[ve3wireless]

Has anyone reading this ever come up with a sure-fire "fix" to the annoying problem of door pad armrests being pulled out of their anchored / secured position...?

The other day I had to remove my driver's side door pad to remedy a door lock issue, & sure enough, with everything re-installed at the end of it all, the first tug on the armrest handle to close the door resulted in the first two screws popping out!

It appears that the holes in the door frame that "anchor"(!) these screws have become enlarged over the past 29 years of misc. on / off servicing...

Is the best fix simply to use larger diameter screws...?

I was thinking maybe a good repair might be if I could somehow seat a "J"-clip anchor nut in the frame --- something like you see being used to secure the front shock absorbers to the lower control arms, only on a smaller scale...

Just a thought --- I am certainly open to helpful (as in "working"!) suggestions, with thanks in advance...

-Eddy

[ve3wireless]

Well, I paid a visit over to the local Farmer's Co-op store here, with a sample armrest screw in hand...

I managed to find one that had roughly the same head diameter, but a thicker threaded portion...also one along similar lines but shorter in length, to facilitate installation of the front portion of the arm rest.

The operation was a complete success, I'm happy to say...only issue now will be remembering the fact that two of the three screws have Robinson recesses, & one is a Phillips!

What a crazy design the Pontiac boys inflicted upon us all, attempting to slam shut those king kong sized doors with the aid of but three self-stapping screws. I'm just glad I don't have power windows, or power door locks --- the doors are heavy enough "as is". I just hope this latest fix will last awhile...

-Eddy

[1980 TA]

My doors had been abused so bad and larger screws already used that I had to use 1/4 inch j nuts as you suggested. I was able to find allen headed bolts the right length and have been running this way for 6 plus years now. The arm rests are on the doors tight with no flex. I tried this with the OER pads and it will not work due to some slight differences in how the arms are made.

[Warren Seale]

Originally Posted by ve3wireless

What a crazy design the Pontiac boys inflicted upon us all, attempting to slam shut those king kong sized doors with the aid of but three self-stapping screws. I'm just glad I don't have power windows, or power door locks --- the doors are heavy enough "as is". I just hope this latest fix will last awhile...

-Eddy

That isn't the only problem. The grab handles installed at the factory didn't have any rigid reinforcement where you grab the handle. It was just a soft flexible vinyl material. The screw at the top of the grab handle had a small rigid piece where the screw goes through. This always cracked or pulled out of the soft vinyl surrounding it. It was a garbage design. The good news is that if you bought a replacment GM handle, they fixed it by making the entire handle reinforced with rigid plastic. Thank you GM!

Warren

[SctH]

I have put larger more coarse screws in mine, and it has held pretty well. I'm sure that sometime in the future I will have to do it again though.

[jdeeere]

Mine did the same thing. I fired up the mig welder, filled the holes, and re-drilled them to the stock size....Works perfect with the stock screws!

[rad400]

Are the arm rest from the different catalogs any good and both sides of mine are broken
I have the JC Whitney handle job, this piece sucks a$$. Rescrewing won't help.

[MARINA 66]

Once the arm rest has pulled through at the front attachment point, can the arm rest be repaired, and will it hold? I have a '79 T/A and both have had the vinyl pull from the attachment point. The screws in the door are fine. Is there a good fix?

[Warren Seale]

Originally Posted by MARINA 66

Once the arm rest has pulled through at the front attachment point, can the arm rest be repaired, and will it hold? I have a '79 T/A and both have had the vinyl pull from the attachment point. The screws in the door are fine. Is there a good fix?

If the hard plastic plug pulled out of the soft vinyl, I would recommend throwing it away. If you epoxy it back it will eventually crack and fall apart. Just get new ones. They are available in all colors from GM or aftermarket. The new ones won't break like this since the rigid plastic now runs all the way through the hand grab area (at least in the GM ones, I don't know about the repros).

Warren

[MARINA 66]

Do you think I can order the arm rests right from the Pontiac dealer? I have a Silver Anniversary '79. I didn't see repro's in that color.

[rad400]

marina66 you can have the arm rest dyed to match the interior.

[Grand73Am]

There's also a NAPA part that is for reinforcing the hole in the front of the handle pull, so it doesn't pull out of the screw. Here's the part number: 665-1075 . They are sold one per pack, so you have to order 2 packs. I bought them online at the NAPA website.

Even though I have some new GM armrests, I will be installing these so they'll never pull off the front screws.

[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by Warren Seale

If the hard plastic plug pulled out of the soft vinyl, I would recommend throwing it away. If you epoxy it back it will eventually crack and fall apart. Just get new ones. They are available in all colors from GM or aftermarket. The new ones won't break like this since the rigid plastic now runs all the way through the hand grab area (at least in the GM ones, I don't know about the repros).

Warren

Just a note about color availability. I looked up the red armrests GM part numbers and checked with GM parts direct and they don't have any more in red. But, like you said, you can probably get most colors in reproduction armrests. I was looking for GM, since I read somewhere that the repros don't have the reinforcement in the pull handle, so aren't as good, but have no personal knowledge either.

[MARINA 66]

I just got GM replacements from Ames. They appear to be reinforced. Black only, so I'll have them dyed. Thanks to Grand73AM. I'll look at those NAPA parts.