Door Card Renewal

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bavbob

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In trying to keep everything original in my E9 restoration, I refurbished the door cards as follows:

This is what I started with , kinda mangled from warped press board.

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I then washed them with a 50-50 simple green and water mixture. The press board needs to get soaked through and through.

Placed them vinyl side down on a flat surface and used boards and free weights to flatten the press board straight. Drying time was about 12 hours. I focused the weights on the specific sites that needed to be flattened. I used wood blocks under the boards for areas that were small to focus the weight on any small, warped areas...

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Once dry and flat, I had this to work with..

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I used JB Weld ( the real stuff rather than the quick dry) to fix any cracks in the press board. If they were big, I had a sheet of 20G steel that was 1/32 thick and cut small pieces to bridge the cracks and used JB weld to hold these in place. I then replaced any broken door panel clips.

Then applied Minwax or Varnathan wood hardened to the press board. It soaked the stuff up. This is almost a thin epoxy-like liquid that bonds the fibers together and really stiffens the board to keep it straight and stop if from warping.


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I followed with another cleaning of the vinyl side and then SEM vinyl paint that was matched to the original by a local shop for me. I really think the wood hardener is the key here. Quite content with the results.

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there are many materials you can use for the door panels. plywood (very thin), waterproof panelboard (from a company like Keyston Brothers or a local auto upholstery shop) ... or reuse the boards in your car as BavBob did. i think he is correct, the hardener is what keeps the panels flat which is what makes them look new (combined with refinishing the visible surface)
 
Bob - are you using the new clips BMW sells to hold these in place? I seem to recall they do not work nearly as well as the original design.
 
Yes and no.

I used all the old clips that were intact. I used new ones otherwise but totally noticed they are not as long and lack a "shelf" to snap into place. On the other hand, the little plastic female ends in the door do not allow the "shelf" to bite into anything anyway. I have some knock-offs from China that are the same length as the originals but have a second collar just below the first one ( the new BMW ones have only one collar). I was worried that the panel would not sit as flush with the knock-offs. I will play it by ear and see what happens when I go to put the panels back...which is a while away. I may swap all the new green BMW ones with the knock offs or look for an alternative if the panel won't lock into place.
 
bavbob said:
Yes and no.

I used all the old clips that were intact. I used new ones otherwise but totally noticed they are not as long and lack a "shelf" to snap into place. On the other hand, the little plastic female ends in the door do not allow the "shelf" to bite into anything anyway. I have some knock-offs from China that are the same length as the originals but have a second collar just below the first one ( the new BMW ones have only one collar). I was worried that the panel would not sit as flush with the knock-offs. I will play it by ear and see what happens when I go to put the panels back...which is a while away. I may swap all the new green BMW ones with the knock offs or look for an alternative if the panel won't lock into place.
Click to expand...

I purchased a set of thin plywood door card backs and transferred the vinyl onto them. When installing them, I used the BMW green clips, but the stiffness of the plywood made it very difficult to get some of them to bite and stay in place. I broke several of them in the process, and a handful of them have let loose on the front of my passenger side door.

I would like to be able to buy a set of replacements with the same design and material as the original, but I was unable to find that option.
 
Probably too late but if you want, I will send you some of the knock offs I have. With the extra collar, they stick out a few mm more than original and may solve the problem (though may have door card away from the door by a few mm also).
 
bavbob said:
Probably too late but if you want, I will send you some of the knock offs I have. With the extra collar, they stick out a few mm more than original and may solve the problem (though may have door card away from the door by a few mm also).
Click to expand...

Bob -- thanks for the kind offer. When I pull the door panels again, I am going to change to something else. I found a Porsche part that looks like our original; I am going to buy a couple of those and compare them. I've also got an e39 part that is longer; perhaps more taper will allow them to go in without breaking.

FYI - the plastic female ends are a water barrier. The replacement clips have that second "shelf" to act as a water barrier, and are designed to be installed without the female end.
 
That makes sense....but my 73 had the longer clips and the female ends. I think BMW performed an aberration on random cars back then just to make life more interesting for later owners.
 
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