I'm doing some rust repair on my DD around the bottom of the jack receiver plates on both sides. The leaves and other winter wet detritus seem to collect there, and that's probably why the PO put fiberglass / bondo repair in there that I'm now replacing with honest-to-goodness steel.

In the process of rust treatment and steel replacement I've noticed that both the driver's and passenger jack receiver plate have a hole near the top but slightly off to the side. The hole is roughly the size of a dime and appears to be there by design, but why? Wouldn't water drain into that and sit inside the receiver plate? Should I seal that up with something (like seam sealer)? I don't see any sort of similar hole on the Restoration Design replacement pieces.

On top? Maybe someone welded it on upside down?

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That looks like about the right size hole. Damn, I was wondering if that's what happened. Was someone dumb enough to weld some sort of replacement in upside down on both sides? It's weird, because the bottom half of each was filled with fiberglass.

Is that hole stock?

i don't remember mine being so large, but it was there. Dirt and water get in and it rusts. I suppose the hole was really there to drain the water.

https://www.aasesales.com/collections/body/...-r77-12d-108960

THis one has no hole.

Should be on the bottom.

Ja, I was figuring that if you're going to put a hole in something it's so water can drain out, not fill in .

Ok, I'll fill that thing in with something.

I found these on another thread..... Looks like the OEM, replacement parts at least, are set up to install either way. Looks like the plan was to have the movement of the car also help push the water out. But the upper hole also lets dirt in.


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Aw, that's from Michelko's thread

Good catch. Well, I just got done repairing what the PO had done some time back. I reinforced behind the jack plate, replaced the lower half of this piece with steel from RD, and plugged up that hole on top. Oh, and cleaned, treated, and painted the inside and outside of the longs and underneath the frunk.

Little stiff this morning...