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Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:23 pm

Anybody have a picture of what the plastic should look like behind the door panels? Any idea of where to get replacement or ideas to make your own? I have a '67 VW Beetle. Thanks

Tue Aug 11, 2009 1:41 pm

Search is your friend. Try "door plastic"

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=328118&highlight=door+plastic

Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:05 pm

Thanks bro!

Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:15 pm

I bought mine through here.. http://www.mamotorworks.com/acvw-air-cooled-vw-door-panel-vapor-barrier-kit-1-224-6893.html

Tue Aug 11, 2009 7:43 pm

You can make your own panels out of clear recycling (garbage) bags.

Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:17 pm

I like a heavy 6 or 8 mill plastic. Garbage bags break down. Go yo your local Hardware store and look at the different thicknesses and see what would serve you best. Once you have it Pre cut and ready to install,I like to use "Liquid nails" to adhere it to the door. It works better than spray glue or other types of adhesive. Once adhered it will keep all elements on the outside where it belongs. Check the drain holes and don't forget the rubber inserts for the door clip holes.
If you do it this way it will protect the door panel and not warp and make the heater more efficient .If yuo really want to be Anal use foam around the window and door ahdle cranks and do not forget your springs and window crank buffers.
Sounds like a lot of work ,but worth every minute of it.

Stacy

Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:51 pm

I have read a lot of posts of people saying that they glue the plastic to the door itself. I used a sticky backed plastic sheeting by a company called norton automotive (they supply products for the auto body industry), and like it was done at the factory adhered it to the back of the door panel. It would suck to have to peel the plastic off of the actual door only to re-glue it again if you had to change the door glass or regulator.

Wed Aug 12, 2009 10:13 am

Double sided carpet tape work well for me. I used the door panel as a trace pattern for the plastic, then I just trimmed it so you couldn't see it behind the panel.

Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:25 pm

You could even get the stuff that people put over the windows in the winter time fasten it (glue) to the door and use a blow drier and it schrinks into place as a tight fit.
Me I have never done that just the heavy mill plastic and rubber cement.

Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:13 pm

The proper door barrier is two pieces fastened together, a single layer half way down and two layers the rest of the way. The one toward the door is fastened inside the door opening and runs all the water from the window scrapers inside the door (not inside the car) and out the drain holes. (The scrapers don't really keep out the water that well.)

The layer toward the driver is sandwiched between the door card and the door at the bottom to complete the moisture/wind barrier If you use only one layer inside the door card, the water still runs inside the car and wets the door card.

I made my own with 6 mil poly and gaffers tape. To seal the perimeter under the edge of the card and moisture/wind barrier, I used blu-tac. (There's other names for it, available at office stores) It's a blue modeling clay like material that is used to stick pictures to walls, never dries. Just roll it like spaghetti and press in place.

There are some pics and more on Rob and Dave's site.

RB

Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:21 pm

The plastic is much thicker than trash bags and generic visqueen. It is heavy duty. However, anything is better than nothing to keep the water off the backside of the door panels.

This is the factory plastic in my 67. As you can see it covers the entire opening, with only minor penetrations for the door handle and window crank.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 5:51 am

If you look closely at 67 FD's pic you can see the pucker where the barrier and what I call the inner skirt are joined. Window scrapers are not intended to keep out the rain, they're intended to stop the wind.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:27 pm

If you go to You Tube just type in--VW beetle documentary: shape of quality (2/3)--. This short film not only shows putting on the plastic inner door insulation which you wanted to see, but the whole building of the pan and body including the paint process, headliner and glass installation wiring ect and shows the body drop.

Don

Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:04 am

I purchased a roll of Carpet Shield 24" x 50' Item #: 16201 Model #: CS2450 from Lowes. It has adhesive backing and thickness that is almost exactly like the original I took off and very durable. The 50' roll is only $13.00 so nothing lost if you have to pull it off.

Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:43 am

swinginsalami wrote: Thanks bro!

try thanks maam. or thanks sister.

Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:47 am

JinxedSydney wrote: Search is your friend. Try "door plastic"

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=328118&highlight=door+plastic
the new old baja is 66.

Thu Jun 10, 2010 2:33 pm

6 or 8 mill plastic then use some of that Blue Poster Putty. This works really well and doesn't make a mess. Just purchase about 3-4 packs of it from Staples or OfficeMax and roll them into long narrow snakes then outline the inside of the door with it. The plastic sticks awesome to it. Nice and clean and it's removable.

Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:22 am

Use a shower curtain for heavy duty uses. :wink:

Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:53 am

bill may wrote: try thanks maam. or thanks sister.
:wink:

bill may wrote: the new old baja is 66.
It is ugly. :D

runamoc wrote: Use a shower curtain for heavy duty uses. :wink:
Make it fun, use a patterned shower curtain so the next owner posts under "I'd like to thank the P.O. for..."

Fri Dec 10, 2010 3:57 pm

So where exactly is the inner skirt attached to the inner door? I don't see the pucker effect in the pic above.

What if your outer barrier also had the BluTac outlining the inn most edge of the large opening to the door as well as the perimeter? That way any water inside would not run down between the outer barrier and either collect at the bottom between the barrier and door, or leak out onto the inside of the car?

I am doing this soon and want to do it right. Just trying to understand where the inner barrier goes exactly. And I thought I read it attached inside the door, but then I also thought I saw that it joined the outer barrier too?

I was also thinking that a short skirt attached to the midline of the outer barrier and hanging inside the door frame would provide a runoff ramp for any water that gets inside, then forcing it to run off into the inside of the door.