Door panel repair
 

Is there any good way to basically rebuild a door panel? The previous owner of my car destroyed the driver's side door panel in removing it, and of course it's black so $$$ to replace. All the mounting holes are ripped out from dumbass never having heard of a SCREWDRIVER, the nuts holding the wood onto the panel around the door handle are gone so that area is loose, the bezel that accepts the door/window/mirror switches is broken so the switch assembly won't snap in anymore (has nothing to latch into), etc. I figure it's pretty much trashed, but has anyone redone a door panel, like with a replacement backing board or something? I'd like to not have to drive around with a naked door inside anymore. :(

Have you tried using 1/8 inch MDF or possibly speaker grille cloth impregnated with fiberglass resin. You can find the speaker grille cloth at Radio Shack and the MDF/Fiberglass resin at Home Depot. You would need to reinforce the broken parts with these materials. I don't know how "trashed" your door panel truly is but you should be able to repair it enough to be usable. Pictures of what you are describing would be very helpful. Let me know if you would like to know more.
Good luck!

I'll charge my digital while I'm at work today and try to post pics tonight.

if all else fails pm aliga and i bet he could find what you are needing as a replacement.

i think alot of things on those panels detach from eachother, you might be able to source the different parts instead of needing the whole thing

Around $140.00 for the new replacement piece. Call Sewell and ask for Reagan. I replaced my drivers and passengers side less than a year ago. Best dollars I ever spent.

Shane

For a full door panel? In black? That seems remarkably low, not that I'd be complaining. :D

It might be for the lower portion, but if not, Im buying a set for myself as a spare!

Um yeah. Lexus of Pembroke Pines' parts catalog shows black door panels as selling for almost $1200 EACH. SSmith, what clarification can you provide?

The previous owner of my car did the exact same thing... he literally ripped both door panels off, and the lower armrest part is broken in half on both of them. You can detach the arm rest part from the rest of the panel, are the lower parts really only 140$ each? Are all of the colors the same price?

some colors are discontinued. i.e. spruce interiors

You can basically rebuild anything providing you've got the time and patience. If you can get a door card from Toyota for $140 then do it and spray it black using vinyl spray. If they are $1200 then it's worthwhile rebuilding.

I did this a while back, and used a DIY fibreglass kit to build up, reinforce and replace parts of the card from the back, including sections that had large holes ripped in them due to the hamfisted previous owner. I made some large 'washers' out of aluminium to prevent the screws from pulling through the card again. I too had a situation where the window control surround was competely missing, and I rebuilt it with a piece of perspex cut to the appropriate shape using a Dremel. I glued and screwed it to the remaining plastic, blended it in using a layer of fibreglass and body filler. Sand, re-fill, repeat. I then covered the entire lower part of the door card with Microsuede.

What's perspex? And was your DIY 'glass kit specifically for this application, or just general cloth/resin stuff? Any pics of your reinforcement efforts?

I was SUPER pissed a few weeks ago when I discovered how jacked up the panel is, and that's the last time I looked at it closely. I'll have to take a closer look with an eye toward rebuilding and see what I can discover.

$140.00 is for the lower portion but that consist of most of what he was talking about. The door panel comes a part in two sections. The upper part is a lot more expensive but mine were in great shape so I only had to replace the bottom. I believe the part number for one of mine (tan) is 71812-24040-08. This picture is from the Carson site and they have the bottom piece listed at $200.00. Sewell was cheaper. I think the upper door piece is around $500.00

Hope that's clarification enough. If not feel free to call Reagan at Sewell (214) 353-2056 for "complete" clarification.

Shane

why not buy the whole door panel from aliga, it will save you time and money!