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4 minute read
Door Panel and Rear Deck repair (Pic heavy, beware!)
Compliments of StereoInstaller1 @ r3vlimited.com
1-6-2012
Here is a post I made on BF.c, but since we now have a 5er forum, I thought you guys might want to see it here.
Since this is an E34, I though I might post a pic or three of a car I did a while ago.
Typical E34 door panel failure, only worse than most I have seen:
Split the vinyl, used a heat gun and contact cement (on a small paint brush) to reglue the stock vinyl back in place. I should have gotten a shot of it, but my hands were all sticky!
I do not know if someone tried re-gluing this panel or not, but I had to use heat, rubbing and goof-off to get the residue off this panel!
Next, I cut some panels out of masonite. I used a 1/8" material, but it was kind of a pain in the butt to work something so thin. Of course, I made a cardboard template first, then a "master" to make the panels from.
I drilled holes where I wanted the studs that will mount this panel to fit:
Countersunk, glued, backnutted and then filled with spot putty, then sanded (120 grit on a D/A) in preparation for upholstery:
Next was upholstering the panel. I have no pics as that is the easy part, really. Just normal "double stretch" vinyl and Dap brand Landau top adhesive in a $10 spray gun.
After the panel was upholstered, I mounted it using the previously drilled holes, washers and nuts (just hardware store crap: bevel head machine screws):
Then (DUH, right?) I cut off the excess studs. These trim panels will never be removed, ever.
So, flipped over, all the glue residue cleaned up:
Just in case you care, here is the rear deck before and after I reupholstered that, too:
I did the headliner, the A, B and C pillars and the rear deck all in a nice headliner material. I pulled the foam backing off of the material to do the rear deck and the pillars (plus like the panel that covers the sunroof motor) but mostly I wanted you guys to see my idea of how to permanently fix the E34 door panel.
I am gonna do my car in all black with brushed aluminum trim. I think Di-NOC will do nicely. Hell, it is a 20 year old car, right?