Repairing interior door panels?

[joetiger]

I just realized this is a very old thread *after* I'd searched the Vanagon List archives to find JordanVW's step-by-step on rehabbing warped panels.

So I'm posting it anyway. And one of my front door panels is warped on the red van so it's useful.

Date: Wed, 1 Feb 2006 10:00:40 EST
Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon>
From: [email protected]
Subject: How to fix your warped doorpanels.. please read!


A lot of times i see people who have warped or lumpy front doorpanels...or
slider door panel.. from leaving the windows down, they get wet, and the
masonite backing distorts and warps. it is a shame to waste the doorpanels which
most often have perfect vinyl.. so here is a fix for those of you who have
lumpy doorpanels.


remove your front doorpanels or slider doorpanel. lay them face down on a
clean flat surface. (clean kitchen floor/cement garage floor etc) lay a thin
white towel or something under them so the face doesnt get dirty.
mist the backs of them with water till the masonite turns dark brown (do
not soak them till there is puddles!) and wipe the masonite with a wet rag,
till the backs are evenly and thoroughly wet.


then lay weight evenly over the back of the doorpanels.. the ideal
situation would be to remove the plastic trim snaps (they spin out) and lay a big
sheet of plywood over the whole doorpanel, and then put weight on top of that
(concrete blocks, car (yes, car), etc)


but i have just done individual areas, where i used bricks with concrete
blocks on top of them as weight in the warped area only. (in this case i just wet
the warped area)


anyway, let the doorpanels sit like that for a few days..until you see the
masonite dry out. the masonite should stay damp for at least a day or so, if
it dries out too quickly then it wont be able to straighten the warped area..


there you go.. i have done the above with great results..


alternately, if your doorpanels are missing or ripped or broken, i do have a
bunch of good doorpanels for sale. various colors.


chris
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'91 Wolfsburg Carat "Barchetta"
'02 Baja-ish Beetle "Bubbles"

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