Door cards or panels

[vikla]

I have a damaged internal door card or panel which I would like to replace and re-trim myself.
Does anyone know who might sell them untrimmed?
The main trim companies only seem to sell them trimmed.
SNGB said they could supply but only at the same price as trimmed panels (their's are from Aldridge at £105 /pair)

I guess the alternative is to make one myself.
My existing ones appear to be thin plywood so I guess not original. New ones seem to be hardboard, is that what the factory supplied?

Thanks

Steve

[JagWaugh]

I'm not sure about the E, but on the saloons they are all Masonite.

A doddle to make out of a sheet of Masonite. A drill, a jigsaw, a file/sandpaper and some clamps and Bob's yer uncle. Clamp your stripped original to a double layer of Masonite (rough to rough) via 2 holes and fasteners/washers/wingnuts, make your trace, remove the original, cut, put the original back on, drill the other holes, sand, varnish, refit the vinyl, fit to car.

The hard part is finding 3mm staples.

I varnished mine with 50/50 thinned polyurethane boat varnish so even if they do get wet they'll stand up to it. The varnishing took longer than the making of the panels.

See https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/IVbhqB The album "doors"

[Simonpfhc]

The majority of suppliers would use hardboard: I know the kit supplied by BAS does. You should definitely make up your own using your original as a template.

Cheers.

[mgcjag]

Hi Steve....recently retrimed the entire interior of my 2+2.....used 3mm mdf....a much more stable product than hardboard......with tbe door panels i also made then 3mm shorter on the bottom edge.....you see so many cars where the door card presses onto the cill and leaves marks (i know its down to door adjustment etc) but you cant see they are 3mm short......when i was looking tbe 3mm staples and gun were hard to get ....Tried a Tacwise hand operated staple gun and 4mm staples and they were fine....did not come through the surface....do not use adhesive on the foam or vinyl on the front face of the door cards if you do and you press on the vinyl you will get indentations that dont come out.....all the best.... Steve

[vee12eman]

Hi Steve.

There's loads of stuff that you can use. I have used hardboard, including stuff I bought from IKEA as surplus! (The back of wardrobes and other furniture).

That was on my Triumph restorations and like others have said, I painted them for extra waterproofing. There is always likely to be water in the doors, even if you don't go out in the rain, cold weather leads to condensation which can lead to surprising amounts of water. I would still recommend using a sheet of polythene as a barrier.

For the E-type I used MDF and as I couldn't find short staples, I simply cut some down. I wasted a few, but not many. Just be careful with locating and cutting the clip holes (which are actually offset from the holes in the door shell) and cutting/trimming the corners of the covering material. Trial fit before you cover it and mark how the clips are aligned which will make it much easier to fit later on when they are covered .

Regards,

[JagWaugh]

Trial fit before you cover it and mark how the clips are aligned which will make it much easier to fit later on when they are covered .

Here's a trick to getting the clips very close to the right place on the first try.

When you take the panel off the car, lay it on a sheet of unprinted newspaper which is laid on a soft pad (a sheet of soft Styrofoam is perfect), then press the panel down with the palm of your hand wherever there is a clip. This will puncture the newspaper. Now trace some locating marks of the edge of the card with a pencil. Mark the sheet indicating which side of the car. If you cut 1/4" holes (Fold along the middle of the mark and use a paper punch) where the marks are you've got a perfect record of where the holes in the door are.

[vikla]

Thanks for the replies and advice.

Regarding Steve's comment about the card marking the sill vinyl, that's where I started out from.
I had this problem on one door and I wanted to replace the sill vinyl because of the marking.
Before that I decided to remove the door card and trim a few mm of the forward bottom edge. That's when I discovered the thin plywood was breaking up and the clips would not hold onto it.

I have now just discovered another problem - I had all the centre part of the interior (boot to dashboard including seats) re-trimmed a few years ago by an independent trimmer. He bought Old Grey vinyl from BAS. However I have now discovered they no longer stock this and just do one very light plain grey which is a lot different from the previous, or the original material.

Old Grey is a light grey with a darker 'speckle' or 'fleck' in it and this was the original type used by Jaguar.
Aldridge offer Old Grey but their sample has no speckle. Still awaiting a sample from Skinners.
The nearest I have found is from Martrim who supply the trade but even that is not the same as the Old Grey from BAS.
All very frustrating...!
Anyone know of other vinyl suppliers?

It all gives me a quandary because if I want to finish off the interior and buy some pre-trimmed quarter panels, rear side panels and wheelarch covers will I be able to find anything the same as the Old Grey from BAS...

[mgcjag]

Hi Steve....it may be worth you actually sending samples out if you have them or visiting the trimmers to see if they have some old stock.....if you just ask for samples they will just send out from a new roll of what they can get now..Aldrige have lots of old stock....work out what you need and try around

[vikla]

I have now got some Old Grey vinyl from Martrim, who seem to be a big trade supplier - http://www.martrim.co.uk/

They have the choice of both Vinyl, which is stretchy for seats and 3-D curves etc, and also Vynide (rexine) which is not stretchy so suitable for door panels and sills, etc. The backing on the Vinyl makes it quite a bit thicker.

I see from Clausager's book that grey trim for S1 4.2 cars was only on 308 of them. It is very clear that the original trim on my car is of the Old Grey type and not the plain greys that most cars get re-trimmed in.