Door panel build thread

[garys 68]

I've seen a few threads on making interior door panels and decided to dive in and make my own.
Well that and the fact new repros for my 72 442 were expensive and ugly.
So this is my first shot at this, so comments/corrections are welcome.
I took apart the old door to find the cardboard backing was disintegrating and the top curved metal support corroded. I'm keeping some of the harware, trim, and armrest to use on the new panel.
So off to buy a sheet of 1/8" pvc.
I screwed the old corroded metal top edge to the bench.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0187-1.jpg
Laid down a 2' x 4' piece of pvc and screwed a wood support just behind where I'll make the bend.
Add heat and bend to follow the contour of the original piece/
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0186-1.jpg
Use the old door for a pattern for holes and to make a rough cut of the outside edge.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0189-1.jpg
Screw it to the door, mark the edges, make the final cut.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0193-1.jpg
I'll add a metal lip and felts to the top edge tomorrow. I'm waiting on my christmas tree fasteners.
Oh and a note on cutting pvc. It's a little like radioactive waste or stripper glitter. Once you get some on you, it seems to get everywhere in the house. So vacuum it up as you go.

[justasquid]

stripper glitter. Once you get some on you, it seems to get everywhere in the house.

Thats a good one. haha..

I'll be keeping tabs on this thread as I am planning on doing my own panels as well.

[texasdvldog]

suscribed~

[garys 68]

I removed the rubber/felt interior seals from the old panels. They're pretty rough and a new set is over $100, cut specifically for a 442.
The originals are the V shaped ones. I can get generic, universal flat "cat whisker" style locally for $20.
Pic of V on the left, flat cat whiskers on right.
I can be a bit sloppier with the fit and save a few bucks if I can find generic V shaped felts.
Anyone knows who sells that style by the foot?
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0196-1.jpg

[1969CamaroRS]

suscribed~

x2, should be an interesting thread, contemplating this myself.

[DarkoNova]

Very nice. I had some local shop redo my interior and they did a pretty horrible job on the door panels (they seriously just put velcro on the door and the back of the panel at the bottom). I've been thinking of making my own, but didn't know how difficult it would really be.

[garys 68]

No luck finding v shaped felts. I bought a strip of the flat whisker felt and bent some light metal strips (1.25 x 0.75") to rivet on and support the felts.
The door originally had metal clips, but I'm getting the christmas tree clips and drilling new hole to mount them. They look more secure and will be easier to locate the holes accurately.
Kind of on hold till the clips come in later this week.

[Nessumsar]

Looking like a killer way to make door panels so far. I have been contemplating making my own door panels, and I will be using your idea! My only suggestion would be to add some rubber pads on the backside where it contacts the door frame, to keep it from rattling.

[Brad1970]

Where did you find the 1/8" thick, 2' x 4' sheet of PVC?

[garys 68]

I'm adding sound deadener to the inner door metal. That stuff should prevent rattles.
For a pvc source, I looked up plastics in the yellow pages. Regal Plastics here in St Louis always has what I need in stock. I've also got plexi and lexan from them before.
A 4 x 8' sheet 1/8" pvc is about $50.

[T_Raven]

Cool idea using the pvc, I might have to try that some day

[Conrad283]

Sweet build :)

[mincharlie]

keep us posted!

[moreHP]

Great idea with the pvc! I will keep an eye on this build for sure. Keep us posted!

[724tim]

Looks good so far keep us posted.

[garys 68]

In an effort not to kicked off the Olds boards, I'm copying some of the original Olds features, but updating them. The original woodgrain had to go. I also hated the excess horizontal lines and buttons. So I copied the woodgrain piece with pvc, beveled the edge, laid carbon fiber sticker over it and stuck on a chrome border. Here's a pic of the new insert on the old panel.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0203-1.jpg
If you want to know why carbon fiber sticker. I did the rest of the dash in carbon fiber rather than the wood grain stickers.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0208-1.jpg

[garys 68]

PVC door on the car, lined up for adding a metal lip at the top edge to attach the interior felts.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0206-1.jpg
I used a small piece of the flat felt as a spacer to align the bent edge of the metal strip with the window.
Metal strips riveted on:
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0210-1.jpg
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0211-1.jpg

[garys 68]

I'm keeping the horizontal chrome strip off the old door, the armrest, crank, etc... adding the carbon fiber, a speaker, but getting rid of the horizontal lines, buttons, carpet.
Pic of the old door and stuff transferred to the new one in place. Making sure everything clears.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0213-1.jpg
Looks like a snow day tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get some foam and vinyl on the doors.

[zx10intn]

coming along real nice man

[Brad1970]

much better look than the wood grain... Great idea here...

[garys 68]

I played around with a few types of foam and glue. The closed cell foam had a little too "hard" of a look, while batting looked too soft. Headliner foam was a little under 1/4", compresses well, and has a cloth side if you want to sew compressions into the vinyl on top of it.
The 3M Super 77 worked well in attaching the foam to the pvc and vinyl to the foam. The 3M General trim adhesive worked great for attaching the vinyl to the pvc or metal.
Foam Glued and cut.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0214-1.jpg
Vinyl glued on wrapped around back edge.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0216-1.jpg
I attached the window "fuzzies" using crown staples. The flat fuzzies have chrome on one edge, black on the other. I like the chrome with black vinyl.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0215-1.jpg

[garys 68]

And the finished panel. I cut out the vinly where the foam was removed and used pvc cement to glue the carbon fiber/chrome insert on the panel.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0224-1.jpg
You can see the chrome fuzzie strip and the lock furrel I reused.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0221-1.jpg
Bill of materials/door
PVC $12
Vinyl $10
Foam $8
Carbon fiber sticker $6
Chrome $6
PVC cement/spray adhesive/rivets/misc $5
Christmas tree fasteners $4
Fuzzie $8
I think I'll get a new crank handle with black knob $5
Less than half of the repros and no carpet or buttons.
Parts reused.
Chrome strip, armrest, lock furrel, and I think I might use the "S" badge in the middle of the insert like the original.

[Bryce]

Very nice!

[The Stickman]

Have to say great work. It looks darn near factory.

[Brad1970]

Wow... that's really awesome... How's the fit back on the door? same as OEM piece?

[garys 68]

It fits on just like the original, probably better considering parts of the old paper one were falling apart.
The one issue I did run into was repeated removal of the Xmas tree fasteners kind of wrecked them. I had a couple on during test fitting and they were shot by the time I put the panel together. I may have drilled the mounting holes a little too small. I'll redrill and check before I slap it on the car.

[Brad1970]

do you think there is enough room behind the card to mount a speaker (hidden instead of all the way thru the door car)?

[garys 68]

On my 72 Olds with manual windows, there's not much room in the door. I had to squeeze a 6 1/2" between the the crank (front) and gear (rear) mechanism. The speaker overlaps the gear mechanism where it sits now.
You could probably put a smaller speaker forward of the position mine is.

[CreepinDeth]

Subscribed.

Dude, you are an inspiration to the rest of us Olds owners who want to modify our cars from stock.
I know what you mean about the Olds board not being too receptive to change in some cases. :D
I'll be picking up some PVC and redoing my brand new '70 442 interior now that I see an
inexpensive way to get cool door panels in black!!!!!

BTW the fake wood grain vinyl inserts are way overpriced @ ~$130 which I wish I'd have not spent now. LOL

Kinda prefer black over my Metallic Green in my 70 442 tribute.
The door panels I refused to just paint......your solution nullifies that concern.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f122/Aceshigh22/Olds%20442/442Completed2Copy.jpg

(Aceshigh)

[garys 68]

I know what you mean about the wood grain stickers. $29 worth of carbon fiber sticker did the dash, door panels, rear quarter panels, and center console.
Also, I would suggest getting parts from a supplier like http://www.rochfordsupply.com/index.asp
A box of 25 christmas tree fasteners is $8, I think the Olds places charge $1 per piece.
On the vinyl, get marine vinyl (Spradling). It's really UV resistant and seems to be more chemically resistant than others. The better spray adhesives, 3M 1357, trim adhesive, Armstrong 520, etc have a high percentage of volatile chemical (ie. ether) and can "melt" synthetic materials.

[garys 68]

And a couple requested pics.
The bare insert piece with 1/2" bevel at the edge, same width as the stick on chrome trim.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0199-1.jpg
And with the 1/4" foam and vinyl cut out of the insert area. The 1/8" insert sits flush with the vinyl.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0228-1.jpg

[Mr. Anderson]

Looks great, getting ready to tackle door panels on the elky. Thanks for some good ideas!!!

[protour73]

You did some great work on these, very nice!

[brans72]

Awesome job there man!

[DarkoNova]

Those look amazing! I'm tempted to do some for my car but I have a feeling they won't turn out anywhere near as good as yours lol.

[CreepinDeth]

PVC cement/spray adhesive/rivets/misc $5

Mind if I ask you what specific spray adhesive you used for the vinyl to adhere to the door panels ???

I tried 3M super77 and it doesn't hold well in high temps with direct sunlight.
I got some Professional Spray Glue and even that wasn't the greatest.

[hifi875]

landau top glue

[garys 68]

Super 77 to hold the foam on the pvc. 3M 8088 for the vinyl. 8090 is supposed to be better for hi temp. 3M 1357 or Armstrong 520 are REALLY strong (I've used them on boats) but there's a lot of ether in them.

[KacyZ28]

Wow those look nice gonna have to borrow this when it comes time to do the interior on the malibu Im working on

[80 MONZTA]

Very good info here, where did you get the carbon fiber stickers?

[garys 68]

Pretty much every auto parts store has the rolls of carbon fiber sticker and the chrome. I got it at autozone.

[80 MONZTA]

Pretty much every auto parts store has the rolls of carbon fiber sticker and the chrome. I got it at autozone.

Wow, I had no idea. Never looked for it before.
Wondering if they have different patterns, such as brushed aluminum or engine turned? I will go check the store out. Thanks

[deejai35]

Your project looks great! I can't wait to see it finished. Maybe I'll see you around the next time I'm in St. Louis.

[RF GTO]

I'm not sure if it matters for you now or not, but you can get those V-shaped window felts by the foot from here: http://www.restorationspecialties.com/webcatalog.pdf

[Twentyover]

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/01/DSCN0228-1.jpg

Who does your toenails?

[garys 68]

Great resource, THANKS!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure if it matters for you now or not, but you can get those V-shaped window felts by the foot from here: http://www.restorationspecialties.com/webcatalog.pdf

[garys 68]

Panels installed, fit better than the originals.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2011/03/DSCN0324-1.jpg

[67blacklist]

That's a beautiful job! looks just as good as a lot of the high dollar stuff. The pvc was a great idea, any panels I've seen done before were with hardboard which doesn't bend like that and plus the shavings just aren't as good at hiding the stripper glitter.

[jturkey69]

Holy Hell!!!..awesome job!!!!...you inspired us to give it a shot as well!!!

I can relate to the "Olds Boards" ..lol..they can get finicky if you go modified...I did alot of custom work on an Olds Alero showcar, and at Lansing's Homecoming show, and Olds nationals, we were frowned upon...lol.

[gcallahan]

those door panels look amazing. ive wanted to do my own for years! i really like the materials you chose

[garys 68]

Just an update after 4 years. Doors still look great. Over the last 4 years, the PVC did warp a little leaving about a 1/8" gap from the window in the middle. Everywhere else fits great. A thicker metal edge or a couple extra Christmas tree fasteners in the middle top of the panel would probably take care of that. But love the look, cost, and durability of the PVC.