Full Size Jeep Network

All of my cardboard door panels are pretty gross and torn up. Watching videos of people using either plastic or thin plywood to remake the door panels. I'm into this idea, but can't think of a way to attach the door clips. Any reason I can't just use a few screws on each side to hold the panel in place?

screws and plastic inserts... I used these from your home improvement center and cut the square corner to fit our round receptacle... somebody may a better idea. BJs sells ABS panels... I recoated my cardboard panels with some water repellent... I forgot what I used... yes they are gross...

The original cardboard has some foam padding , aka noise suppression... modern vehicles have a full layer of foam...

Let me find the pict in my sub folder body work below in my sig, the pict shows what I cut off, then remove the wings

Not real keen on plywood for interior paneling in cars. It's not crash-safe. Tends to break into splinters with spiked sharp edges. Plus it's heavy and (currently) expensive.

Instead I would go with cardboard like the original panels, then cover them with vinyl if you want that kind of surface. Your local arts & crafts store will have sheet cardboard that you can laminate together to make the panels. Coat with varnish for water resistance. You can buy the vinyl sheet goods at the fabric store. Attach the vinyl with contact cement and add a thin layer of foam to bulk up the panel, as needed.

I have several times fixed smashed door card edges with more cardboard and glue. 3M 77 is good, or Pliobond. Use the original cards and repair and recover them. If the card is solid, no reason to discard it.

Textured ABS panels seem like a good solution, if you want the off-road truggy/buggy look. Cardboard with vinyl and foam will be quieter. Note that sound deadening works best with alternating layers of different density, ie cardboard - foam - vinyl. Sound-reflective boundaries. I expect the race cars would leave the door cavities open, or cover with thin sheet aluminum.

My 2 cents on the topic - I've made all 4 door panels and one cargo panel (jack storage on the pass side) with plywood and transferred complete panel upholstery from original ones (detailed description in this and this posts).

Original cardboard panels were warped (especially drivers door). Unlike Michel's mine didn't have any foam padding on the panel (not counting tiny foam pieces on the clips) - given that everything looked untouched inside the door, I'd say that by 88 they didn't have any additional sound insulation other than cardboard itself. Maybe they did on earlier years, I don't know.

I didn't have marine grade plywood, so I used regular birch (1/4 or 1/8 thickness, can't remember) and put couple layers of waterproof/sealer on them. Initially I made holes for factory-style metal clips, but later changed all of them too this style



That required grafting plastic inserts into plywood



I also covered whole panel with CCF sound insulation, that helped tremendously with road noise (I also put kilmat on all doors, roof, quarter panels and almost the whole floor)



Overall I'm very satisfied with how it turned out, especially given that it was my first time doing anything like this and I was figuring out the final design as I was going. If I had to do it again I'd never go the plywood route - too much work for waterproofing, tracing, cutting, fitting, etc. Plus what Tim mentioned about safety and splinters from plywood.

I'd get ABS panels (BJ's or from men in black member on this forum, I believe BJ's actually sells his panels), drill holes for plastic clips I've mentioned above, transfer upholstery on them and cover inside with foam. For foam, you want to use closed cell foam (CCF), as it won't absorb/hold any amount of water, unlike open cell.

Another thing with ABS panel is that you'll probably need to heat the up and bend a little to account for that bend in the door metal



With plywood I had to cut top 2 inches of thick plywood off and replace that section with thinner material (I used 1/8 marker board, which is suboptimal, but works) - you can see white section with no foam in 3rd pic. Otherwise you might end up with very noticeable gap between door and panel, more details on that in this post

Sometime in the 1970’s it became increasingly popular to not have visible screws, first outside, then inside of cars and trucks. Some manufacturers then further complicated the process by placing faux fastener heads on parts. This trend was no doubt driven by cost reduction as not only were screws and power drivers no longer needed, the time to assemble was also reduced.

Our Jeeps were originally designed before this trend. I like to see fasteners. It reminds me of fond times working in the vehicle service field.

threepiece wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:40 am Sometime in the 1970’s it became increasingly popular to not have visible screws, first outside, then inside of cars and trucks. Some manufacturers then further complicated the process by placing faux fastener heads on parts. This trend was no doubt driven by cost reduction as not only were screws and power drivers no longer needed, the time to assemble was also reduced.

Our Jeeps were originally designed before this trend. I like to see fasteners. It reminds me of fond times working in the vehicle service field.

Seems a heck of a lot easier, too, than attaching clips that will hold to the door but will also hold to the panel.

tgreese wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:56 am Not real keen on plywood for interior paneling in cars. It's not crash-safe. Tends to break into splinters with spiked sharp edges. Plus it's heavy and (currently) expensive.

Instead I would go with cardboard like the original panels, then cover them with vinyl if you want that kind of surface. Your local arts & crafts store will have sheet cardboard that you can laminate together to make the panels. Coat with varnish for water resistance. You can buy the vinyl sheet goods at the fabric store. Attach the vinyl with contact cement and add a thin layer of foam to bulk up the panel, as needed.

I have several times fixed smashed door card edges with more cardboard and glue. 3M 77 is good, or Pliobond. Use the original cards and repair and recover them. If the card is solid, no reason to discard it.

Textured ABS panels seem like a good solution, if you want the off-road truggy/buggy look. Cardboard with vinyl and foam will be quieter. Note that sound deadening works best with alternating layers of different density, ie cardboard - foam - vinyl. Sound-reflective boundaries. I expect the race cars would leave the door cavities open, or cover with thin sheet aluminum.

Would love to go with cardboard but have been to 5 stores so far and have had no luck finding large panels. Just 12"x12". Ply is definitely my second choice.

sirrus wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 8:27 am
Overall I'm very satisfied with how it turned out, especially given that it was my first time doing anything like this and I was figuring out the final design as I was going. If I had to do it again I'd never go the plywood route - too much work for waterproofing, tracing, cutting, fitting, etc. Plus what Tim mentioned about safety and splinters from plywood.

I'd get ABS panels (BJ's or from men in black member on this forum, I believe BJ's actually sells his panels), drill holes for plastic clips I've mentioned above, transfer upholstery on them and cover inside with foam. For foam, you want to use closed cell foam (CCF), as it won't absorb/hold any amount of water, unlike open cell.

Thanks for the info! Like the idea of using CCF, and will see if I can't track some down.

Search for foamcore or foam board. It's signboard with a printable surface front and back, and expanded foam center.

"The common large sheets come in four Imperial sizes of 8' x 4', 60" x 40", 48" x 36" and 40"x 32"."

You'll probably have to search a bit to find a source near you. Try printing services and sign makers.

Sirrus observation is a very good pointer about the offset at the top...

I resurrected one side for the hell of it, there was a big crease from the lower left on the pict to the speaker cut, added an extra layer of good cardboard using wood glue.



more ugly pict under the Body work link