Cracks in door arm rests request

[4uall]

Does anyone have this piece? Mine has a plug however, I have no idea why. I do not believe I need one with the plug (second photo)


IMG_0859 by itzebtze, on Flickr


IMG_0860 by itzebtze, on Flickr

[RRoller123]

The plug is where the remote adjust for the outside mirror used to be. You can redo the panel with not too much trouble. I am not very talented at this and I was able to get it done. Replaced the top part which was torn just as yours. I was changing the color scheme over from tan to gray and black too.

Disassembled:



completed:

[4uall]

Well that is encouraging. Easy to take off? How so? Just use new vinyl or something else? You know I love a good photo Thanks

[RRoller123]

It has been a little while, but there is a description of the door panel rebuild on my car's Facebook page: "Red Ryder Lenk". (send a friend request if you are so inclined). It is buried a little way down, but there are a few pictures that should help. The chrome strip that separates the two halves (upper and lower) has split hardware that holds it all together. Not sure what the correct name for it is, but it is like the little brass things that you can put through a sheave of paper to hold it together? Mothers polish cleaned it right up, as it did the door handle andwindow crank. Black Dye restored the handle's plastic bits.

I just bought some heavy vinyl that I liked at the local Joanne Fabric Outlet for like 10 bucks and glued it on, over the existing on one side, because the underlying foam padding was ok, but had to replace the foam padding on the other side so took the original fabric off on that one. It will pull off with some effort. I used Loctite "permanent" spray fabric adhesive and it sucked. It sort of held but I had to superglue some folds on the backside that just wouldn't hold and kept coming up. The superglue was great though. No problems, it holds fine and sets fast.

The hardest part was finding and setting the hardware at the top to install the new window rub felt. This was worth it though! If you are going to rebuild the panel it is worth replacing if worn. Got them from the usual vendors. The hardware that ended up working was a "split rivet" from Ace Hardware down here. Had to experiment for size. There is not enough access to use a pop rivet or a fold over rivet, or any tooling that I could see to set the damned thing. So I set them by initially spreading the pins a little with a screwdriver and then seating them tight with a big ass vise grip. It worked great.

Clean and dye the lower panel first, obviously, and reglue any areas where it is coming loose. The little staples that hold it to the cardboard substrate were all rusty and coming off.

Hope this all helps. It was not too difficult a job and saved a lot of dough that the upholsterer would have charged. Fabric, foam, glue and rivets: maybe 20 bucks total. I forget what the felt window rub strips cost? But it made the rebuild, makes it all look brand new.

Pete

[RRoller123]

Oh yeah, to get the panel off, first off comes the arm rest and cranks and door handle, (get the tool for the window crank clip removal, it is worth it!) then after the door panel screws are removed it just lifts straight up and off. There is a U fold at the top that basically "hangs" on the door frame.

[RRoller123]

Looking at my "disassembled" pic (it is all coming back to me now, lol) those little clips on the chrome strip slide in a groove on the inside of the chrome strip so that you can align them with the door panel holes. The ends of the chrome strip take screws (SS panhead are good for this) that hold it all to the door frame itself when you reassemble everything. A really good design for once. The red arrow in the pic points to the split rivets that hold the window rub felt on.