Lesson for all....SLOW DOWN

Well today I screwed up, nothing majorly important but definitely a reminder to SLOW DOWN. I was assembling the pieces onto the driver door skin. I went to mount the mirror and the two mount screw holes I couldnt slide the screws through. Thinking the primer and paint had slightly covered part of the hole I took a drill to them so the screws passed through cleanly.....well idiot the screw THREADS into the door skin. So now I'll have to nut and bolt the mirror on, while not 100% original in design, I can still mount the mirror with proper alignment, but not the right hardware.

I should had looked closer at how it all fit back together, instead of assuming the screws would go through the door into the mirror, they go through the mirror into the door. Its been two years since I took it apart and while I know what it looks like when Im done I need to slow down while doing these steps to recall how it fits

My trick is to keep a roll of masking tape with me and tape the screws back to the accessory when it's removed. When it's time to put it back on, the correct hardware is always there. When you do that you'll also be able to tell a self tapping screw from a sheet metal screw from a machine screw so you'll have an idea how it goes back together.

Ed

I had all the hardware in a bag attached to the mirror, I just had a brain dead idiot moment. Just glad it was the door mirror and nothing something important or expensive

Helicoil!

its the door skin, so just sheetmetal. We'll use machine screws and nuts to secure the mirror base and once its all tight we will epoxy the nuts in place.

A small bolt / nut combo with a good sized washer behind it will probably be stronger than a sheet metal screw anyway. I know that I was really surprised to find no backing on the door skin when I pulled my mirrors off.

Ed

Well at least you had the door skin off when you did it. Would have been more of a pain if you decided to drill after you installed it. Luckily the screws are hidden so no harm no foul.