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Date:         Tue, 28 Dec 2010 09:31:38 -0900
Reply-To:     colorworks@GCI.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject:      Replacement door panels
Comments: To: John Rodgers <inua@charter.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=Windows-1252

<<I need to replace three door panels - one passenger and driver door, and one sliding door panel. The panels are water damaged and deteriorated. I need to acquire replacements and think I will just make my own instead of trying to buy and have shipped so bulky an item. Has anyone done this? I haven't found the right fiberboard yet so am looking for a source. It appears the panel is a tempered fiber/hard board and is between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick - more towards the 1/8 inch rather than the other way. If anyone knows where to get this, or has a suggestion on how to approach the replacing of the panels, please let me know. If I make them, I still have to get them upholstered.

Thanks,

John>>

John:

Depending on the degree of durability you want, there are a number of choices. As you mentioned, 1/8 inch is what you want for thickness as quarter inch is going to be too rigid. Both Lowe's and Home Depot have a variety of decorative panels that are 1/8" to 3/32" thickness, and will handle the job fine. The one drawback there is they are fiberboard, and I suspect a person could put their foot through one pretty easily. Most of them are vinyl coated. Under $20 for a 4x8 sheet.

The 2nd alternative is Baltic Birch, which is available in 1/8", and is considerably stronger than any fiberboard material, and if you want, you can actually stain and varnish it and leave it as is. If you go this route you will need to get different fasteners to secure them. Email me if you need a source.

1/8 inch acrylic panels are also available in a variety of colors. (will never warp again!) Check with your local glass company and they can probably order you 4 x 8" sheets. A guy on the Samba is also selling precut panels in black if you don't want to tackle the cutting yourself. Bus Depot also sells precut panels as does Sewfine.

If you know how to operate a router, you can sandwich the old panel with a new panel and use a flush trimming bit. You will want to rough cut the new panel to within a quarter inch or so with a jig saw. I used the old mounting holes to screw the old panel and new panel together for routing purposes. It's pretty quick to do, assuming your panels are not too badly warped. My sliding door panel was so badly warped, that I could not get the holes to line up and ended up making several panels until I got the mounting holes in the correct position. If your panels are warped, you will more than likely run into problems, so a kraft paper template is real helpful here before you make the final holes. If you have a good template to use, it's pretty straightforward to make these.

Hope this helps.

Troy


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