Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Rant: Dealing with half-assed fixes on a project car

Removed front fender on my 1995 Suzuki Sidekick

Why is the fender off of the "Teal Terror" (project '95 Suzuki Sidekick)? Because ever since I got the vehicle, the driver's side door hasn't been right, and there's only one way to get at the hinges. When I purchased the Teal Terror, I noticed the driver's side door hinge was busted. At some point in its life, the door had been hyper-extended open, and it ripped a hole in the door jamb, bent the door slightly, and messed up the fender. Now, at 60+ MPH, the door generates a lot of wind noise. Sometimes it moves around and makes a flapping noise at about 70 MPH. Just recently I completely removed the hinge, which was not even bolted on anymore, and was rattling. One of many things I've done to tighten the rig up and remove some of the squeaking/rattling/clanging/banging noises associated with a vehicle that had been semi-neglected by previous owners.

In an attempt to figure out what's really going on with the door, I decided to take matters into my own hands and took the fender off. Several bolts and screws later, the front fender was off. And what did I find? This bit of supreme engineering:

A half-assed fix to a bent door.

If you hadn't guessed, the aluminum brackets and self-tapping sheetmetal screws are not standard-issue Suzuki hardware. Only those two painted 14mm bolts should be there.

It turns out, when the door was bent backwards, the hinge pulled up part of the truck's frame, and now the door sticks out a bit, which likely catches a lot of air at freeway speeds. In attempt to brace the hinge, someone constructed this patch of aluminum bracing and affixed it with the aforementioned sheetmetal screws. Brilliant. I suppose it's better than the door falling off, which it wouldn't do anyway.

I decided to remove the homemade bracing and see what was really going on here. Sure enough, the metal under the original hinge is pulled up. To get it fixed right, the door will need to be removed, and new metal under the hinges will probably have to be welded in—something I am not able to do myself. I did adjust the door so it closes a bit better, but I'm guessing the noise and flapping will still remain until a proper fix is performed. I reinstalled the bracing just to to be on the safe side. Needless to say, there is some up-and-down play in the door, with or without the bracing.

At least I know what's going on now; however, I'm sure it'll cost a pretty penny to have it fixed correctly. This band-aid of a fix has probably lead to some rusting under the hinge—in fact I know it has.

It's amazing how some half-assed fixes can lead to more issues. Another example was the battery tray on this little 4x4. There was a pinhole leak in the washer line for the front windshield. Fluid had been weeping out, likely for years, and rusting the battery tray. I spent a whopping $1.45 at NAPA to get some new hose and fixed it.That wasn't so hard, was it? But people don't seem to care ...

Also, the rear tailgate rattled like crazy when I first got the Teal Terror. Why? A very loose latch mechanism. The fix? Tighten down the screws holding it in. Fixed in 30 seconds ... 

And finally my favorite. Oh, your crank windows are broken? Well, don't fix 'em—just prop the glass up from the bottom with sticks of kindling. So what if the windows don't work, right? Gah! What the hell is wrong with people?

It's always sad to see decent vehicles with half-assed fixes done to them. Spend a bit of time, effort, and maybe some cash and do it right the first time. I know some things cost money to fix, but that's part of owning a car. No car should have windows held up by bits of firewood. No car ...

/rant

5 comments:

rubicon4wheeler said...

Wow. It's amazing that someone would go to all that effort to remove the fender, only to "repair" it with that kind of half-assed engineering.

Andy Lilienthal said...

Very good point, sir. I'm guessing with the area under the hinge rusting and also now out of alignment, it'll take a body guy to fix it the right way.

housie said...

Don't you knock kindling! It's gotten me outta more than a couple jams! Makes a top-notch engine coolant in a pinch, too.

Ducati Scotty said...

Dude, that's so ghetto.

Andy Lilienthal said...

Indeed, Scotty. There is much ghetto to be had in this fix.