GKK

I just wanted to say Thanks, to LouisvilleLT4 for his "Zip Tie" Door Panel fix. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-g...wire-ties.html

The Zip Ties worked out AWESOME on my 91 Vette's door panel and holds the door panel very tight back to its original position! The procedure was Very Quick and Easy!

I used the 8" zip ties and only had to repair the last two ribs on the end of the panel which had cracked in half. I'm AMAZED at how tight the door panel is now and the gap is gone!


Thanks again, LouisvilleLT4!!!...

Here are a couple of after pictures.

There used to be a huge 1/2" gap at the top of the panel and the window sweep never touched the glass. Also, notice in the bottom picture the factory panel screw above the hatch switch now, aligns and screws in straight.

GKK

Repairing the cracked door panel Ribs whatever method you choose, is the best way of fixing the problem.

The door panel needs to be in the Original shape in order for it to fit and align back onto the top of the metal door frame.







.

Dt86

Thanks for the link! I'm adding this to my long, long list of projects.

SJW

I have become convinced that a big contributor to this problem is when passengers put a lot of their body weight on the armrests. If you examine the door with the panel removed, you'll see that there is no support to take a load that might be placed on the armrest. Ideally, there would have been something structural there to take the load, but there is nothing. C4 cockpits are pretty confining, and the natural tendency when you want to shift your position in the seat during a long ride, or fish your wallet out of your hip pocket, etc, is to plant your elbow on the armrest and heave your body upward. This places a lot of stress on those panel ribs. I've also seen people lean heavily on the armrests when getting out of the car.

Live well,

SJW

Dt86

Makes sense. There is no easy way to get in and out, and I'm short! Lol

SJW

A lot of C4 owners have moved on to newer Corvettes largely because of the difficulty with ingress/egress. The eleventh-hour design change from a T-top architecture to a targa-top necessitated adding height to the frame rails (which still didn't sufficiently stiffen the frame), and that added height makes these cars hard to get in and out of for many folks. In addition to the problem with the door panel ribs, many owners have damaged the tilt mechanism in the steering column by using the wheel to pull themselves up and out of the car.

I park my C4 on a Kwiklift, and the incline makes it even harder to get out of the car. I grab the A-pillar with my left hand to help pull myself out of the car. The downside to this is limited to fingerprints along the edge of the windshield, and I can wipe those off.

A decent alternative is to place your palm on the door sill and push up.

Live well,

SJW