I've taken the driver's door panel off, and unpeeled the liner.

Now that the door is naked and exposed, I'd like to fix several things at once, rather than wearing the adhesive liner out by sticking and unsticking several cycles.

Here's a short list of some potential fixes I foresee taking care of while in there, and would welcome some how to advise on:

1. The door ajar light. Mine went out over a decade ago, and the gallon of WD40 I sprayed into the latch did NOT fix it. In fact, it turned it from an intermittent issue into a permanent problem. I'd like to fix it now, as I miss having a light at night when the door is open. How do I fix it? Links, part numbers, tips, pictures, videos, search terms... all info welcome.

2. Bottom door rust. I don't really have much, but I see very faint hints of paint bubbling under the lower door weatherstrip barrier, which I have also removed. I've read about two schools of thought on preventative maintenance.

A. Pour oil or grease into the bottom of the door.

B. POR15 paint in the bottom of the door.

So basically, oil or paint? Obviously, one can't paint if one does oil, but on the other hand, some say that paint... especially thick paint like POR15, can actually do more harm than good by trapping moisture in the bottom pinch flange, or by creating craters or tunnels where water can burrow and then get trapped, rotting the metal away. What are your thoughts and experiences on this? I'd prefer a solution that minimizes the number of times I have to unstick the interior liner from the door.

3. I'm doubling the lower door weatherstrip with a combination of the older and newer designs. Ford sells the weatherstrip with clips attached, but neither those clips, nor the original clips, are really effective for what I'm trying to do. I've already done the rear doors, and made it work with the original clips, but they are brittle, and I lost a couple to breakage. Today, I broke three clips pulling the old weatherstrip off of the door.

I can't find these clips anywhere locally... I've tried every variety the auto parts and auto body stores sell, and Ford doesn't sell these clips separately from the weatherstrip... and even if Ford did, they OEM clips are not long enough to hold the double deployment of old and new styles of weatherstripping. So, if you happen to know of a good comprehensive online resource for automotive interior body fasteners and clips, please kindly post up some links to those resources.

In searching this issue, it appears that a lot of people have broken these clips, which stands to reason with plastic in baking inside a hot door for 15 years. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would benefit from finding a good source of automotive clips.

4. Mirrors. I'm finally getting around to this, and this is what motivated the door panel removal in the first place. I need the dog bone harness that converts from a round connector to the flat style connector. Specifically, I need part numbers 1C3Z-14A411-AA and 1C3Z-14A411-BA. Ford didn't originally sell these dogbone harnesses separately, but included with the purchase of newer style outside rear view mirrors in case the translation harness was needed. Sometimes it was, sometimes it wasn't, so there would often be these unused harnesses left over. If you happen to have such a pair of unused translation harnesses, or know of someplace that does, please post.

5. Jimmy Jammers. Will they cause more harm than good? Does a better alternative exist? Thinking of installing these while I"m in there, but worried the door will be damaged worse as the thief tries to fight their way in. And, with body on shell doors, there appears to be much easier ways to break into an SD anyway, so part of me thinks, why bother? What are your thoughts?

Well, that's about it for my huge "open door" (ha ha) project this month. I've already dynamatted the sheetmetal years ago when I first got the truck, so that isn't on the to do list anymore... but if you think of anything else I should do inside the door, please suggest away.

Thanks!

 

When I was in Paint & Body we got clips from the paint store for door panels, moldings etc. They were not OEM but they had a big assortment you could just match up. That particular paint store was locally owned but now owned by Finish Master. So you might try that if you have any automotive paint supply houses.

 

I've scoured my nearby FinishMaster (used to be locally owned too, like yours) as well as the last remaining locally owned body paint store in my area. I've bought several packages of various clips, and darn it if not one of them worked right. Very logical and valid suggestion though... I'm just trying clamp on a little too much for such a skinny hole with such a short depth.

I did my rear doors last year, finally. It only took about 13 years after buying the newer style weatherstrips for me to get around to doing this mod. Long ago I envisioned it would work on a whim, and it does, but I don't want to spend as much time fighting clips on the front doors as I did on the rear doors.

My conceptualizaion is that the original older style door seal nests inside of the newer style door seal at the mounting surface on the door itself, such that the tongue of the older style seal slides under the bottom angled surface of the door rocker sill and deflects the road grime away from the newer style seal that compresses against the vertical face of the rocker sill. Since by pre deflection the newer style seal remains cleaner, it thus maintains better (continuous) contact with the rocker sill.

This is what the end result looks like when complete, as done on my rear doors...




The problem is finding a clip that can handle the double thickness of rubber at the door mounting end... thicknesses made even thicker by the two small ribs on the older seal... yet the clip post must still be skinny enough to fit through the door holes, and be short enough at the retention teeth end to fully engage the teeth against the interior door skin without the post end jamming against the outer door skin.

 

Maybe door speakers... At least make sure they are tight. Mine weren't.

Where did you get the lower door seal? I owned my truck sense 30K miles and they don't exist.

 

The trapezoidal tubular seal is the original seal made from Early 99 to about 2000. They haven't been available anymore for many years.

In later 2000, probably beginning at Job 1 of the 2001 model year, Ford experimented for a while with not installing any lower door seals at all, especially if the truck came originally equipped with cab steps. This cost cutting received a lot of push back from both consumers AND Ford ship thru second unit body upfitters, one of whom I was involved with back then, and that was how I learned of that the seals were thrifted out.

Finally Ford relented and began installing the simpler, cheaper, inverted L design lower weatherstrip. It was this newer cheaper updated weather strip that I purchased four of about 13 years ago, having the mod pictured above in mind. Those lower door seals should still be available now.

 

Calling JWA...

 

lowes or ace hardware has assortments of automotive push fastners, not sure if what they'd have would work, but might be worth looking into.

 

Happy to help but I don't see what year vehicle this is?

 

The adaptors for the mirrors are availably on Ebay, and 1A Auto.....

 

Por15 will work great on the bottom rust, but you have to stop it first, use naval jelly and paint the area with it, you can find it at any auto body store or pep boy's etc. Just paint it on the rust and it neutrilizes it turns it white, than go over it with por15, inside and out. Those little white clips are a pain, you put the t end in the little hole in the rubber moulding and then into the hole in the door, they are hidden by the rest of the moulding. I have some left from salvaging parts, but I have not found anything that will do the job right. If you need some PM me and I will send them to you. If you want the moulding to I have it for both front doors.

 

Sorry about that... my signature is incorporated into my user name...

Year = "Y2K" = 2000

Vehicle = "W57" = F-550 4x4 in Ford VIN-speak code (5th, 6th, & 7th characters in VIN)

 

This may be out in left field....but.....

Have you considered cutting small slits in the lower portion of the old style weather strip and slipping a large head sheet metal screw in there? After assembly you could go over the holes in the weatherstrip with vulcanizing cement or add a bicycle tube type patch, or maybe smear on some super weather strip adhesive.

 

I've been able position the OEM fasteners inside the trapezoidal tube using a flexible retractable small part recovery wand, without cutting the weather strip. Sheetmetal screws scare me, as they would seem to invite more corrosion, especially since water collects in the bottom of the door.

I need some serious help with issue number 1... the door ajar light switch. How do people get these things out? I've seen a video, and they guy shows the part removed, and describes how he removed it, but doesn't actually show how he removed it.

I find that the window track obstructs my reach to the switch. I've loosened the latch mechanism, but I'm reluctant to undo all of the lock rods and levers because of the likelihood of breaking the plastic clips that retain the lock rods in place, which would mushroom the project into a whole nuther parts hunting time sink.

Have you ever removed the door ajar switch? Can you talk me through it?

 

As far as the rust issue I would recommend using phosphoric acid. We used it on steel fishing boats to kill rust before repainting. Just need to use common sense and proper prep work.
As far as parts search goes have you tried sources like LMC truck or even JC Whitney? I think LMC sells some quality stuff, not so sure about Whitney.

 

Y2KW57: JWA is in the glass business, really knows his stuff, and has offered his help to you in this thread. You may want to take him up on it by simply listing your model and year.

BTW, thank you for answering the questions on the fledgling NGS thread in the Misc. - Electrical Systems/Wiring forum. Which, come to think of it, may be a great place to also solicit "some serious help with issue number 1... the door ajar light switch."

hydro man 17 is spot on re phosphoric acid (sold at Home Depot as "Etch & Prep" or even better yet "OSPO" at Kelly Moore). It does not take the paint off. It isn't thick and gooey and ineffective like Naval Jelly is. But you will still have to flood it off with copious amounts of warm water with dishwashing soap and a sponge with a scrubby. Then maybe pour or turkey-baster some Rustoleum in, being sure not to clog up you doors weap holes? Thin it with a little acetone if you want it to get into the seams...

Regards.