Door Striker broken out

[sinkrun]

My door striker had been loose from broken welds and I just kept ignoring it well now its MIA. It fell down in the hole the metal is cracked around it as shown. If I take the plastic panel off inside can I get at to pound the area flat again and recover the section that fell out? Should I attempt to weld the old one back in or is the metal to far gone and require a section out of a Cherokee. I bought a mig with gas but have not used it yet and need to learn how but not sure if I should I try with this or should I have a shop do it as I know it has to line up right. Anyone have any advice?

 

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[jimoshel]

Don't ever use your original iron to practice welding on. That's what scrap is for. Get a old hood, door panel. fender etc the same thickness as the door jamb and practice on it. What I would do is re enforce the patch. Cut a piece of metal, same gauge as the jamb, about 1/2 to 1inch bigger than the hole. Weld it onto the back of the striker plate. Get the plate into position and tack a couple welds to hold it. If you have or can access a spot welder use it. if not then drill a half dozen holes around the perimeter of the original hole. Hold the backing plate tight against the jamb and weld it thru the holes you drilled. Finish welding the original piece. The interior can be accessed by removing the plastic liner. Just be careful you don't break it. It's old plastic and getting brittle. Remove the edging from around the door so the weld heat won't warp it.

[Eagle]

Before you fire up the welder, take however much time you need to figure out just how that strike works. It is NOT fixed in place. There's a weld nut on a backer plate of some sort, and the strike itself is basically a threaded stud that screws into the weld nut. It HAS to be that way, so the strike can be adjusted.

 

I would suggest that you remove the trim panels on BOTH sides, so you can inspect the good side to see how it all goes together.