[200q20v] inside door release tab broken, repair tips?

[Phil Rose]

>Trying to install new speakers in the doors this
>weekend.  Driver door came off smoothly but I broke
>the tab on the passenger side that secures the trim
>for the inside door release.
>
>The broken tab is nowhere to be found but I did find a
>piece of tape where the tab should have been
>indicating the tab may have been lost prior to my
>intrusion.
>
>Looks like I need to find a piece of plastic to epoxy
>into place.  Any BTDT on the list?

Ahhhh, many have trod this too well-worn path. Fortunately I did 
locate the broken-off piece, so my main concern was to find a good 
strong adhesive that worked well with the plastic. My advice is to 
search carefully inside the door to find the missing piece. Here's 
what I posted last year on the subject:

At 12:41 PM -0400 10/13/00, Phil Rose wrote:
[snip]
>   I discovered that this screw had
>pushed against the plastic tab holding the screw-anchor (an integral part
>of the door panel) and had broken the tab off!
>
>So, now the door lever release works OK, but since there's no no place  to
>secure it (using that screw), the entire lever housing will easily slide
>forward and pop out of the door panel.   :-(  Am I the only fool who's done
>this? IF not, have any of you _others_  come up with a way to keep this
>assembly in place? I have retrieved the broken anchor tab and am
>considering the possibility of using an epoxy putty to re-attach it. Other
>ideas welcome.

Following Al Powell's advice, I reattached that broken-off piece using
"Devcon Plastic Welder". This adhesive is a scarce item around here, but
was available in Wal-Mart. It is a two-part modified epoxy; it sets up very
quickly (within a few minutes) and seems to have sufficient strength. I
don't know the plastic type (ABS?) that's used for the door trim panel, but
the "Plastic Welder" seems to form a very good bond with it.

Phil R.
-- 

Phil Rose
Rochester, NY
mailto:pjrose at frontiernet.net