How do you handle the plastic widgets that hold it to the door? I'm looking at my spare set of door panels, and I'm trying to figure out how I'd build my own set rather than deal with the OEM cardboard junk. What I'm not figuring out is how to make one that can properly hold the stock push-in connectors. The hole in the door panel that accepts these is rather unique in shape.

 

You can get better push in connectors if you want to, but all you have to do is use 1/8" thick wood for the door panel (Baltic Birch is my favorite for door panels) and make an oblong hole for the buttons to go into. A 3/4 turn and they go right in. The oblong slot will give it some adjustment, but to locate the button to somewhat the right area, you can make a simple cardboard or poster board pattern...

As long as you have the spare door panels though, if you don't mind sacrificing one, is peel the fabric off of it and use that as an exact pattern.

 

if your going to use a harder material those connectors wont be that great anyways.. they basically hold by tearing into the cardboard
hell, just glue them onto your new panel if you have to, its not like they do that much, they just keep the panel from flapping around a bit

 

That's not true. The plastic buttons don't tear into anything unless you force them in wrong. Oblong hole and a simple 3/4 turn to properly install the buttons. Line up the bottons to the hole in the metal and pop in the buttons to hold the panel in place. The Dodge/Chrysler metal pins are better than the plastic GM buttons, though the metal pins are a bit harder to locate properly. You don't want custom panels to be flapping in the breeze..

 

The problem with making an oblong hole is that then the back side of the connector will be right under the surface of whatever material I choose, and if that material turns out to be anything other than carpet, there will be a visible "bump". If you look at the stock panels, the connectors only go about halfway into the panel, so that the outside isn't effected by them. I suppose I could permanently attach them in some way (perhaps sandwich two thinner boards for example) but then if I bend or break one of those connectors, I'm sorta screwed.

I could reuse the stock cardboard, but the set in my car is warped as hell, and my spare set is all torn up where the plastic trim piece connects at the top. I'd rather try to make a new set if I can, although that might not be feasible.

 

well all i was trying to point out, is those clips dont get stressed, the door panel is hanging, and pressed against the door by the armrest
noones gonna know the difference so just get em on there whatever way you have to

im thinking about making a set of panels too... same thing, not so much the warpage but the top peice ripped it all to hell

 

Yes and the only reason the hole is oblong is for adjustment.....a simple round hole will also work. Doing door panels is really a piece of cake if you use the old panel for a template. I just made some new ones last week...I used leather on the upper portion and carpet on the lower. Jim is right about the plastic clips telegraphing through the material to be visiable on the outside. I simply ommited these clips on the leather portion to avoid that issue. They turned out pretty nice.

 

You can use 1/4" thick batting material over the wood panel, which covers the "bump" left by the buttons, or you can use the Dodge/Chrysler style metal pins that have a much smaller clip on the back side... or you can do like you said and use two layers of 1/8" wood... Some people use finish screws instead, some use regular screws with paintable plastic covers that you can match to your interior color... Lots of options...

 

I just cut out my new door panel today. My old one on my drivers side was rotted to pieces, but I was able to salvage some of it for a template. I cut my new one out of regular box cardboard. Then I used a dremel to cut the foor panel fastners holes. I thought that it was going to be too thick for the fastners, but they went in just fine. I'm goin from cloth to leather, and I washed the Carpet and padding piece with no problem, but I threw in the back insulation piece and em....lets just say it discenegrated, so now I need a new insulation piece, lol. Anyways, I think regular cardboard box cardboard wil work. Now, if I a njust figure out how to stop the waterleak, that warped my original panel. I adjusted the glass, but it still stops before it seals, it just seems that the motor is too weak to push it any higher.
mr_han_solo

 

I've been contemplating what to do with my door panels...I have to keep fighting the urge to design a new fiberglass panel with the clips embedded...at any rate, the portion of those fasteners that would fasten to the fabric side of the door panel are thinner than the foam underpadding the panel should have on it...would it be that noticeable if you simply cut away some of the foam around the oblong clip hole to clear the clip head and streched the fabric reasonably tight over this part so the missing foam isn't really noticeable? I think that would look at least less obvious than a lump protruding through the fabric, but I havent tried it yet. As suggested above, the foam might even hide the fact that a clip is on the panel, as it would distribute the protrusion of the clip head to a larger area, and allow the clip to 'sink' in to some degree.

 

if you have pics of your custom pannels, post them. i want to make some but i don't want it to looked hacked together and look just alright. thanks

 

I went out and took some pictures of my new cardboard panel. You said you wanted it clean and everything, well mine isnt that clean cut, but Its going to be covered by the door one one side and fabric on the other so it dosent really matter to me. I just took a huge piece of cardboard, like 8 feet by 4 feet, and laid the driver side panel ontop of it. the i traced down all the openings with a sharpie marker. Then I took my huge piece of cardboard and cut out my markings with a utility knife, then for the holes I used a dremel with a cutter attachment. I have tried this panel on my door with several plastic retainers to hold it on, and it looked like it would work out good. As for using wood, I dont see how it would really work, cause one mine the cardboard needs t obend a little for it to fit snug with the plastic panel connectors on it. It seems that the wood would be too rigid d odo that, but I would like to try it, since I have a water leak right there, and the wood will last alot longer than this cardboard is going to. Anyways, here is sm picture of my custom panel. (Just click the link to view the pictures)

Door Panel Picture 1
Door Panel Picture 2


and here are some pictures of my passenger side door, I finished it two days ago. Tell me what you think!
Finished Door 1
Finished Door 2
Finshed Door 3

I hope that these help you out on your decision. My whole probelm is fixing a leak on my window without new weatherstripping, but thats another post.
mr_han_solo

 

looks good. did you put foam behind the outer material or did you just put it onto the cardboard? just wondering. they definetly look better than some old beat up ones you see around.(like mine).

 

The yellow Foam Padding or the em, like foam insulation that faces the outer door? I put the padding back on, and for the pasenger side, I put the insulation back on also. But when I was washing my foam and carpet on my driver side, I decided I would throw in the insulation too, cause it smelled bad. It kinda fell to pieces, so now I need to decide if I want to get a new insulation piece or just put it back without one. Any ideas?
mr_han_solo