1990 IrocZ - door panel controls. Those little star head plastic screws that hold in the panel for door lock/unlock & mirror controls. I went to tighten them up the other day and the star heads turned to dust.... they just stripped away as if made with hardened marshmallow!

 

Little star headed plastic screws??...oh those are called little FAKE plastic screws. They are for appearance only they don't really turn or even go all the way through. They are part of the molded plastic cover for the door locks. The real screws are metal and only 2 out of the 4 on the door lock are real. I believe it is the ones closer to the front of the car.

 

Hmmm... well, then how do I tighten up the paneling? It is coming loose and I figured it was pretty much because of the condition of these "fake screws" as you call them.

 

yeah man dont feel bad. they are fake though. I made the same mistake as you when I first messed with those panels. Only 4 of those screws are real IIRC. Just look at them closely and you should be able to tell the difference.

 

Here is what happened - the screws aren't exactly fake. They are attached to the paneling and I can see where the paneling cracked to allow it to come loose. This is specifically the power mirror adjuster panel square. It will require stealthy use of glue, because there is not "tightening" to be done.