S3 Door blade removal woes

[mcpickering]

Hi guys, i did put this in the existing Door blade thread, but have had no response (because it is on the second page and most people wont read that far) so here goes:

I had a nightmare with this yesterday

my drivers side blade was pretty much hanging off, so i thought i'd give it a go taking it off.
straight from the off, i WD40'd all of the screws in hope it would help, only one screw actually came out, the other three were stuck (it seems that someone had attempted this before as well, 2 of the screw in points on the blade had rounded off and come away from the white plastic bit in the blade itself and there was a random long screw going through the door straight into the blade, which was also too long and poking through the outside of the blade). i eventually managed to get the blade off the door but the white plastic bit was in pieces and not even attached to the door blade

i was then left with the prospect of somehow removing the screws from the door as they are just hanging loosely, i managed to eventually get 2 of them off, but i'm now left with one screw still in situ and some duct taped holes to stop water ingress.

i don't really know what to do

i guess it's a case of buying a new blade (the passengers side is almost as bad so i may as well get both) i take it you can't buy a replacement white plastic insert?

James

 

[mcpickering]

any help/thoughts guys?

 

[jojo]

If the white nylon bit is broken up, then it's new door blade time! Or you could bond it on with Sikaflex or similar?

 

[mcpickering]

yeah, this is as i feared.

I thought about bonding the white bit back on, but the inbuilt screw threads (on the white bit) have come out due to them terning in the plastic, so i wouldn't be able to secure it anyway.

i think second hand is the way forward then. £140+ per side is just ridiculous.

 

[s3mad_dude]

My screws were seized too. In the end the stuck bolt had to be drilled out! I coughed up for a new door blade. It was 140 and then required painting (further £100). I had the rear blade painted too. It's expensive overall but I found that the other door blades were suffering the same problem at this age and I got fed up looking!

 

[mcpickering]

hmm, i'm definitely not up for that. I hate the ****** things, i think they are completely unnecessary and look pretty poopty. if i could run it without, i would.

so the option of spending £250 ish is just mental

what colour do they come in as standard? i'd even be tempted to paint them all body coloured.

cheers for the help guys.

 

[kwistof]

yeah, this is as i feared.

I thought about bonding the white bit back on, but the inbuilt screw threads (on the white bit) have come out due to them terning in the plastic, so i wouldn't be able to secure it anyway.

i think second hand is the way forward then. £140+ per side is just ridiculous.

Yeah second had is defo the way forward mate unless you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket...people are always breaking S3's either on here or ebay...

Btw I had exactly the same problem when I changed my drivers side door blade.....a 15 minute job turned into a 2 hour job for just one side as the screws were just spinning.....I ended up ripping the old door blade off and white strip so I had better access. Got my dad to hold the screw in place to stop it spinning with some pliers whilst I drilled through it.

 

[mcpickering]

Yeah second had is defo the way forward mate unless you have some cash burning a hole in your pocket...people are always breaking S3's either on here or ebay...

Btw I had exactly the same problem when I changed my drivers side door blade.....a 15 minute job turned into a 2 hour job for just one side as the screws were just spinning.....I ended up ripping the old door blade off and white strip so I had better access. Got my dad to hold the screw in place to stop it spinning with some pliers whilst I drilled through it.

Yeah, guess i need to keep my eye out then

It was so frustrating, mine was completely funked so i though yep, 15 minutes, take it off, clean it out, sorted. but hell no, problems everywhere and i had no-one to help with it, so i had to get a coping saw out to take one off, there is still one stuck in there though.

when you say drill the screw out, how do you mean, how does this work? never really understood this.

cheers.

James

 

[kwistof]

Yeah I kept my eye out for quiet a while mate.....just keep checking on here and ebay as there have been a lot of S3's that are have been broken recently...

Don't worry mine was well and truly fecked as well....the screws were like rust and the heads were none existant!
Yeah I did try and take a coping saw to them originally but I just couldnt get the angle to take the head off and not damage the paint work- so that was a no no.....

To get the screws out of mine..... using a power drill I put a drill piece that was slightly smaller than the screw head and got my dad to hold the other side with pliers (that had the square bit on that was in the white strip). I then drilled through it so the screw head was destroyed and was small enough to pull out.....remember - it will be very very hot! Hence why I got my dad to hold the other end with pliers- otherwise it could have fallen down on the bottom part of the door and damaged the paint.

 

[sportquattro]

Given the shocking price of new blades; a second hand is best bet, or as some have suggested Sikaflex the origional blades to the door, added benefit is that it should be impossible for water ingress to rot in future. As an aside if your blades are tatty or new and need painting, consider a vinyl wrap on them, carbon look would be my choice. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[mcpickering]

Hopefully found some Door blades, just waiting to see if they can be taken off the car without destroying them like mine did.

i'm thinking about maybe doing a wrap on them, would carbon look any good on a black car? then i think i will put some clear silicone around the edges when i re-attach them

 

[s3clarke]

i just screwed a longer screw into my door blade were it was sticking out abit, solved the problem and a lot of cash saved!

 

[mcpickering]

don't think that will work with mine because the white strip is knackered so wont allow the blade to slide onto the door, so it would just be held by the screws and wouldn't be very secure IMO. i guess i may be able to try and bond the pieces back in and give it a go....

 

[sportquattro]

Hopefully found some Door blades, just waiting to see if they can be taken off the car without destroying them like mine did.

i'm thinking about maybe doing a wrap on them, would carbon look any good on a black car? then i think i will put some clear silicone around the edges when i re-attach them

Yes I think carbon door blades would look great on a black car