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Door Panel replacement

Tepot

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
307
Location
Moncton, NB, Canada
Corvette
1974 Metalic Blue L-48 Coupe 4 speed
I am currently replacing my door panels. I've found out that the clips are missing on both of them which I will order soon, I already have the new door panels.

the question is. Are those clips with the handle and door lock knob enouph to hold the panels ?

The reason i'm asking is because the door panels didn't came with holes in it like my original ones. So I really don't want friging holes in those perfect condition new door panels.

For those of you who installed new door panels. Did you use only the clips or did you make holes in them for the screws?
 
The door pull and knob aren't really enough to hold the door on fully. There are 2 clips that you will need to use and these will hold the door panel to the frame. also there are some funky velcro pieces that snap together to hold it on. The picture below shows both:
051.jpg

I am with you when it comes to the 2 screws that hold the top of the panel to the door. I didn't want to ruin the panel with an unsightly screw head so I didn't use them. 2 years later and the panels are still in place.
033-1.jpg
 
I am with you when it comes to the 2 screws that hold the top of the panel to the door. I didn't want to ruin the panel with an unsightly screw head so I didn't use them. 2 years later and the panels are still in place.

Well since you did yours and exactly the way I want to do mine. Could you tell me how you made the holes for the door handle? I'm so affraid to **** that up.

do you use a drill? knife ???
 
Well since you did yours and exactly the way I want to do mine. Could you tell me how you made the holes for the door handle? I'm so affraid to **** that up.

do you use a drill? knife ???
Sure thing. Use both. you will need a knife to trim the vinyl and foam and then a small drill to get through the panel.
Trim out the intented circle with the knife (xacto works best)and pull the vinyl and foam out (needle nose pliers help here) you need to do this because the handle won't fit right unless it is cleaned all the way to the backing.The upper hole (left side) in the pic below is cleaned out.
050.jpg


Now drill a small hole through the backing right in the middle of your cleared out hole. If you need guidance, put the handle in place and drill through the hole in it. However, I preferred to drill the hole dead center and it worked fine.

Now the fun part, getting the handle, panel and holes in the door lined up for the screw. This is very frustrating but with a little patience it can be done. Here's a bit of cheap insurance, go to the hardware store and get bolts that are about an inch longer if you can (keep the same size and thread angle though) and these can be used as guides.

The handle needs to go on first, insert the handle into the holes and run the longer bolt through one of the holes (bottom one worked best for me) and the normal bolt through the other. (You can use the longer one through both but I was OK with just one.) Hang the door and get it all lined up. The longer screw should find its mark in the existing hole but some fishing around to get it right may be necessary. Looking through the side or bottom gap with a flashlight will make this a lot easier. Once found, run it a few turns to give it a good grip but not all the way down. That's enough to hold the door for the most part straight. Using the same fishing technique, run the other bolt into its hole and run it about halfway. Take out the longer bolt and put the normal one in and you should hit paydirt pretty easily.

With both handle bolts grabbing, you are ok to run them tight. Do a final alignment check with the door pull/lock assembly, push the panel tight to the door frame and screw in the door clips. Then run the handle bolts tight. Final step is to attach the metal handle,lock knob, and window crank and you have installed one door. :)

Hope that helps.
 
Perfect !!! Thanks alot. I'll start on that this weekend. I have to fix my darn snowblower now. Got like 30cm of snow last night and the thing is broken.

Lucky for me, I have power windows. So another hole I don't have to worry about. ;)
 
Thanks "White75" . Here's a picture of my new door panels.

Now I need to finish my seats and I'll have an almost new interior.


Before After.jpg
 

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