PERRYinLA

Looking at 933005spd's post and his photos (see specifically http://www.mycrobyte.com/lex14.jpg , inserted below) prompted me look at my door and, sure enough, I am beginning to see the vinyl starting to tear at the same position, where my arm would rest when my window is down.

It is "z" shaped and only about 3mm long right now, but I am trying to keep it from getting worse. I can feel and see that the material underneath the vinyl has broken at that point. Thanks to the posts of many members, I know how to remove the inner door panel, but how is this piece that is cracking removed? It looks to surround the entire window frame, and includes the tweeter mount. I just looked at all 2550 SC postings (well, it was a slow day at work) and didn't see any information on the subject, except that a replacement will set me back $200+. I'm guessing I must remove the tweeter, exposing a screw, and the rest of the frame is attached with pop-out fasteners.

If anyone can tell me how this "interior window frame" is safely removed, I'll post photographs of any reinforcement fix I come up with. I just hope the vinyl does not tear any further before I can get to this! Thanks in advance and wish me luck in removing this frame without making the tear any worse!

MadMaxSC400

I had the same problem - the only way really is to replace it.. not hard at all though and the part is relatively cheap.

Skulinex

Tell you the truth, my gf fixed it with one of those leather fix kits, give me a day or so to find out everything <brand, how to bla bla bla> , also see if I can take some pics, she did a very good job and she's not done yet, something about have to sand it off, I just remember she used some type of heat gun or something, the crack used to be bigger than yours and now is like nowhere to be seen!!

anthracitetarga

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad that mine is on the pass. side. It is beigger than th eone pictured, but since it's on the pass. side, i don't really remember about it. My old gf didn't even notice it until i showed it to her. (she'd riden in the SC for about 2 wks. at that time). Should a leather repair shop be able to fix it, b/c im gettin the top of the rear seats done, and i could just go ahead and have them do the door while they got the car.

joelchicago

I've got the same thing on my 92. Same place. It's the weak spot in the plastic frame around the window. The plastic underneath, right by the screw hole, cracks from the pressure of an arm. You can use a leather repair kit to do the work. I had a mobile leather repair place quote me like $50 to fix. They said it was no biggie. Otherwise, hunt the Lexus boneyards!

Removing that trim is VERY simple. There are 4-5 screws on the bottom of that piece, exposed when the rest of the door panel is removed (yes, that really needs to come off first). The rest of it snaps right off- there are clips all the way around - maybe about 10 of 'em. Just take your time and you won't break them - they are pretty good ones, easy to pop loose with just a tug. You will NOT need to remove the tweeter - that is just a tweeter cover. Simple simple removal of unscrewing the bottom and pulling the rest loose!

Keith13b

iTrader: (3)

Once all of the screws are removed, I've found it easier to slide the trim off, as opposed to pulling it off. Some of those snaps are brittle, and they slide on to the trim as well as snap on to the door. The white fasteners will stay attached to the door, and you slide the trim off the fasteners. You can do it either way, I just found that way easier for me.

I used JB weld to fix the cracks in the plastic under the vinyl. I did not have the vinyl ripped, but did use it to tfix the many cracks in the plastic. You'd be amazed how many cracks there are. JB weld is your firend!!!



Keith

PERRYinLA

Thanks for everyone's advice- I removed the lower door panel, then carefully popped off the upper window frame- there are 3 clips on the back edge, 3 along the top, and 3 along the front diagonal A-pillar.

The thin black plastic frame was cracked, but the vinyl around it was still intact, so I took some pliars and ripped out the 2 ribs in the channel right near the crack. This opened up a 7 inch long continuous channel, perfect for hot-gluing a 3/8" wooden dowel that reinforces that area. Epoxy, fiberglass resin or JB Weld, as Keith said, would have worked just as well.

Once I popped it back on, I stuffed some foam under that area to support it better so that my arm resting on it does not bend it significantly. It now is solid, and should not tear anymore. You can see in the photo below the results- there's the yellow foam sticking out slightly, and the small tear in the vinyl that shouldn't get any bigger.

awj

Nice work. That crack in the first post is now my crack. I'll be looking at this soon.

PERRYinLA

Well, I had yet to face the hot summer when I posted that fix above, and sure enough, the recent heat caused that hot glue repair to fail, so I yanked off the inner door panel this past weekend to do a more complete repair. Below you can see what I did. I first removed all the old hot glue, and removed a few more of the inner plastic ribs, creating a foot long channel. I placed a bunch of metal reinforcement rods in the channel and sealed it all up with some polyester fiberglass resin. Here's a close up:


The entire channel:


Another close up after the final layer of resin:

PERRYinLA

Finally, I cut up a piece of wood with a lower "lip" to support the plastic, and screwed it into one of mounting holes. Now, when I place my arm in the area, there's no flex since the wood holds it up. The next time you have your inner door panel off, take a look at this area and if you see any signs of cracking, you might want to install a similar reinforcement now, before you need it.

2autumn

Additional support using 1/2" angle iron instead of the wood piece suggested above.

I am fixing mine with the rods like you have. However I have also cut 3 x 4" lengths of 1/2" angle iron which fit over the rods and the profile of this matches the ribs that have been removed exactly.

Thus the angle iron totally supports the top panel, as each piece of angle iron makes direct contact with the lower panel.

The reason I could not use one long piece of angle iron was because top panel is not completely straight. I will post pictures if I can borrow my neighbor's camera.

2autumn

I am going to do the same thing to my passenger door, even though it has not cracked. - Preventative maintenance!

Bentley1

Although reinforcing the panel is a great idea, the crack still looks lousy. Since you were already in there taking it apart and working on it, why didn't you replace the panel with a used one from the junk yard, or buy a new one? I heard the piece isn't that expensive. Did you find otherwise?

PERRYinLA

What can I say? Of course it can be replaced with a new one. That's so obvious a solution that most "how-to-fix" threads, including this one, don't bother to mention that option (well, until now, that is).

The easiest thing in the world is to go to a dealer and say "here is all my money- fix my car". Dealers love to hear that. But if that is how you approach problems, you don't need this web page. The reason a lot of us come to this web page is to find out ways to maintain our cars without spending that kind of money.

But to answer your question specifically, a new window frame is about $200. Whether that can be considered "expensive" is a personal choice, although I guess you know 2autumn's and my opinion.

Bentley1

Chill out, man. Who said anything about the "dealer" fixing it? You CAN buy parts from them, you know, and install them yourself...

You failed to mention anything about the junkyards. The piece you are talking about could be purchased at a fraction of what the dealer quoted you. And yes... you COULD install it yourself, and still rig up your little wooden support underneath.