This write up is for the common gen4 failing interior door panel, panel. It is the panel just behind the door handle. After time it comes apart. In my case the panel was coming loose and the material had come looses as well.
I went to the dealer to see if I could just buy the panel. They said while they have a diagram that shows the panel as removable and has it's own part number you can not buy the panel individually. The only thing they could do was to sell me an entire new door panel. Well hell with that. That is when I decided to repair/recover myself.
* This all takes place over a 2 day period * for proper glue drying times
Materials used:
Replacement Door Panal material: color code number was V6470 - Found at local upholstery shop for $21.
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive - Beacon Adhesives - Found a Wal-Mart for like $5.
Loctite Super Glue Brush type - Found at Wal-Mart for $3
Heavy Duty Clamps with Rubber ends - Found at Home Depot for $1 for big clamps and $0.50 for little clamps.
Close Pins - Anywhere for dam near free..
Wood Trim peices - Found at Home depot for like $5. At time of this only came in like 8ft lengths but will fit inside a taurus for the trip home..lol
Razor Blade/Box cutter - Found at home depot for $2 (mine was custom set that I had already)
Removal process:
Start by removing the failing panel. This can be done by GENTLY prying the panel loose. It is glued on so try to move around the panel carefully prying each section loose. The key hear is to be carefull and gentle but you will have to use some force to pop the panel loose.
Removed from Door panel:
Back of Panel after removal:
At this point when I got into the house I sat down to see what was wrong with the panel and to my surprise the peice of material that was loose was just a cover for the carpet material you might see on a not leather model car. Both the different material types had come loose..
Here is a full image of the material I am talking about:
Here is the 2 peices seperated:
Now the actual panel is some kind of foam or as far as I can tell a sprayed on foam. It is so fragile that even touching it will rub the foam off and leave gaps. So try to not touch it and if you do be Extremely Carefull!!
Clean the back of your carpet material as best as you can and the edges of the panel. Take the Crazy glue and apply to the outside edge of the panel. **NOT ON THE FOAM!!!** Just on the edge of the plastic panel where it was sealed before. Here it is with 3 of the sides being glued and held together by the clamps and clothes pins. Also while gluing take care to make it as flat as possible on the egdes. Take my word on this..lol Took 2 tries before I got the edges to be smooth, straight and flat. If they are not then the new material will be lumpy looking when you cover it. Let the panel sit clamped up for 24 hours. I would suggest your use the precut wood trim as I did that the second time and it made it perfect..live and learn
Here is the carpet material reattached and glued on all 4 sides. Top and Bottom:
Now take your old top layer material (Not carpet) and cut a new cover using your new fabric. I had to do this a few times, trial and error. I ended up making mine much wider than the orignal and trimmed it down after ward.
1. Take your panel and apply the Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive on the edge and apply a nice thin layer to each side Individually.
2. Take your cut wood trim peices and new material and apply to each side of the panel INDIVIDUALLY working one edge at a time all the way around. Let stand for atleast 24 hours this way. *A tip* If you cut your wood trim peices to the the exact lengths than you can press the edges of the material to a point and trim later. I did this after the 24 hour period but next time will do it at the same time.
What mine looked like with everything holding together with Clamps and close pins:
Here it is with all the clamps and corners glued:
(The bottom left of the panel seems to be bowed out, this is due to a slight warp in the panel. Once in door panel this was not a factor)
Here it is in the door panel:
I than took the door panel off and took the foam out and glued the panel back in by simply squeezing the Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive in to the old glued holes. With the door panel off you can actually get the panel in farther and dam near butt the panel to the door panel. I than reglued the foam back to the panel.
In the future you can go to autozone or somewhere that sells door panel type clips and glue the male clip on the back of the panel and glue a femal clip through the square holes and door panel. With the door panel off you could actually make the panel removable. If the glue fails to hold the panel to the door panel this is what I will do and I will update this writeup as well.
Hope this helps someone or atleast saves tham from having to buy the entire panel from the stearlship.
I went to the dealer to see if I could just buy the panel. They said while they have a diagram that shows the panel as removable and has it's own part number you can not buy the panel individually. The only thing they could do was to sell me an entire new door panel. Well hell with that. That is when I decided to repair/recover myself.
* This all takes place over a 2 day period * for proper glue drying times
Materials used:
Replacement Door Panal material: color code number was V6470 - Found at local upholstery shop for $21.
Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive - Beacon Adhesives - Found a Wal-Mart for like $5.
Loctite Super Glue Brush type - Found at Wal-Mart for $3
Heavy Duty Clamps with Rubber ends - Found at Home Depot for $1 for big clamps and $0.50 for little clamps.
Close Pins - Anywhere for dam near free..
Wood Trim peices - Found at Home depot for like $5. At time of this only came in like 8ft lengths but will fit inside a taurus for the trip home..lol
Razor Blade/Box cutter - Found at home depot for $2 (mine was custom set that I had already)
Removal process:
Start by removing the failing panel. This can be done by GENTLY prying the panel loose. It is glued on so try to move around the panel carefully prying each section loose. The key hear is to be carefull and gentle but you will have to use some force to pop the panel loose.
Removed from Door panel:
Back of Panel after removal:
At this point when I got into the house I sat down to see what was wrong with the panel and to my surprise the peice of material that was loose was just a cover for the carpet material you might see on a not leather model car. Both the different material types had come loose..
Here is a full image of the material I am talking about:
Here is the 2 peices seperated:
Now the actual panel is some kind of foam or as far as I can tell a sprayed on foam. It is so fragile that even touching it will rub the foam off and leave gaps. So try to not touch it and if you do be Extremely Carefull!!
Clean the back of your carpet material as best as you can and the edges of the panel. Take the Crazy glue and apply to the outside edge of the panel. **NOT ON THE FOAM!!!** Just on the edge of the plastic panel where it was sealed before. Here it is with 3 of the sides being glued and held together by the clamps and clothes pins. Also while gluing take care to make it as flat as possible on the egdes. Take my word on this..lol Took 2 tries before I got the edges to be smooth, straight and flat. If they are not then the new material will be lumpy looking when you cover it. Let the panel sit clamped up for 24 hours. I would suggest your use the precut wood trim as I did that the second time and it made it perfect..live and learn
Here is the carpet material reattached and glued on all 4 sides. Top and Bottom:
Now take your old top layer material (Not carpet) and cut a new cover using your new fabric. I had to do this a few times, trial and error. I ended up making mine much wider than the orignal and trimmed it down after ward.
1. Take your panel and apply the Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive on the edge and apply a nice thin layer to each side Individually.
2. Take your cut wood trim peices and new material and apply to each side of the panel INDIVIDUALLY working one edge at a time all the way around. Let stand for atleast 24 hours this way. *A tip* If you cut your wood trim peices to the the exact lengths than you can press the edges of the material to a point and trim later. I did this after the 24 hour period but next time will do it at the same time.
What mine looked like with everything holding together with Clamps and close pins:
Here it is with all the clamps and corners glued:
(The bottom left of the panel seems to be bowed out, this is due to a slight warp in the panel. Once in door panel this was not a factor)
Here it is in the door panel:
I than took the door panel off and took the foam out and glued the panel back in by simply squeezing the Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive in to the old glued holes. With the door panel off you can actually get the panel in farther and dam near butt the panel to the door panel. I than reglued the foam back to the panel.
In the future you can go to autozone or somewhere that sells door panel type clips and glue the male clip on the back of the panel and glue a femal clip through the square holes and door panel. With the door panel off you could actually make the panel removable. If the glue fails to hold the panel to the door panel this is what I will do and I will update this writeup as well.
Hope this helps someone or atleast saves tham from having to buy the entire panel from the stearlship.