macdarren

Installing my new door panels today...I hope.

I am wondering how do you transfer the trim parts....I know they are held in by the long bent over tabs but the new panels have no holes for the tabs...I presume you somehow drill them to match...any secrets on this...getting them in the right place and the right size?

Next the vapor barriers....what is used to attach them to the door?
I assume they are glued or something? At least the old ones were...or
maybe they are somehow attached to the panel instead? are you going for a water tight seal or is it just tacked on to hold it in place during installation? what type of adhesive is normally used?

Thanks
Darren

Vet65te

Mac, I'm in the middle of replacing the door panel on my 66 Coupe.
Of course, as is typical for any job I start, they quickly grow in size.
I wound up removing the door, ripping out all the latch and window regulator gear since it hadn't been cleaned and lubed since '66 but the main reason to remove the door was due to worn hinge bushings.
Anyway, I'm saving the door trim transfer to the new panel as the last event. I've done this a number of times before and never look forward to it. I try to get the 'tines' as straight as possible and keep my fingers crossed that none of them break off since they don't take too well to being bent repeatedly. Once I have them at 90-degres to the actual trim, I place them on the new panel and make marks on the panel with a grease pencil followed by a scratch awl to poke the initial hole into the panel. I don't get out the drill till I've got a good feeling about the locations of the holes to the tines. To me, the arm-rest trim is more of a hassle since the tines at the rear and front of the actual arm rest sorta go in at a slight angle. All I can say is go slow with it.

As for the vapor barrier, I use 3M Strip Caulk, #8578. It comes in a
blue box and contains 20-yards of the soft, stretchable, black caulk in 12-inch long strips about a 1/4-inch wide. One tip when pressing this up against the inside surface of the door, make sure you have removed all the dust and any grease contaminates from the surface otherwise you'll find it sticking to your fingers instead of the door.

Good luck.

Mike Geary

This can be a tricky job, but if you saved your original panels (NEVER throw away anything off of your Corvette), you can make a paper template from the original hole pattern. Can't get any better registration than that!

The vapor barriers on a C2 were installed with a "rope caulk". You can usually find it at the home center in the insulation section. RV supply stores also have it, since that's what they use to seal windows.

The original material was grey with a reinforcing string inside. Never found this exact stuff. The "rope caulk" is white, but you can't see it when installed. Just don't put it at the extreme outside edge of the barrier. Go inboard an inch or so. You don't want to see any squeeze out. Mike, formerly from Riverside

jpjs

Mike - excellent ideas on how best to deal with the caulk! Thank you

richopp

Bought a box today as my old box from the 1970's (kept it in the fridge, of course) is almost gone. The 3M number we use is black, not white, but it doesn't show, so no big deal. I got it from a local auto paint supply shop (Terry's for those in SO FL) and it was about 20.00 for the box after tax. I have never seen the gray/string stuff, but have heard of it before. We used the regular 3M 08578--number is the same as it was on the '70's box but box is different--on all our door shields on our A-Body cars.

If the original is gone, I will clean the area and use the marks from the previous stuff to make sure the new barrier is correctly set in place. You can CAREFULLY put a larger piece of plastic on the caulk and then trim it away to conform if you don't have the originals. Just be sure to use a piece of cardboard under the plastic between the razor blade and the car, of course.

A-Body cars mostly used paper instead of plastic for a barrier--a black-on-one-side-tan on-the-other thick butcher-type paper that was die cut to fit. Sometimes they left gaps between the ends of the strip caulk, but it really isn't a good idea as the seal is not continuous. I think I will surround the window access plate edges with it also before I put on the barrier--not sure yet. Point is to keep water out of the door!

Cheers!

480tfs

Darren - here are the instructions I got with my panels for installing the trim pieces. Hope this helps.
Don

Mike Geary

This is what I've been using and much prefer it to the 3M sticky stuff. It's usually in the insulation section of the big box store.

65hihp

I think Darren solved his door panels issue, since he was working on them 12 years ago. He hasn't posted on this forum in about 5 years.

richopp

Yeah, but new people have identical issues, and I, for one, am pleased that this was "resurrected" as I am now starting on a C2 for the first time.

Cheers!

59BlueSilver

My lock **** is “buried” into the panel. Anyone know which way I need to insert the tool to remove it? Don’t want to screw up the panel. Also, what is the correct **** position on reinstalling?