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.

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/

Use the old door for a pattern for holes and to make a rough cut of the outside edge.

Screw it to the door, mark the edges, make the final cut.

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?

[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.

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.

[garys 68]

PVC door on the car, lined up for adding a metal lip at the top edge to attach the interior felts.

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:

[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.

Vinyl glued on wrapped around back edge.

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.