Page 1 of 1

Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 3:44 pm
by Xplitive
Removed the front and rear armrests in my ‘89 for some door and panel repairs. The armrests screw into some sort of small piece that is MIA in the door. Is there a replacement handy?
Thanks

Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 4:37 pm
by sirrus
There should be 2 u type nuts (part number J4004058) on each door - armrest screws go into them. Sometimes they fall off during disassembly, check inside the door - maybe they’re still there.

TGW sells them as a kit (2 screws and 2 nuts) for $8. I would check local hardware store first however, I think I saw something alike at ace hardware

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2021 8:09 pm
by Xplitive
Thanks - those where definitely not what was in there. Looked like the square plastic pieces for mounting license plates.
PS - you were correct the front armrests don’t have the same problem as the rears breaking off. Now I know the problem in the front was the wrong/missing clips.

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2021 8:11 am
by freehold
Those are the most annoying things ever. I hate trying to get the arm rests mounted back up.

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 9:47 am
by Xplitive
Pretty lame question on my part but has anyone recently installed these TGW clips? If so, what is the trick?

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 10:05 am
by sirrus
I haven’t installed these specifically, but they work exactly like other u nuts - you slide/clip them on sheet metal, and align hole with the hole in the metal. If they are new, they might need some persuasion

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 10:22 am
by Xplitive
They seem to be very different than the original ones. bigger than the actual opening, been taking material off the sides of the clip down slowly.
Edit:
Ok, so I should ask how does one fit a u clip?
I can see the sides (that I’m grinding off ) actually need to be wider and fit under the door frame skin. Glad there are 2 in a pack.

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Wed May 19, 2021 6:58 am
by Xplitive
Take some pliers, pull the metal edge for the retaining clip opening in the door outwards. This should eventually let the left and right edge of the clip slip under the metal. Using a dremel (or similar), remove a little metal in the opposite corners of the top and bottom. Feed clip in, likely have to use a punch (or similar) to drive the clip in to position.

Re: Armrest attaching thingys

Posted: Thu May 27, 2021 3:17 pm
by memsiej
Just tried to install the TGW ones yesterday on my 84. Were about 1/8" too wide for the hole, so pretty useless. I took a piece of sheet metal, drilled a hole for the screw to attach to, and affixed that plate to the door. Bam. Not pretty, but it's covered by a door panel and actually works.