1958 door small access plate

[Howard H.]

Is the small access door plate unique to 58? The door has 4 mounting holes for the plate and the original access plate I have has only 2 holes and they are in a different position than the holes on the door. The reproduction I see being sold look like what I have. Any help or pics would be appreciated.

[Richard M.]

Re: 1958 door small access plate

Howard, I suspect the 2 original holes in the opening were sawed out from the screws over time, so someone added 2 more holes to secure it.

It's a common problem with those cover plates. I often install U-Nuts on the opening holes to get the cover plates attached using the original holes.

[Howard H.]

Re: 1958 door small access plate

Thanks, Richard;
That could be. It looks like only two of the holes have been used. However, the holes in the plate are in a different position than the holes in the door. If you are looking at the access opening the holes are on the left and right side of the opening. The holes in the plate are on the upper and lower edge. Could it just be a flat plate, without the lip that fits inside the opening?

[Richard M.]

Re: 1958 door small access plate

Thanks, Richard;
That could be. It looks like only two of the holes have been used. However, the holes in the plate are in a different position than the holes in the door. If you are looking at the access opening the holes are on the left and right side of the opening. The holes in the plate are on the upper and lower edge. Could it just be a flat plate, without the lip that fits inside the opening?

Howard, I found one photo of a '59 with the small access plate attached. You can see the screws at the upper outer corners. These were original plates. The other photos are to show the U-Nuts that I used on the large plate.

[Howard H.]

Re: 1958 door small access plate

Thanks, Richard for the pics. Good idea to use Unuts.