Ok so you get the darn things out and there wrinkled and durty and flimsy now what? that is what im wondering what you guys do to clean,repair and fix them to look good? there has to be som mav,com door panel gooroo's on hear. the info will help alot of members.
Have to see what you have in order to give you any direction to go in. Post some good pics of front and back of the panels. As for cleaning them, Westley's Tire Bleach and a mild (nylon) bristle scrub brush, rag and warm water. Brush and bleach then rinse with water and rag.
well im doin this post to get a diffent ideas myself and a collection of info on these flimsy things we call our door panels. you know diff cleaning ideas, how to tighten wrinkles an stuff. pluss when others ask door panel qwestions we can derect them to this thred for info. tire cleaner eh good idea.
Ok I see what you are trying to do but as an upholsterer for 40 years I can honestly tell you that I have never had very many jobs have the same exact answer and or remedy for a repair. In other words there really isn't a generic fix for everything if you know what I mean. For example some wrinkles can be taken out with a little heat only and some will need a little heat and a very slight restretch while I have found the need a few times to very slightly mist the wrinkled area with lacquer thinner but I DO NOT recommend you try this at home. seriously. I take a huge risk everytime I do this because there is an extremely fine line between just enough and OH CRAP. Door panel vinyl is a non backed virgin vinyl, kinda like a thin sheet of plastic so it can be manipulated in various manners but some are very touchy. Most generally the wrinkles in Mav/Com style panels, even GM and Mopar or what ever are created because they are electronically seam sealed which shrinks the vinyl and the area around it is not secured, again because it does not have any backing.
nice info! thats some good tips. so a low heat gun would do the trick? i build model planes and i shrink the covering on them like that. thanks i never thaught of that. and the thinner now that would need a practice panel to get rite a couple of times buy the sound of it. o buy the way im dealing with late model 74 comet ldo panel reso for the first time. hears a tip that i thaught of while building a jo han model comet. the piping stuff around the wood grane on ldo panels can be fixed with a modeling metal called bear metal foil.its self addheasiv ultra thin foil that you can cut into strips and it is thin and easy to apply and the result is a durable better looking croam piping with a buffable metal coating. i did all the trim on my model car this way and then the full size panel it looks good but my camera is down so no pics.
I watched a bunch of youtube videos of guys making panels. Very informative and intresting stuff. Gives me ideas for how I would like mine. I think they are kinda flimsy also, but that may be because of the age of them. I will make some new ones someday. First I need the car put put back together and running.
well im on the {getting the safty itams stage} like breaks and such and reworking the int while im at it with the simple stuff like the steering wheel and the door panels. but not driving the beast yet untell its checked and gone threw.
get some vinyl from joannes and recover them but if your hardboard panel is un repairable make a new one.. get some melanite from lowes or home depot and use your old panel as a template to cut the new one.. worked great for me..
how did you get the door panels off? im new to this and i dont want to rip or break anything. i found a set of bolts but they only remove the arm rest.
There is a link in the restoration section that will show you how. http://mmb.maverick.to/showthread.php?t=3150
ddor panels how do you get the clip off that holds the inside door latch unit off to remove the door panel??
Take a small flat screw driver, and pry the inner black plastic cover out of the chrome part, then there is a screw holding it on.
