i thought about just replacing the cheap plastic door panels but that cost too much momey for a piece of plastic...i was wondering if anyone has made door panels put of fiberglass and gotten creative and made it more custom..i was thinking about doing this..

 

A friend of mine went to the wrecker and ordered an aftermarket set for $75 bucks, for his '77. They looked like they were made in Taiwan but other than that, better than nothing.


You can make them out of anything really. I've seen them made out of carpet and household base board molding, and a pull handle.

A little cheesy I thought at the time...

You would be surprised what you find at the U-Pull-it.

 

i think i have pics in my gallery of mine , made out of 1/4'' aluminum dimond plate , if not i can put them up . let me know

 

I was thinking the same thing, F150_514ci yours look good and match your dash work. Maybe a little to "industrial" for stock interior but it gives the rest of us some good ideas. I have repaired my old panels a couple of times with fiberglass on the back side but they are so brittle they end up cracking some place else.
Anyone else have any pics of custom door panels?

Frank

 

How did you do the handles? did you use stock handles or did you getthem from something else.

 

I am going to some thing similar to this with 1/8" aluminum sheet, picked up 2 4x4 sheets at a garage sale for $20. I am try to find something the put on the walls in the back.

 

my problems solved. picked up a pair of door panel in perfect condition from local junkyard and only paid 5 bucks...

 

I'd like to hear same as Fp_5's request for more custom pics

 

Im using 1/4" oak plywood on my headliner and also in the center section of the door panel where lariats had the 2 tone. It will be some time before Im to that step in my project but if youre still interested Ill post some pics. Ofcourse this means you would have to have original door panels.

 

I am interested. Don't have any panels at all on my F250.

 

On my 78 I had several years ago when I was young, the door panels were so bad I ditched them completely and took some 1/4" paneling, cut it to fit the indention where the original goes,found some mustang arm rests and interior door handles to mount in a comfortable place. With a little drilling and welding to make new linkages I was done. Looked a little plain but it was better than what I had, plus it matched my custom headliner and overhead console made out of the same paneling.

 

There is an ABS plastic sheet available from plastic supply houses that can be purchased in many colors and many thicknesses called Kydex. It makes durable door panels. It can even be vacuum formed if you want to get fancy and spend the bucks on tooling and molds etc.

 

??? Tooling and vacuum formed? The level of knowledge that some have is un-believe-able. Guys if you have pics send them I'd like to see the different stuff being done.

 

The tooling for vacuum forming is not difficult. Some bits of wood and plywood with a shop vac and some heat guns and lamps. You may have some oopsies b4 you get it right tho...

 

I want to know more about this process ... got any photos examples of the set up ? Thanks Torque1st! F150, your diamond plate is an all-truck good idea.