AUII fairmont boot lid garnish problem

[TUF-640]

Hey guys, got a bit of a problem here (and im pretty damn upset about it) my boots leaking water through the latch that connects to the metal rod in the body. Ford told me to check the number plate screws and the chrome garnish just incase the bolts had come loose. Look off the number plate and put it back on. Pulled away the carpet on the boot lid so i could access the 4 bolt screw things behind it and began to tighten them up, starting from the left one and working my way to the right. Tightened them up like crazy and then got to the last one where i started to tighten it and with hardly any force and only a few turns it has some how split the plastic that holds the screw head thing into the garnish (from what i could see it appears to be split). So now the garnish is sitting loose on the right hand side with a fairly large gap while everything else is still good towards the left. Now the problem is do i have to go out and buy a whole new garnish or would there be a way i can fix all of this up? Im almost in tears about this lol its ****ing me off that much. If i get the time im thinking about taking the whole thing off tomorrow and seeing how bad the damage is if it is that badly damaged. So basically all i want to know is can this be fixed or do i have to fork out a million dollars to get a new garnish? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Anthony.

[diatribal08]

Sikaflex

[TUF-640]

Originally Posted by diatribal08

Sikaflex

and what does that do exactly?

[TUF-640]

well after attacking it for the past hour in the dark with torches i took off the whole garnish (was easy than i thought it would be) but now turns out the screw the broke the plastic doesnt wanna come out as some how the tread appears to be slightly stripped. Sometimes it'll feel like its coming off but its just spins in the same spot, got no idea how im going to get this stupid thing out as its in such an awkward position too. Once i do get it out (if i do more like it) then ill see if i can some how attach it back into the garnish and tighten it all back up again

[diatribal08]

Originally Posted by TUF-640

and what does that do exactly?

Sikaflex its the rubberised adhesive stuff its great and waterproof, used it for heaps from sealing around the spoiler bolts on my old Fairmont to stopping the dash on my VTX rattling...

[GK]

Take a few pics so we can have a decent lookie at what the problem is.

GK

[JC]

The captive bolt is spinning because the plastic is broken. Undo the others, then just pull the garnish off (the plastic is already broken), then use some 2 part epoxy, or similar to hold the captive bolt in place, or maybe use something like a soldering iron or small butane torch to melt the plastic back around the bolt.

[TUF-640]

thanks for the help guys, got up early yesterday and gave it another go. Took off the garnish and had to face the screw problem, the nut would just spin in the same spot. With an extra set of hands from dad we managed to get the screw out but it was totally destroyed so just went to the wreckers and got a whole new garnish for $66. You could say its a bit of a waste of money but i wasnt in the mood to try make something fit into the original one but im happy now its all fixed up

the thread can be closed now i guess
Thanks again

[GK]

Glad you got it sorted!

GK

[TUF-640]

only problem is now i have to get the rust fixed up under the water well things :( going to cost me a fortune at the panel beaters. And the fuel economy is still all over the place, 17.5 i had it up to yesterday and the o2 sensor is still working as it should nor is the gasket leaking so im going to get the car checked out by a relative whos a mechanic

[GK]

Originally Posted by TUF-640

only problem is now i have to get the rust fixed up under the water well things :( going to cost me a fortune at the panel beaters. And the fuel economy is still all over the place, 17.5 i had it up to yesterday and the o2 sensor is still working as it should nor is the gasket leaking so im going to get the car checked out by a relative whos a mechanic

Make sure he checks the fuel regulator then.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

GK

[TUF-640]

Originally Posted by GK

Make sure he checks the fuel regulator then.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

GK

will do, i'll let you know how it goes if i ever do get it fixed up haha

[HLC]

I was gonna vote for sikaflex too haha

what sort of driving do you do but??? My economy can range from 15/16 L/100 to as low as 13.6 the other day. That's doing a lot of freeway driving where upper end of the scale is usually where I e just been thrashing it down to the shops an back all week. Fuel quality is a big factor in this too. I uually only put 95 in now. The 91 and e10 isgarbage.

[GasoLane]

Originally Posted by diatribal08

Sikaflex its the rubberised adhesive stuff its great and waterproof, used it for heaps from sealing around the spoiler bolts on my old Fairmont to stopping the dash on my VTX rattling...

Sounds like this stuff is similar to Silastic..... Cable ties in a tube ?

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by GasOLane

Sounds like this stuff is similar to Silastic..... Cable ties in a tube ?

Correct

[TUF-640]

Originally Posted by HLC

I was gonna vote for sikaflex too haha

what sort of driving do you do but??? My economy can range from 15/16 L/100 to as low as 13.6 the other day. That's doing a lot of freeway driving where upper end of the scale is usually where I e just been thrashing it down to the shops an back all week. Fuel quality is a big factor in this too. I uually only put 95 in now. The 91 and e10 isgarbage.

Hmmm well yes its all town driving, im lucky to go on the highway once in a couple of months. use to run 91 but ive put 2 tanks of 95 vortex in it and to be honest i havent noticed the difference. Just filled up about half an hour ago haha went with the 95 coz its only 9 cents a litre more than 91. Range was on 54 before and now its on 385km when i started it back up, sometimes it goes to 420+ but its usually around 380. So ive got no idea what its problem is, one bloke in melbourne was telling me he got 12s around town and 7 on the highway but he did have extractors, highly doubt they would improve it by 4L

[Mr Hardware]

Originally Posted by TUF-640

one bloke in melbourne was telling me he got 12s around town and 7 on the highway

i highly doubt it.
when i did pure city driving, i'd average about 16L/100klms
grandpa spec au here does about 20L/100klms on a good week, but he carries about 7.25 tonne of stereo and subs with him at all times

[TUF-640]

haha fair enough.

well a bloke from the panel beating shop told me our ford dealer here tends to be a bit dodgey, sometimes not even doing work that you have been charged for. With that said the spark plugs were said to be replaced at the 150,000km service about a month ago with iridiums - charged me $152.40 in parts but i really haven't noticed a difference, i'll have to get them checked out as the guy at ford said 2 were destroyed but it wouldn't surprise me if they only replaced those 2 and still charged me for 6. Also had the LHR lower control arm bushes 'replaced' about 2 weeks ago and the thing squeaks even more than it use to going up driveways and the like. I do remember when i went in to find out the price one guy said its about $130 a side (as both sides needed to be replaced so it wasnt thrown off balance - or so they said) so assuming $260 later it would be all sweet. Im thinking they never touched anything really and i was charged $225 with the paper work only showing LHR bush replacement.
Wouldn't have a clue what to do about it now if i have any rights to go down there a flip it at them - but i dont have any real proof that this work was not completed. Its sort of just in my head that the car doesn't feel any better. I'll get my uncle whos a mechanic to check everything out if he has the time and if i get around to giving him a ring :P