I understand about "larger is better." However, the holes that need reinforcing are behind sheet metal, so they can't be drilled out oversize. ... Lift-the-Dot pegs and windshield stanchion. What's best for those type of locations?

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Lonnie,
Depending where it is and how much you want to do this job....
You could remove the panel on the other side of the wood frame - such as door or anywhere in the back.
Run a small - say 1/8" - drill all the way through from the Metal side then back drill the 6mm hole to the skin from the wood side and block with a beach dowel.
Lot of work but it would solve the issue'
Rod
R D Jones

I would just fill with two parts epoxy in that case and redrill.
Geoffrey M Baker

I've always used toothpicks with a good wood glue on small holes. Never had a problem with screws coming lose again. I used dowels on the large, over-sized holes in the sub dash.

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

Hi, just wanted to say thanks for this thread, one of my float bowl screw holes is larger than the other three and I can't find a screw that fits correctly, so have been using a short nut and bolt. I never would have thought about the toothpick solution and I think that will work perfectly and replace that odd looking concoction that is in there now!

Steve
SD Denham

Steve -

I wouldn't use a toothpick to secure the screw into an oversize hole in the float bowl. Perhaps someone with more experience than I can give you a better solution.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Steve, I would consider JB weld if anything, for that repair.
Geoffrey M Baker

When replacing the snaps and Lift-the-Dots on my TD I found some in the rear quarter panel, where either there was no wood behind or there was a slight gap between the metal and the wood, and the screw would not fit

I assume that those with no wood had been screw directly into the sheet metal.

I solved the problem by using Tinnerman nuts.

Where there was a gap I secured the nut to my finger wit a tiny bit of Superglue.

Jim B.

JA Benjamin

I have had this same problem with securing "lift the dot pegs". I make an Aus red cedar tapered wooden pin, drive it into the existing hole which has had "Superglue" applied to it. Two things happen in this process the sheet metal hole shapes the pin, the red cedar is soft enough to snap of flush with the metal surface after glue has dried.

I drill the pin with a 1/16 drill, apply more Superglue" to the peg thread and insert using a threading action. To prevent paint damage I have made Nylon washers that insert between the peg and the panel, these finish glued to both the panel and the peg flange.

Paint damage has to be controlled by very sparingly use of glue.

G Evans

Lonnie-
If you mean holes wallowed out in wood, where the wood screw just will not quite work any more, just try some carpenters waterproof wood glue, like Elmer's and douse the screw and squirt a little in the hole and screw it down without any "load" on it. Let it dry 24 hours and unscrew the screw. Then put the pieces back together and carefully ensure the screw is getting started in the threads you have reinforced with wood glue, and screw it down. Usually works for me.

Read some book on woodworking and it will tell you that re-using wood screws does not work. Nonsense, when you have a car loaded with wood parts you find ways around "rules."
N Tesla

Toothpicks are too soft. Find some hardwood dowel at a hobby shop that is the size of the metal opening. A good wood glue is OK (the brown stuff?) or I often use epoxy.
Christopher Couper

Very often the wood around the old fastener has begun to rot away and is useless for something as small as a toothpick repair. That's why the fastener has come loose in the first place.

If you can't get to the back of the area, and removing the sheet metal just ain't gonna happen, try drilling through the hole at 30 degree angles to excavate and remove the poor wood. Epoxy and as many home-made hardwood toothpicks (store-bought are too soft) as you can jam in there will do nicely.

The important part is to get back to solid wood. Dusty rotten splinters won't hold a thing.

.....
MAndrus

Thanks for the info and for your experiences. Just what I was looking for. I have plenty of hardwood to make strong "tooth picks".

Chris - the brown glue is probably Titebond III or plastic resin glue. Both are strong and waterproof.

Good info.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

I had to do this to the screw hole mount points for the convertible bow top, which take a lot of torque. I just reamed them out a bit with a drill and then filled with two part epoxy. I recommend epoxy over wood glue or super glue as it cures much harder than wood glue to give a really solid base to the repair, and superglue while strong is more brittle. IMHO...
Geoffrey M Baker

Where possible and where I think I might remove the screw in the future, I use brass machine screw inserts. These have worked well for removing the bonnet and for holding the hood frame. Jud

J. K. Chapin

I had to repair the holes in my hood rail after the screws failed to grip. I simply drilled out the holes and epoxy glued in plastic wall plugs - the ones you would use to hang a picture. The screws now grip perfectly. I don't think dowels or wooden plugs work well since the screw is trying to grip in straight rather than cross grain.


Jan T
J Targosz

Lonnie,

Next time you go out for Chinese food save the chopsticks. They are generally hard bamboo and can be sanded down for a tight glued in fit in small screw holes. Worked great for me and really cheap.


Jim Haskins 1953 TD

J. M. Haskins

This thread was discussed between 29/10/2015 and 01/11/2015

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