1961 chrome door post

[Ray C.]

I am removing the chrome doorpost on my 61. The post is held in place by one bolt and two Philips screws on the inside of the door. The post would not come out. My service guide shows another bolt inserted from the front of the door into the chrome post. This bolt was covered by what seemed to be bonding adhesive and could not be viewed. Was the application of this adhesive or filler a factory application or something done in a prior restoration? Both doors are the same.

Thank for all the help!
Ray

[John H.]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

Ray -

It was done at the plant - pop out the hardened smear of 'glass and you'll have access to the bolt.

[Dennis C.]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

Ray - That is factory. Usually like a bonding compound, need to grind out to
remove post. Some body shops would replace it with caulking compound.

[Ray C.]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

Thanks!!

Door post is off!

Thanks for all your help!!
Ray

[Ed Jennings]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

I usually fill the hole with some non hardening sealer, in case I want to remove the posts again for any reason. The weatherstrip pretty much covers theole anyway.

[Dennis C.]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

I do believe the factory may have touched up this area with a little body color, which you can duplicate with a 50 cent brush and a little paint. And yes, the weatherstrip covers most, but not all, of this peculiar assembly process.

[John M.]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

Ray,
The factory filled the hole within 1/4" of the top with sealing putty and then skimmed it over with bonding adhesive. Do the next guy that has to take the post off a favor by repeating this process. You can not imagine how difficult it is to remove a plug which is made of solid bonding adhesive! The factory did touch up the plug after installing it, and I usually just use an airbrush to paint the plug.

Regards, John McGraw

[Ray C.]

Re: 1961 chrome door post

Thanks for all the advice! The front door posthole was filled with dum-dum like putty to with in 1/4 to 1/2 in. of the edge. I used a Dremel tool to grind out the filler and removed the bolt. I will try to duplicate the GM process during reassembly.

As usual, high quality information!

Thanks Ray