We all know good door panels are few and far between, new reproductions are questionable time, money and results so that leaves us with little options but to work with what we have which brings me to my question. I plan to change the color of mine from faded ivy gold to black along with installing new backer boards. I am a little worried about the top of the panels being stiff and dry. I dont want to tear them when trying to replace the backers. Is there a way to soften the vinyl to make it more pliable and less risk of tearing it?
Also speaking of tearing there is one small tear/puncture in that section about the size of a pencil eraser. All the material is still there so I think it would be an easy fix? Is there a method that works well? Maybe glueing another scrap price behind it? Also have a couple other small tears on the edges but that won’t be seen with the door closed. I would still like to lessen their visibility and keep them from getting worse.
The other challenge I have is my panels are the decor version so I have the whole basket weave to deal with. The chrome is now discolored to a nasty yellow gold color so I think I have an idea on changing the color to a silver to match the rest of my dash but it will be time consuming. The good news is it’s not flaking anywhere just yellowed so if I can get paint to adhere I should be able to mask it and paint it.
Plan B if I destroy these is something custom on new backers but that will get expensive to do what I would want which would be a modern version of the decor styling.
Then we have the rear panels. Mine are so brittle they are just falling apart. Much worse shape then my door panels but at least the vinyl is in good shape. Has anyone used the repro plastic panels and swapped over the vinyl? They would take a little work to drill the appropriate holes for the arm rest and decor trim. I can’t remember where I first saw them but I think WCCC now carries them now too? A couple hundred bucks if I’m not mistaken? If they fit well I could be worth it?
On the front door panels, the backer boards don’t go up that high that you have to remove the vinyl from the top edge. There is a curved metal piece on the upper rolled portion to the window. As far as the small crack, a two part plastic epoxy actually worked good for me in repairs to my vinyl face pad. I tried using the vinyl repair glue, and it didn’t look as nice. You are going to have a little bit of a stiffer spot using the epoxy. You can try to “grain” it a bit with a scrap piece of vinyl, or those vinyl repair kits have texture patches in them.
As far as the frame around the weave, I used the smooth aluminum tape like they use on duct insulation. I cut in narrower than the two inches or whatever it is so I wasn’t dealing with too much stick area. I got as much of the old vac sealed chrome off as I could, wiped the surface down good with rubbing alcohol and worked the tape on those areas, making miter cuts in the corners where my pieces met. I worked it around the area good, using the back side of utility knife blade to get it in tight, then trimmed it all with a exacto. It looks great for a repair job. That aluminum tape is quite durable, and has a good enough shean to it to work IMO. You can then mask it with good painters tape, and do you dyeing.
The Sem vinyl trim does a nice job of softening vinyl and cleaning it prior to paint.
Not sure on the back panel plastic. It is ABS plastic, and repairs nice with a slurry made from other ABS plastic (Lego pieces) and you can use fiberglass mat with it to add strength.
Pretty much the same suggestion as David above, but for the plastic “chrome” on the door panels, also look at mylar tape, which is very shiny. Those borders are fairly simple so you should be able to apply the tape and trim the edges off.
Here is my take on the color change. I decided against trying to duplicate the chrome since my cluster is painted as well. I used SEM paint and the basket weave is not black but more of a charcoal color.
The panel will eventually be black but waiting to color that until I get the backer boards to replace.
I have kept eyes peeled for good black panels since I have had the car and I have yet to find an acceptable pair so I have held off on this part of the project until now. Finally decided Im probably going to need to paint them to get what I want. Thought about custom panels as well but those can get expensive to have made and not look like I did it myself. I do not believe my door panels would be worth all that much in their current condition to justify selling.
These panels are pretty discolored. I have scrubbed the crap out of them to get all the funk off and while clean they are still discolored. The photos may not show it but they are much darker then they should be I believe for the light ivy gold interior. Areas unexposed to the sunlight are much lighter then those exposed along with having lots of scuffing around lower sections from peoples feet.
…Or I could completely botch the whole deal and ruin some door panels
I feel your pain. I’ve been looking for either base or decor '68 panels for quite a while now. I had Light Ivy interior and have (mostly) converted it to black. I ended up using '67 door panels for now, but there are definitely some drawbacks beyond not being “correct” for the car. The arm rest and door latch are positioned differently and it’s got a hole in it where the remote mirror adjustment knob should be. I’ve used the SEM paint on a number of different parts and will say if it’s not regularly rubbed against it seems to do pretty well. I painted some fairly high wear areas and it’s rubbed off some. I’m sure they could be repainted in those spots, though.
