Long story short, I'm in the process of swapping out the camel interior from my '84 Berlinetta. While I like the tan, it's far too difficult to keep it clean and my wife really wanted something darker. We settled on a black interior with charcoal accents and the first step I took was locating door panels. I am a fan of the stock fabric vs the velour that most replacement panels use, so I tried really hard to find a nice set of factory panels to use. I came across a set that I liked and the fabric was in great shape, so I picked them up for $10 a piece.

As is typical of factory panels, the tops had been decimated by some previous owner and the retaining pin holes were all torn through. The cardboard backing material had a few tears and disintegrating areas, and the sound deadening material was missing, as were some of the retaining clips. So, I went in and did some repair work.

First, I cut out the areas on the new panels to match the ones that came out of my car, since the new ones were power windows and I have manual cranks.




Then I began laying layers of aluminum metal tape along the back. I did a double layer which folds over the top to reinforce and create a new area for the top rail to attach to. The aluminum tape adds stability to the cardboard, smooths out the torn areas, adds a level of water resistance to prevent future damage, and should help reduce heat and road noise as well.





I then added a layer of sound deadening material which was salvaged from my old door panels.



I finished them off by re-attaching the top rails and reinforcing the tabs with another layer of aluminum tape, and then replacing the lower rubber sweep.





Here is the passenger side one installed on the car. I know I still need to order and install a new weather strip around the door...

 

that turned out real nice. i have to fix up my panels in vert one these days

 

Good Job on the panels

 

The only thing holding the door rail on is aluminum tape? I think it might loosen after awhile. I repaired mine with fiberglass and resin.

 

No, it's still held on by the lugs and PITA self-tapping nuts...they just aren't going through cardboard anymore, they are going through about 4 layers of aluminum tape. Then there is a layer of aluminum tape over the lugs and nuts to reinforce them. I've used this stuff for lots of projects over the years...when it's sticking to something else, plastic or metal, it's really strong and lasts forever...but it can be removed with almost no effort or residue. When it's bound to itself, it becomes REALLY strong and it is almost impossible to undo intact. With several layers built up it becomes very stiff and capable of holding it's own shape forever...I once made a life size mannequin out of this stuff, it's still standing there holding its shape 6 years later.