S3 Lower door fins / side strips

[mattyboy199]

My drivers side door fin (the grey rubbery looking bit) is totally out of line with the rear piece. I have taken it off to investigate & seems the steel inside them rusts over time therefore deforming the mounting of it & not sitting flush. Does any one have an idea of cost or part number ? I also understand these come pre primed & require painting ?

Any help would be great.

Matt

 

[The Doctor]

Have a search on the forum. Cost is astronomical (about £130 I recall) and they come painted I believe. JoJo posted a repair guide some time ago but it's not a permanent fix unfortunately. My nearside door strip is starting to go the same way. Hopefully I can get it off & repair it before it gets too bad.

 

[Tony gold]

Yeh that's about right bought one from audi last year

 

[sportstractor]

Yeah they are about that. But they come primed not painted, atleast the one I bought wasn't.

 

[Sean_S3]

If your happy to use eBay email someone who is breaking an S3 as i was offered a full set for £50 , which is much cheaper than at the main dealer. If they are in good used condition the colour will probably not be far off from your original ones.

Cheers.

 

[Jordan1.8t]

I've got the s3 door fins for sale if your interested drop me a pm, we can sort something out?

There in high build primer atm

Jordan

 

[northern monkey]

I had the same issue.

First thing I'd point out is. Make sure you use a magnetic screwdriver to remove the screws which hold strip on from the inside. 3 screw are hidden with a rubber plug. If you loose the screw you'll have a nightmare to get it back. m4 machine screw is what you need to replace. I left the old screw in the door channel.

I then bought Sikaflex 521 which is used to bond body kits to cars etc. I then glued the nylon runner back into the rubber door strip using some J clamps from B&Q. Cheapest fix I reckon.

Let me know if you need more info?

 

[mattyboy199]

I ve already had it apart & the nylon runner is fine is just being out of the fin casue of the rusted reinforcement rod. I dont really wanna bond anything cause that means it aint coming off, i have read that these areas are prone to rust (the doors).

 

[northern monkey]

No. You got me wrong. You don't bond it to the door. You bond the nylon runner back to the trim piece. Effectively removing the need for the reinforcement rod as the 2 bit are bonded together.

 

[mattyboy199]

oh i see will need to take a closer look at them see how easy it is to get them rods out.

 

[mattyboy199]

does anyone have part numbers for this ?

 

[The Doctor]

No. You got me wrong. You don't bond it to the door. You bond the nylon runner back to the trim piece. Effectively removing the need for the reinforcement rod as the 2 bit are bonded together.

Got any pics? If I understand you right, what you're saying it to take the fin off the door, remove the nylon runner and metal reinforcing rod, and then bond the nylon runner back into the plastic trim again. Once done, screw it back onto the door. Right?

 

[jojo]

Got any pics? If I understand you right, what you're saying it to take the fin off the door, remove the nylon runner and metal reinforcing rod, and then bond the nylon runner back into the plastic trim again. Once done, screw it back onto the door. Right?

Don't know what metal reinforcing rod you are talking about, but in the pics below is a knackered and a brand spanking new side skirt/lower door fin. I guess it's possible to to remove the nylon runner with the brass inset bolts intact complete, then pull the rubber part out and refit the nylon runner with silicon as the filler/substitute for the rubber part. I highly recommend you go back to Audi and purchase the correct screws before refitting. They are 18p each, and you need 4 per side. The reason being, the original bolts - on my car at least - have iron content, and will rust away, aswell as being magnetic to some screwdrivers. The new screws I got are galvanized and don't magnetize, so you need a stead hand to feed them through the holes when refitting.

As for dropping the screws dropping into the door channel, just remove the doorcard(5 minute job once you know how), and you can get to them with a pair of long nose pliers.

 

[mattyboy199]

the reason it has turned that colour is becuase of the steel reinforcing rod behind the nylon runner rusting over time. These cars are atleast 7 years old now (not suprising really)

 

[northern monkey]

Got any pics? If I understand you right, what you're saying it to take the fin off the door, remove the nylon runner and metal reinforcing rod, and then bond the nylon runner back into the plastic trim again. Once done, screw it back onto the door. Right?

Yip. That's correct. Sorry I was a little vague.

 

[northern monkey]

Don't know what metal reinforcing rod you are talking about, but in the pics below is a knackered and a brand spanking new side skirt/lower door fin. I guess it's possible to to remove the nylon runner with the brass inset bolts intact complete, then pull the rubber part out and refit the nylon runner with silicon as the filler/substitute for the rubber part. I highly recommend you go back to Audi and purchase the correct screws before refitting. They are 18p each, and you need 4 per side. The reason being, the original bolts - on my car at least - have iron content, and will rust away, aswell as being magnetic to some screwdrivers. The new screws I got are galvanized and don't magnetize, so you need a stead hand to feed them through the holes when refitting.

As for dropping the screws dropping into the door channel, just remove the doorcard(5 minute job once you know how), and you can get to them with a pair of long nose pliers.

Can you explain the quick 5 minute job to get the door card off for me? Sorry for being dense!

 

[jojo]

Can you explain the quick 5 minute job to get the door card off for me? Sorry for being dense!

2 screws on top of the door car at either end, one screw in the door handle, the bit where your fingers go through when you grab it. Remove the door handle trim, it's the part where your fingers go through again, and remove two more larger screws once that part of the trim is off. Now the whole door card pulls upwards and straight off! There is wires and connectors between the actual door and the door card, but you don't need to disturb these to get to the door channels unless you have fat hands.

 

[northern monkey]

Just wanted to thank jojo for the door card removal tips. You saved me time and an ear bending from the wife. I would've been there hours trying to find the last 2 screws under the handle trim piece. And I now have the correct screws and there isn't a rattling screw coming from inside the door. So good all round.

G

 

[a31.6sport]

Just wanted to thank jojo for the door card removal tips. You saved me time and an ear bending from the wife. I would've been there hours trying to find the last 2 screws under the handle trim piece. And I now have the correct screws and there isn't a rattling screw coming from inside the door. So good all round.G

Can someone tell me how to remove the small strip on the bottom of the wing mine is a sport model there is only half the rubber there showing hole whee the bolt goes but what else is keeping it on Thanks in advance