Deluxe door panel installation?

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi All,

I've recently bought a pair of deluxe door panels from Mustang Plus, but there is no instillation guide included. Does anyone know if there is a guide for this please? I can't find one on YouTube.

Any advice gladly received.

 

[Austin Vert]

Hi Mark,

I wrote a post last year on installing my own repro set in my Convertible.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-austin-vert-s-deluxe-door-panel-nightmare

If you want specific answers to any particular questions, i would be glad to help you as i did the whole install my self, and am very familiar with what's involved.

Cheers,

Greg.

 

[luxstang]

Yeah, Gregs thread covers it well.

I did them on mine too, if you need something, just ask.

I must admit that mine were a pain to install though.

 

[72HCODE]

you will want a dremel tool with a router bit, and there will be hours and hours of trial and error and adjust and retry.

the punched out tabs for the clips have to be reworked once you get the door handle installed and setup for how the door opening latch handle cover sits.

when you make the cut outs, do not cut the cover material at the same time. make the cuts from the back side through the plastic base but do not punch through until the end, then cut back the cover material so you can wrap it around the base plastic so the edges look nice.

you will need the original door cards there are pieces you have to take off of them that are not reproduced for the door handle mounts.

years ago some more door panel parts were not reproduced like today so you needed to take more pieces off the original doors to reuse them.

it took me about 2 weekends to get the door panels ready for a trail fit inside the car.

then another day or 2 of fitting the panels to the doors so the snap fasteners fit correctly, if you don't take the time to align all the fasteners and cut the clip holders larger in some areas then when you force the panels onto the door frame the clips will not seat and when you slam the door the panel will pop off.

really you want to have an original set of door cards along side the reproductions so you can figure out how to make the cuts you need. always cut smaller then you need because you can enlarge it after by hand so everything fits tight.

i had my original door panels which were completely ruined but i was able to transfer parts off them and use them next to the reproduction panels to figure out what i needed to cut or change to make work.

 

[Thin Lizzy]

Wow, so it's not such a straight forward task then. Thanks for the link and the detail information. I'll give it a go as mentioned. Also, how does the old / existing panel detach from the door please?

Thanks.

 

[Mister 4x4]

While I recommend being as meticulous about the details as you can afford to be before making permanent cuts or trimming as Dan outlines, it actually is pretty straight-forward... but the exact positions of the various things on the door panels may vary from car to car as well as panel to panel.

I literally sat down the morning of the day before I was supposed to have my car entered in a car show, and knocked out the door panel in about 2 hours each. My old panels were shot (as in literally disintegrating) and had been discarded years before after I harvested ALL of the trim pieces from it. Using a combination of restored pieces and repop pieces, I was able to get all the door trim, bezels, window felts, etc., cut-in and installed in roughly 4 hours before moving on to the other things I still had to finish up before it would've been ready (I had to pull my dash pad out something like 3 times for various reasons, for instance).

The best thing to remember is to make all of the cuts for openings on the small side, and enlarge in small steps as necessary.

Are my panels installed perfectly? Nope... because they're repops, they are a little long here, a little short there. Mine are installed in the 'average' between the two - all of the hardware for the functional pieces are aligned with their mounting holes, and the panels are just a tiny bit out of place. Is that going to bother me? Nope... it's a restomod, and after seeing how bad it's been for the past 4.5 years, I can honestly say I couldn't be happier with how they came out (and I will acknowledge that there was a great deal of luck involved in getting there).

 

[goodnigh]

I got mine from Don of OMS several years ago and as I remember

they just popped right on. You need to be careful with the wood

grain insert as those pins are relatively fragile.

mike

 

[72HCODE]

the panels use push in clips like these.

http://ohiomustang.com/store/order_page.asp?itemid=482

one end slides on the back side of the panel in those elongated holes, the other side snaps into holes in the door frame.

using a flat pry tool you located each clip and pop it out of the door frame with a little force.

work from the bottom of the door up around the edges. remember to remove all the covers and you will need to pull the window regulator handles. once the clips are popped lift the panel up and out of the way.

there should be the water shed membrane paper behind the panel, there should also be a Spring behind the panel on the window regulator shaft , this spring pushes the panel out to meet the regulator handle so it looks nice.

there are little things the reproduction panels do not have like the window whiskers, you will need to replace them they get riveted or stapled to the reproduction panel depending on what company you buy them from. there is also a top trim molding that includes the inside window whisker and it has a stainless steel trim top that sits on top of the panel. these get riveted into the repro panel

you will need to also locate the door lock grommets those get pressed into the new panel and then you spread the bottom out.

the devil is in the details, throw nothing out until the job is 100% completed and you are happy.

if you take the time then they look just as good as original panels. they are not perfect but unless you want to spend insane money for NOS parts they are the only game in town.

all the details is why it took me days to complete them. you may not realize you missed something until you put it next to the original panel and you notice the missing part.

today more parts of the panels are reproduced like the chrome carpet trim and the wood inserts, years ago they were not. so you had to mix more reproduction parts with NOS ford parts to get a good complete door panel.

my original panels



reproduction panels i spent days on making sure i didn't miss any details



prepping the doors



fitting the reproduction panels, sorry i don't have better photos.





after i finished the fit of these panels every couple of months new reproduction parts would come out so i kept improving the panels as time went on.

for example those door clips are suppose to have anti-rattle foam on them. AMK products eventually came out with the oem correct red door clips with anti rattle inserts. hard to see but the top 2 rows of clips are anti rattle, and they make a Huge difference of the fit and finish of the panels when you drive or slam the doors. (anti rattle)

you can make your own anti rattle pads, you need dense closed cell foam, cut into squards with 2 slits on the sides and it slides into the clips the foam sits between the metal door frame and the plastic of the reproduction panel, they also hold the panel tighter to the door frame.

the window regulator spring i found out about later and you install it after the panel is installed. you put the spring on the window regulator handle shaft with the narrow side towards the outside of the car, and twist the spring into the hole, once in the wide side pushes the center of the door panel out so it fits flush with the window regulator handle there is a chrome finish plate that sits between the door panel and the regulator with a teflon washer.

i did this 10 years ago so i'm sure i'm forgetting some more details.

 

[Thin Lizzy]

Thanks for the write ups, superb!

How do the old / existing deluxe panels remove from the door please?

 

[72HCODE]

Go around the door unscrew all Phillips head screws you find remove the plastic covers and the regulator, the regulator has a finish decal of brushed aluminum that covers the screw In the center, so you need to pry that off to get to the screw. You can buy new decals for that to replace the covers. Then use a flat pry bar to pop all the hidden clips between the panel and door frame to remove the panel from the door.

 

[Bill73Ragtop]

These are well worth the investment. Also I have found that sometimes if you don't get the clip perfectly lined up, they can easily distort when you snap them in place. Don't bother trying to re-adjust it, just replace it with another.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/271598310883?lpid=82&chn=ps

 

[mrmach1]

the panels use push in clips like these.

http://ohiomustang.com/store/order_page.asp?itemid=482

one end slides on the back side of the panel in those elongated holes, the other side snaps into holes in the door frame.

using a flat pry tool you located each clip and pop it out of the door frame with a little force.

work from the bottom of the door up around the edges. remember to remove all the covers and you will need to pull the window regulator handles. once the clips are popped lift the panel up and out of the way.

there should be the water shed membrane paper behind the panel, there should also be a Spring behind the panel on the window regulator shaft , this spring pushes the panel out to meet the regulator handle so it looks nice.

there are little things the reproduction panels do not have like the window whiskers, you will need to replace them they get riveted or stapled to the reproduction panel depending on what company you buy them from. there is also a top trim molding that includes the inside window whisker and it has a stainless steel trim top that sits on top of the panel. these get riveted into the repro panel

you will need to also locate the door lock grommets those get pressed into the new panel and then you spread the bottom out.

the devil is in the details, throw nothing out until the job is 100% completed and you are happy.

if you take the time then they look just as good as original panels. they are not perfect but unless you want to spend insane money for NOS parts they are the only game in town.

all the details is why it took me days to complete them. you may not realize you missed something until you put it next to the original panel and you notice the missing part.

today more parts of the panels are reproduced like the chrome carpet trim and the wood inserts, years ago they were not. so you had to mix more reproduction parts with NOS ford parts to get a good complete door panel.

my original panels



reproduction panels i spent days on making sure i didn't miss any details



prepping the doors



fitting the reproduction panels, sorry i don't have better photos.





after i finished the fit of these panels every couple of months new reproduction parts would come out so i kept improving the panels as time went on.

for example those door clips are suppose to have anti-rattle foam on them. AMK products eventually came out with the oem correct red door clips with anti rattle inserts. hard to see but the top 2 rows of clips are anti rattle, and they make a Huge difference of the fit and finish of the panels when you drive or slam the doors. (anti rattle)

you can make your own anti rattle pads, you need dense closed cell foam, cut into squards with 2 slits on the sides and it slides into the clips the foam sits between the metal door frame and the plastic of the reproduction panel, they also hold the panel tighter to the door frame.

the window regulator spring i found out about later and you install it after the panel is installed. you put the spring on the window regulator handle shaft with the narrow side towards the outside of the car, and twist the spring into the hole, once in the wide side pushes the center of the door panel out so it fits flush with the window regulator handle there is a chrome finish plate that sits between the door panel and the regulator with a teflon washer.

i did this 10 years ago so i'm sure i'm forgetting some more details.

Those look great and you would never know they're repops. Good job great post.


If anybody is in need of the wood grain insert for the drivers side I have one for sale cheap. I also have the chrome trim piece as well and again I'm not looking to get a lot for it. Pm me if your interested.

 

[72HCODE]

as Bill73Ragtop stated if those clips deform don't bother trying to bend them back, replace them,, have a 50 clip bag of them you can get from various restoration places. if you mess one up as you go replace it and you can stick the anti rattle foam from the previous one. what i did was used a bag of clips during fitting knowing they would get ruined. so the door panels had to come on and off like 100s of times before it got it almost like i wanted.

you have lots of flexibility with those clips, you can turn them in the pockets but mostly i found the pocket wasn't deep enough to move the clip to where the mounting hole was in the frame. so i would router out the pockets for the clips deeper so i could move the clips towards the holes. you had to be very careful not to punch through the backing material for the panel covers.

what i found comparing the reproduction panels to my original ones was dimensionally they were the same, but the plastic mold was out of alignment slightly.

now i must of had a first run on those reproduction panels so i don't know if these improved or got worse over the years.

at the time the panels only came in black and they were not dye able at the time. since my interior was vermillion and totally trashed i opted to change to black interior.

later they offered more color options for the reproduction panels and now i believe the white doors are dyable to any color you want.

i think many people felt the panels were either short or long in some areas because they didn't make adjustments to the plastic holders for the clips they assumed everything would just line up and snapped them into the door frames. so they don't sit right as is with adjustments and more cutting with a router you can center the panel very well.

you can still tell reproduction from stock but they will look really close to OEM.

It was actually harder to make the reproduction door handle pulls and panel alignment work then anything else. i had to carefully think were i was going to punch holes for the hardware to hold the door handle pulls, and i had one shot to get it right. you had to get the ribs on the handle to line up with the pattern on the panel and i can remember really pulling on the panel materials to get everything close before punching the drill holes and transferring some hardware from the original door pulls. I also remember using my sanding wheel to remove material on the backside of the reproduction door handles to make them sit correctly the molding on those handles was VERY unclean and you had extra rubber from the injection mold like a bad model car resin kit.

the reproduction panels are not as crisp as original and the backing panel in the handle area isn't molded close enough to the top cover so you have to do some guess work making the handle work with the panel you have. plus you have 1 shot to do it or spend another 200-300$ on another panel.

for me it was very slow and nerve-racking because i wanted it to look as good as possible and look stock as well.

really hard for me to believe but, i put the door panels together in 2005 in my basement over a few weeks and they got installed in the car in June 2006 with 2 days worth of fitting.

 

[Mister 4x4]

My door handles don't fit 100% as nice and tight as yours do... but then again, they didn't on my OE door panels, either. They were only really "close" on the original panels, and I found I had to trim a little bit of material on the door handles to get 'em to fit even as tight as they do. I think I might have about 1/16" - 3/32" lip on the transition from door panel to door handle - not perfect, but bearable.

 

[Thin Lizzy]

Thanks for all the information, much appreciated .