Restoring door panels?

[CA Big Red]

I've used the equivalent of bondo to touch up the top of the faded and dried out door panel on the passenger side and then painted the whole thing. That worked okay, but the bondo stuff kind of cracked and it wasn't the best. So, I'm looking for better ideas on how we bring these panels back. Any thoughts?

[LTZ C20]

Buy quality new ones lol

[CA Big Red]

That would be great. Can you get these same door panels and install this trim back on? I thought the aftermarkets couldn't take the stock trim pieces back on?

[LTZ C20]

Sí señor. New ones with provisions for the trim are available as well as all new trim pieces. Everything on that door panel is available new.

[CA Big Red]

Yep. I just looked them up. Set of red panels $199. I tackled this in 2011ish. Seen here and there wasn't the OEM panels at the time. From what I remember. This looked okay until the paint was scratched.

[LTZ C20]

I think the pieces that come in the color you want are made of the correct color plastic. They aren't painted like if you just bought black pieces and painted to the desired color.

[OldGray]

You can repair broken ABS plastic by using a mixture of ABS shavings and Acetone.  I will post pics of the panels I am currently repairing in a separate thread soon.

Use an old piece of ABS plastic and bust it up or grind it into the smallest pieces you can.  Put them in a glass jar and add about an equal amount of Acetone.  Allow it to melt into a slurry - it may take a few hours - stir occasionally.  Use it as a glue or filler, in layers.  I occasionally use mesh fiberglass tape in between layers to add strength.  The ABS slurry will melt into the old ABS and the bond will be as good (or better) than new.

[OldGray]

I ran out and took a few pics of the door panels I recently repaired using the melted ABS trick. 

(FYI - here is a thread I started about ABS repair - http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=32666.0)

The entire top strip of the panel (next to the window glass) had snapped off.  I glued it back and reinforced it.


The screw holes in the door had broken out in a few places.  This one has been repaired.


In the process of being painted a brighter red.

[CA Big Red]

LTZ I went with the new panels. Turned out great. Wish I had ordered the trim and new mirrors. Have since ordered both and will have to tear the passenger panel off when they arrive and then finish accordingly. Now I want to just paint the truck.

[LTZ C20]

That looks great! Where did you end up getting them from? A few of the main more common restore companies have them.

[Captkaos]

If you are wanting to restore them and paint them I would follow the above for repair and I would do the following for painting them.

http://73-87.com/7387garage/interior/vinyl_dye.htm

If the texture is gone, I "fix" them with bedliner like we did for the pillar pods.

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=30672

[CA Big Red]

LTZ I bought them from the place of which we do not speak...

[LTZ C20]

I figured lol. I'll get new panels one day eventually.