My 96 car has no drivers side door stay on it. I've been harvesting parts off a 97 xj6 in the wrecking yard including this door stay in the images above. This one is a passenger door stay, the drivers side door wouldn't come out but I can go back with a sawzall to release it.

Question: are the left and right side door stays the same or not? I tried fitting this today and it wasn't happy so I'm suspecting it's not going to work. The PO went a bit caveman for some reason in the area where the stay used to be so some restoration of the door is needed but i don't think that is the reason this isn't working?

Thanks

 

That is odd, if you look at the official Jaguar parts diagram, the door stays (or "checkarms" as they call it) seem to differ from front to back but not side to side.
https://parts.jaguarlandroverclassic.../brand/jaguar/

 

I went through the same thing as you when my check arm destroyed my driver's door. The left/right checkarms are the same. They are just oriented differently so that they mirror each other

 

Can anyone help me out with what is going on with this drivers side door stay?

I made a metal plate to recreate the two bolt holes in the torn up interior of the door. (photo taken inside door)

I straightened out the lower metal with a slide hammer to flatten it.

I decided to epoxy in the plate I made that fits over this mess - if I welded it in and it didn't work it would have been really hard to get it out again.



As you can see in the video at top of this post the stay is tearing out the plate except where the top bolt is holding it - and the door won't close!

I'm assuming the stay is in the right way around based on pictures in the workshop manual.

I can put some small bolts and nuts through drilled holes as a next step to anchor the plate instead of welding but I'm baffled why this is tearing up...

Anyone got any advice on this? thanks

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...art-how-36075/

 

Try a smaller gauge (heavier) plate. To my eyes it looks like there isn't enough metal to compress the spring as the door closes ...

 

The penny has dropped I need to have the plate on the other side so it is being pushed against instead of being stressed and ripped off inside as the door closes. There was several posts on the X308 forum about putting washers/plates on the body side of the door, I'll try that next ...The plate I made bolted up fine.

 

Ah yes, that would help. I also placed large fender washers on the back side (the front was a plate I made...but I imagine using only fender washers on both sides would work too)

 

OK I got it done - probably spent 12 hours on this after various unsuccessful, fiddly efforts .

From the top - passenger side door stay from wrecking yard. (They are interchangeable, get a less used passenger side if from salvage yard)

Get the damaged sheet metal the door stay is bolted to with two bolts as straight and flattened out as possible. I used a slide hammer and then these two thick pieces of scrap metal and a beefy bolt (smaller piece goes into oval hole in door nearest body):



Put these either side of the damaged area, inset bolt and nut and tighten to crush and flatten out what's left of the sheet metal of the door where the door stay used to be bolted in. Use a breaker bar on the nut and bolt to put a lot of pressure on the sheet metal to flatten it out.

Now make a cardboard template of the maximum size rectangular 'plate' you can insert between the two layers of sheet metal nearest the body through the oval hole.

Then replicate this with 16 or 18 gauge sheet metal. (don't go any thicker as the bolts are too shallow to go through three layers of thicker metal).

Make a similar plate for the inside of the door, which isn't constrained by holes to insert etc so can be bigger.



Make sure the two pieces are flat in a vice. They don't have to be pretty but worth painting for rust prevention

Using a mirror on a stick, pack the entire area below the door stay area in the door with expanded polystyrene, rags or similar to stop the nuts falling into the door.

Place the bigger plate on the door stay, hold the other smaller plate in place inside the door and insert door stay through holes, feel for thread of the two captive bolts.

Thread two nyloc nuts on the door stay (I used harborfreight ones, they fit, the Jag bolts are fiddly and can work loose)

Tighten enough to allow for adjustment. Put door stay shaft through vertical body bracket, insert bolt and thread its nut on.

Carefully open and close door a few times, watch door stay work. Tighten up nyloc bolts. Watch in horror at the door sheet metal flexing and moving inside as Jag didn't make it thick enough/didn't put any curves or bead rolls in to strengthen.

Grease Door stay.

Done

Put door card back on etc

//The fender washer method will work but be aware they can shift as the door sheet metal degrades, tears and moves around. Plates are better.