Door Trim Refurbishment
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Driver
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: Sydney Australia
Door Trim Refurbishment
Like most of us, my door trims are in a bad state. I bought a spare set, and have started to refurbish them.
I have concentrated on the bottom half of the door trim, and have so far stripped off the vinyl, foam and glue. Once I had removed the vinyl, the door trim basically crumbled. I would suggest that most of our trims are held together by the vinyl covering! The plastic was very brittle due to its age. It is also quite thin, and some sections are narrow and prone to breaking. It was so bad I had to completely fabricate a new section of the door trim around the drivers window controls out of perspex, as it was unusable.
I then applied a thin layer of fibreglass over the entire outside of the trim - including the speaker grill. Reason being, the width of the door trim near the grill is only about half an inch, and it could crack again. I intend to make a slightly smaller opening once I have progressed further, which will be hopefully be much less prone to cracking.
The door trim is now very sturdy, and I will be sanding and filling with bondo over the weeks to come.
I have concentrated on the bottom half of the door trim, and have so far stripped off the vinyl, foam and glue. Once I had removed the vinyl, the door trim basically crumbled. I would suggest that most of our trims are held together by the vinyl covering! The plastic was very brittle due to its age. It is also quite thin, and some sections are narrow and prone to breaking. It was so bad I had to completely fabricate a new section of the door trim around the drivers window controls out of perspex, as it was unusable.
I then applied a thin layer of fibreglass over the entire outside of the trim - including the speaker grill. Reason being, the width of the door trim near the grill is only about half an inch, and it could crack again. I intend to make a slightly smaller opening once I have progressed further, which will be hopefully be much less prone to cracking.
The door trim is now very sturdy, and I will be sanding and filling with bondo over the weeks to come.
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Thread Starter
Driver
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 191
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From: Sydney Australia
The covering is charcoal Microsuede, the paint is Satin Black vinyl spray on the doorhandle and carpet. The Microsuede is darker in reality, the camera has kindly adjusted the contrast.
I also took the oportunity to reinforce the rear of the door cards where the plastic lower section joins the cardboard upper section, and where both sections attach to the door frame. I made plastic 'washers' out of a pool chrorine bucket cut to size and shape with a pair of snips, and used extensive amounts of epoxy resin glue and putty to bolster the screw holes and plastic peg locations.
I also took the oportunity to reinforce the rear of the door cards where the plastic lower section joins the cardboard upper section, and where both sections attach to the door frame. I made plastic 'washers' out of a pool chrorine bucket cut to size and shape with a pair of snips, and used extensive amounts of epoxy resin glue and putty to bolster the screw holes and plastic peg locations.
Last edited by lawrenceO; Feb 16, 2009 at 06:17 PM.
Nice job. just to let everyone know though. The replacement lower portion for the door is available at Sewell Lexus for about $105.00 each. I bought brand new one's for the same reason as this post.
Shane
Shane
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Driver
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 191
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From: Sydney Australia
I would have bought new ones like a shot - but consider that the Soarer was never imported into Australia by Toyota, so parts are an arm and a leg. Plus I was never happy with spruce as an interior colour and wanted the change, and I'm not sure if I could bring myself to respray a brand new part....!