63 Door hinge fastener

[Steve D.]

Inside each door there are two places where the door is attached to the hinges. The fasteners for the hinges are metal plates with 6 holes threaded in them to match the hole pattern on the hinges. On one of the doors the threads in 2 holes on the upper plate need to be re-tapped. They are the front-most holes, and I am unable to get a tap or chaser aligned properly to do the job. The question: is there a way to remove the plate so that I can dress the threads on the workbench? The wing-vent apparatus is removed, and I can reach the plate with my hand, but I can't see the plate and I don't know how it is held in place.

Steve

[Joe C.]

Re: 63 Door hinge fastener

Steve'

They're "cage nuts". Each square nut is held in place by a sheetmetal "cage", which is spot welded to the inner door frame. I suggest installing helicoils in the stripped nuts..........a lot easier than getting at them, which requires separating the door skin from the frame. Another option is using the next larger tap drill, and re-tapping to the next size.
Use the helicoils.

Joe