Question on Plus 2 door catch repair & door colour

[stugilmour]

The passenger door catch has broken at the fibreglass mounting holes. The catch mechanism appears to work OK still, it is just floating around due to the top tab with the mounting hole breaking off. I haven't checked out the other holes yet, but expect they are broken as well. Would fibreglass mat be the way to go about repairing this area? Would some sort of aluminum patch riveted in place be better? Anyone done a similar repair?

Seeing RichP's Zetec Plus 2 in another thread the other day brought up another question. Is it stock to have black colour on the inside edge of the fibreglass as shown in the picture below? I think he has black on the lower edge of the inside of the door as well. On my car you can see the red body colour along the lower edge when the door is shut. Painted black it might look better, but I don't recall this as a stock treatment? Any thoughts on whether you like it or not?

Any thoughts & help appreciated.

[alan.barker]

hi for me the black paint in the photo is as original. The same as my +2 and my Sprint
Alan B

[Gordon Sauer]

Seems better with body color and surely not original in offsetting color; although most likely not original as well is balck colored strip where screws are for internal metal sill--just looks more finished as black whereas black on door seems like a short cut. Gordon Sauer

[stugilmour]

Thanks for the replies gents. Sounds like one vote for original & one vote for a mod.

I think I figured out a fix for the latch. I fashioned an odd shaped aluminum backing plate for inside the door and nipped things up and looks like it will work. Will need to consider longer screws to mount tightly to the nyloc's. Once I get the catch located & adjusted I may pin the backing plate in place with drillable rivets. Nice thing is the repair does not show, and looks like I won't have to paint the area anyway.