I am needing a little bit of insight on making a stand alone door panel. by stand alone i mean that I wont be putting a cover material on it for the foreseeable future.
In my research I noticed that aluminum (my original plan) is used often by racers and others for ease and durability. other forums have people saying they use 1/8" PVC foam board or 1/8" ABS but i believe they cover it.

My idea is to use a stand alone panel with the top of door black piece. What have other people used and have they had any luck with the materials other than aluminum?

Thanks!

 

You see some people on those hot rod shows etc... use panels of wood. Then they just put foam / cover material on it to make it look nice.

The good thing is that third gens have very simple panels and you can probabably easliy reproduce the stock look with wood

 

If you use aluminum or any metal you should put some dynamat or kilmat on the back to help dampen noise. ABS sheets aren't that expensive and you can get a sheet of 48" x 24" and easily cut it the way you need. I am using the ABS plastic as a backing board for my door panels at 1/16" thick because it will have foam and upholstery on it. If it's bare I'd go to 1/8" thick.

 

If you're going to use/reuse the top plastic rail, 1/8" is too thick, It should be no more than 3/32".
Another member posted this the other day....I think it's universal for a multitude of applications, but you're going to have to shave the top of it by about a 1/16" and about 2" down so that it doesn't bind and bend awkwardly when its secured and clipped in the metal retention cutouts adjacent to the door glass.

https://www.automotiveinteriors.com/...ks-s/17346.htm