Best deluxe Replacement Door Panels

[Stanglover]

Thanks to all for your interest and replies. From the three suppliers found here, I am looking closer to Dashes Direct. They claim to use Ford tooling for the dash pads, so I'm wondering about the door panels. The pictures look good and as these are quite a bit more cash than others, is the quality better?? I'm contacting them for more information.

Below is a pic of my friends car . He bought it new, has all the papers etc. and apart from tires, service items and a repaint, it's very original.

 

[SteveO_71]

If you get more info from Dashes Direct or do end up buying from them, post a review of their product. Its always good to have quality vendors to go to or know which ones to stay away from. I'm still wondering now much difference there is in quality ( if any ) for a $300 vs $600 door panel.

Thanks!

 

[Stanglover]

If you get more info from Dashes Direct or do end up buying from them, post a review of their product. Its always good to have quality vendors to go to or know which ones to stay away from. I'm still wondering now much difference there is in quality ( if any ) for a $300 vs $600 door panel.

Thanks!

 Will do. My friend is looking at the suppliers, so it's up to him what he decides, but I'll be involved with helping him. I'm going to do my own research as well for sure. It would be nice to actually have these 'in hand' to see the quality before buying. Unfortunately that's not possible for us.

Geoff.

 

[kcmash]

I had the ultimate bad. The previous owner painted my white interior black and did a very lousy job at that. I also used lacquer thinner and scotch bright to remove the paint, followed by a steam cleaner and Wesley's Bleche-Wite.  The Bleche-Wite works on white seats as good as it does on white walls and RWL tires.

I also went through a box of nitrile gloves in the process.

Watch the Bleche White.  That will easily dry rot things   I used to love it until I trashed a set of BFG tires with dry rot on the sidewall.  Be sure to replenish the moisture with lots of Armour All .

kcmash

 

[donkost]

Interesting regarding your experience with Bleche White. I've been using it since the early 1980's when I worked at an auto parts store that sold quite a bit of it. There were old-timers back then who swore it was the best. I have used it over the years on a number of vehicles, even some which didn't have raised white letters. It just gets the crud off of the tires very well. Never saw any ill-effects from using it. Perhaps you used it over a long period of time on a single set of tires on a low mileage weekend type of car. Also, I'm sure not that I'd want to soak seats down with Armour All. I have read that this discolors and damages vinyl over time. I used to use it as part of my detailing regimen when it was a hot product on the market. I used it on vinyl seats back then (early 1980's) just as a finishing touch on the interior, but got tired of that greasy feeling on seats. It did look nice on the back seat of my '68 GTO but no one ever sat back there, or very rarely. Griot's Garage and other vendors have vinyl dressings with a non-greasy formula.

 

[Stanglover]

While I am yet to contact the three suppliers directly, I noticed that TMI and Mustang Market SEEM  to use the same photo for the door panel. Curious to know if thy are indeed made by one manufacturer. Both do not have the door latch opener part cut out. This alone make me nervous as it will need to be VERY carefully cut out and all too easy to F up. The Dashes Direct one looks like it is completely finished, ready to add the trim and door pulls. Hmmm!

www.dashesdirect.com       $534 -$564

www.tmiproducts.com        $776.98

www.mustangmarket.com  $305 ? Why so cheap!

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I had the ultimate bad. The previous owner painted my white interior black and did a very lousy job at that. I also used lacquer thinner and scotch bright to remove the paint, followed by a steam cleaner and Wesley's Bleche-Wite.  The Bleche-Wite works on white seats as good as it does on white walls and RWL tires.

I also went through a box of nitrile gloves in the process.

Watch the Bleche White.  That will easily dry rot things   I used to love it until I trashed a set of BFG tires with dry rot on the sidewall.  Be sure to replenish the moisture with lots of Armour All .

kcmash

Please oh Please do not suggest the use of Armor All on anything. It will turn your interior into a foggy mess over time and will ruin any chance of refinishing anything. I do not allow it in my garage. I will not buy anything that Armour All has been on.

While touring the Harrah's Automotive museum in years past I observed an elderly man putting something on the interior of a 1920's vehicle. I ask what it was and he said Lexol a leather preservative. He said that they had tested all that was out there and that was all they were allowed to use on any type of upholstery. He had 3,200 + restored vehicles at that time which has since been broken up and sold due to his passing. Here is link to their site. http://www.lexol.com/

I am 70 years old and have used the Wesley's Bleach White all my life and have never had any issues. The tires today are not made of rubber as they were years ago and do not stand up to the UV and chemicals like the older cars. I have a 1950 Ford with it's first set of tires still on and holding air. I have NOS Michiline tires that have never been outside and never had anything put on them and they cracked and are no good and NOS. It is the tire not the Wesley's. There is no reason to clean your tires unless they are actually dirty. Too many people wash their car too much and just feed the rust in all the cracks and places that hold water.

The only reason I used Lacquer thinner on the interior was too keep from throwing it away. It was trash if it could not be cleaned and no mild cleaners had any effect.

Try taking your Armour All and put on vinyl and place in the sun and do it repeatedly and you will see how it damages the material.

A damp cloth to collect the dust is all that is needed once something is clean or new. You need nothing in the water.

When you seen an interior or plastic parts that have that foggy look that is from applying the junk to them and cannot be fixed.

David

 

[SteveO_71]

When I was checking around for mine, seems like the vendors used a representative photo so I dont know how much you can go by the pictures they show. Probably better to talk to them directly.

I believe that Mustang Market makes their own and I talked to they guy right in the shop about construction questions. Sounds like TMI and Dashes Direct also makes their own. Probably CJ Pony, NPD, Mustangs Unlimited and others use these main manufactures as sources. Some of them couldnt answer directly related questions about the panels.

The general consensus seems to be that openings need to be cut for the door cups, chrome strip above the carpet and wood grain trim need to be moved over, hole needs to be drilled for the lock knob, and pull handle needs to be moved over.

For that price, I dont know why the panels dont come more complete. Probably would be even more expensive to make. The prices do vary as much as you show.

You are correct thats its a pain to cut out the door cup. Its probably better to use your original door cup as a template and shave off material a little at a time. I have heard the repro door cups are not the same size as original so maybe that why the openings are not precut?? It would seem like the plastic backed panels would be easier to shape / cut /drill as opposed to the wood backed ones made like the originals.

 

[Stanglover]

When I was checking around for mine, seems like the vendors used a representative photo so I dont know how much you can go by the pictures they show. Probably better to talk to them directly.

I believe that Mustang Market makes their own and I talked to they guy right in the shop about construction questions. Sounds like TMI and Dashes Direct also makes their own. Probably CJ Pony, NPD, Mustangs Unlimited and others use these main manufactures as sources. Some of them couldnt answer directly related questions about the panels.

The general consensus seems to be that openings need to be cut for the door cups, chrome strip above the carpet and wood grain trim need to be moved over, hole needs to be drilled for the lock knob, and pull handle needs to be moved over.

For that price, I dont know why the panels dont come more complete. Probably would be even more expensive to make. The prices do vary as much as you show.

You are correct thats its a pain to cut out the door cup. Its probably better to use your original door cup as a template and shave off material a little at a time. I have heard the repro door cups are not the same size as original so maybe that why the openings are not precut?? It would seem like the plastic backed panels would be easier to shape / cut /drill as opposed to the wood backed ones made like the originals.

 SteveO_71, Good input. You could well be right that they use a generic picture, but I would want a picture of MY companies part if it were up to me!

 I do intend calling each manufacturer for a better understanding, but of course they all want to sell their product and will slant the benefits accordingly. At the end of the day, it will be up to my buddy to make his own choice on what is best for his car. Jack is not what you might call "mechanical" by a long shot, hence needing my help.

As there appears to be only three companies that make these door panels, I was hoping for comments from members who had experience, good or bad, with these three. While other comments are interesting and valid under those circumstances, they are not relative to the question at hand.

Another alternative would be to repair the cracked panel. We have a guy locally who claims to be able to repair vinyl parts, but it's still a repair and can crack again.

 

[rotorr22]

When I was checking around for mine, seems like the vendors used a representative photo so I dont know how much you can go by the pictures they show. Probably better to talk to them directly.

I believe that Mustang Market makes their own and I talked to they guy right in the shop about construction questions. Sounds like TMI and Dashes Direct also makes their own. Probably CJ Pony, NPD, Mustangs Unlimited and others use these main manufactures as sources. Some of them couldnt answer directly related questions about the panels.

The general consensus seems to be that openings need to be cut for the door cups, chrome strip above the carpet and wood grain trim need to be moved over, hole needs to be drilled for the lock knob, and pull handle needs to be moved over.

For that price, I dont know why the panels dont come more complete. Probably would be even more expensive to make. The prices do vary as much as you show.

You are correct thats its a pain to cut out the door cup. Its probably better to use your original door cup as a template and shave off material a little at a time. I have heard the repro door cups are not the same size as original so maybe that why the openings are not precut?? It would seem like the plastic backed panels would be easier to shape / cut /drill as opposed to the wood backed ones made like the originals.

 SteveO_71, Good input. You could well be right that they use a generic picture, but I would want a picture of MY companies part if it were up to me!

 I do intend calling each manufacturer for a better understanding, but of course they all want to sell their product and will slant the benefits accordingly. At the end of the day, it will be up to my buddy to make his own choice on what is best for his car. Jack is not what you might call "mechanical" by a long shot, hence needing my help.

As there appears to be only three companies that make these door panels, I was hoping for comments from members who had experience, good or bad, with these three. While other comments are interesting and valid under those circumstances, they are not relative to the question at hand.

Another alternative would be to repair the cracked panel. We have a guy locally who claims to be able to repair vinyl parts, but it's still a repair and can crack again.

Can one purchase only one panel from Mustang Market. I'm painting one of my originals. so a perfect color match is not a concern . Everyone seems to offer them in pairs only.

 

[Stanglover]

Can one purchase only one panel from Mustang Market. I'm painting one of my originals. so a perfect color match is not a concern . Everyone seems to offer them in pairs only.

All I can say is to call each and ask if there is an odd single one available, but I doubt it.