Door panel repair

[79dentside]

My trucks door panels were TRASHED and honestly needed to be replaced. Before I spent hundreds of dollars on a beautiful new set... I thought I would try repairing them as a last ditch effort. I had fiberglass from other projects, so this is what $24 in duplicolor got me.

Beginning: (Broken and many shades of green)

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Taped over the top so that I had a form to press fiberglass into from the bottom side. I had to keep it thin, otherwise it would not mount into the door again.

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Then did a skim coat of fiberglass over the whole top for structural integrity. I did do a skim coat of bondo after I sanded and sanded and sanded the fiberglass which could have been a mistake... we will se win the long run with potential cracking.

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I wanted to change the interior color anyways, so now was my chance.

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I did away with the carpet panel. Mine had been damaged from water or something and started to separate.

Of course the grain doesn’t match where I fiberglassed, but I am not worried, they aren’t perfect. As long as pieces of my door panel don’t fall off from time to time when I close the door, I’m a happy camper.

These panels were garbage so it was a “no loss” type deal, but I am definitely keeping these on the old girl. Just in case any others were in the same boat. Sure wouldn’t mind having a new set, but I can’t argue with the results I got. Time will tell! If I had to do it again, I would probably try to find an alternative to the skim coat of bondo I did over the fiberglass. I’m worried that the doors opening and closing over time will cause cracks...

 

[SDJunkMan]

Looks good. Keep us posted as to how they hold up.

 

[Charlie]

Very impressive. My first thought was no way to repair only to replace. Great job.

 

[79dentside]

Looks good. Keep us posted as to how they hold up.

I know, right. Best case scenario, these last. Worst case, I buy new panels or get a used set. If I ever restored the truck (it is a rough truck, so probably won’t be doing that), I would buy a new set.

Very impressive. My first thought was no way to repair only to replace. Great job.

Thanks! I thought the same, but as I was adding up my interior parts cost, I wanted to try to cut some costs. I need to do the dash too... or I may buy a dash cap. Haven’t decided yet.

Looking at carpet and seat covers too. The truck is ROUGH. Mechanically, it is built up with a mild 350 and something like 4.56’s, so I am trying to embrace the “sleeper” look which is also why I don’t want to spend a bunch of money on the interior given what the outside looks like. Has some rust, colors are all a little different on it, but it’s a blast to drive.

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[shiftpro]

Manual photoshop!

Impressive results for a first run. Thanks for your story and pics.

 

[80BrownK10]

Looking good. Another Green truck with a camel interior!

That's what mine is now. It originally was brown with camel interior. I took the Silverado trim off and had it painted Chevy dark green. I redid my paint flaking panels back to camel. I also did a dash cap thing. If your not restoring the truck or not trying for that 100% detail look go the cap route. I can't remember the brand I went with at the time now. I can put up some pics of it though. I am so happy with it though.

I know it's different side panels but they both looked about the same at the start.

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[Scotty D]

Looks great, my door panels are bleached out and brittle, and I figured I’d have to pull out a bunch of $$ for new panels and a dash pad. Now I’ve got some ideas to salvage mine.

 

[dvdswan]

Very impressive. My first thought was no way to repair only to replace. Great job.

This was my first thoughts as well. They came out looking brand new. Nicely done for sure.

 

[TubeTruck]

I would have replaced them and spent way too much $$. I love this site and all of the ideas. Good job!!

 

[79dentside]

So an update. I decided to incorporate the dash material into the door pulls and arm rests to tie the interior together better. Will honestly probably do a dark brown door pull and just keep the Swede arm rest.

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Now the bad... I am unsure if this is bondo cracking or crinkling of the paint, it seemed to be peaked at this point, but both planes on each side of the crinkle aren’t higher than the other that I can tell. I either have a little delamination from poor prep or something, OR it’s the bondo splintering. To me, it seems like a little de lamination. I probably should have primered first to perfect it, But I was tired of driving with no door panels, so I just used adhesion promoter.

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Personally, I’m not worried about it, but I felt like I owed you all an update.

Whether it be de-lamination or bondo cracking, I would say take your time and don’t do a skim coat of bondo. I kind of regret doing that over the top of the fiberglass.