This is an excellent write up! I was wondering if there was a fix as I've noticed my driver side door has the same problem. It's a weekend garage queen so I guess mine lifted due to the Florida heat. I'm starting to notice it, although slightly less noticeable, on the passenger door.

My question is if you install the leather door arm rests on top of this, does that prevent it from happening again due to the weight of the arm rests? I thought I read an earlier post where the OP suggested cutting the vinyl first to release the pressure and then flatten out the vinyl before installing the leather arm rest.

I always felt the C5 door was one of the weaker parts of an otherwise great car, so if I need to replace the door panels, I might as well bite the bullet and get a leather covered one to prevent this from happening again.

 

omg omg omg!!!! protect walmart!!! lol, come on man...he said clearly IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE go to a garage sale or drive yourself around all over the place or ruin your own vacuum. If they're willing to return it and throw another 5 dollar mass produced motor in it or clean the brushes and rebox it...so be it. so chill out and say thanks for the good writeup

edit: by the way, I bought a cheap cell phone @ Walmart...the phones these days have a little sticker inside of them that changes color if it gets any moisture on it as this is not a "warranty" able repair..
our cat knocked over and spilled some juice down into the charger slot (round small AV looking jack)..while we were sleeping. when we woke up the phone was done, would not show anything on the screen whatsoever.
took it back to buy another one and get the SIM card swapped...told the associate what happened, she popped the cover off the back, popped the battery out and said "the little water sticker didn't change"...and handed me a brand new one in the box. no questions asked nothing. I TOLD HER EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED, " CAT KNOCKED OVER A CUP OF JUICE AND IT POURED INTO THE PHONE" the lady didn't care, she just said we have a really good return policy anyway.

 

I tried this with contact cement. Lasted about a year or so.
Epoxy might be the way to go, but the curves are way too complex for what GM did to secure them.

My later method was to use hi-strength 3m aeresol adhesive. Id push it up into one of the (enlarged) holes and spray. Then (quickly) massage the areas to be glued. Wait 30 seconds and stick them together.

The downside to this is that it LOOKS like you fixed it by hand. The upside is its extremely quick and easy and leaves the holes open for future repairs

I think a combination of this and a vacuum would be the perfect solution - It sticks nearly instantly. You would only have to have the vacuum on for 30 seconds tops. And you could likely have a breather hole to keep it from burning up.

I might try this when I redo my passenger side one.

 

Do the leather providers like Apsis apply the leather over the vinyl or replace it? Wondering because the vinyl could still pop under the leather.

Any preventative treatment for OEM doors that have not experienced this?

 

Yes. Don't let the door panels get over about 80 degrees F, be exposed to direct sunlight or humidity. :/

 

Well, count me out. I live in Florida.

So I guess by reading this thread, one option is to cut the vinyl at the area where it's buldging and then flatten it down with adhesive and then cover it with one of the armrests various leather vendors offer.

 

...So Stu...whats your take on him buying the vacuum, using it then giving it back?

 

I didnt actually catch what happened when I read through quickly before!

whats my take...?
After reading instructions to use a crappy vacuums because you KNOW youre going to destroy it, THEN buy a GOOD NEW one to destroy, was obviously wrong.
When returning the vandalized burned-up one and making ambiguous statements to COVER the destruction was deceitful.

It is interesting to note, with a truly liberal return policy, that Wal-Mart probably would have taken it back if they were told that you burned it up. - with no lie and no deceit...
However, you shouldnt plan to vandalize store merchadise either.

Therefore, I have to believe that the total cost of repair of the door panel must include the full cost of materials, as well as, the destruction of a used or new vacuum...

Now, maybe the solution to avoid burning up the motor is to leave a few breathing holes so that the suction will be powerful enough to draw the skin without burning the motor.

BTW...I read down the thread for marky's justification...
Im not offended by his actions...
...but I disagree with the behavior.

If anyone is offended by my statements, please forgive me.
Pastor Stu...

 

walmart is the devil store....


i say stick it to them

 

omg

 

Hey boys: nice to see there are a lot of creative and knowledgeable people here. Thanks for all you do. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...es/cheers2.gif
My vinyl seems to be shrunk. If I tried to stretch it it would break away from any glue.
I suspect the store bought armrest with some bolts through it would work (after slitting the vinyl and gluing it.
Even easier is this scheme (But no one has done it yet):
1. drill one hole from the back.
2. have a buddy lean on a tightly compressed towel placed on the wayward vinyl.
3. give a shot of foam insulating sealant (super sticky). It expands crazily so practice first, right before since the can sticks shut within 2 hours after use.
4. lean on the towel to hopefully get a smooth curve. Admittedly it won't be the nice sharp inside edge like factory but I bet know one would know even if looking right at it.
5. an example of a free fix like this is the rubber molding that the side window butts up to. It was ripped 8 inches. I put in a couple of bike tubes cut lengthwise in with a little shoe goo and dared people (car people) to look at the car (in general) with the door open to find a problem and they couldn't.Try it dry to test for fit first. I know this is another thread and I will post it soon, but just to say a quick similar fix can be done. And it is probably stronger than before. http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/sr...es/cheers2.gif

 

My doors have the same classic problem. I am going to try this repair on the weekend. I think the key here is the adhesive, I am going to try using some Hysol U-09-FL adhesive, this stuff is incredibly strong, flexible and fluid so it should leave any lumps. Ill post some results later.

 

Great write up. I will try this with one twist. A harbor freight vacuum pump , instead of the shop vac. Give me your opinion on using the vacuum pump.

 

Uhhh.... that's next to impossible here in south Texas !!


And great write-up by the way !

 

Why did you drill so many holes? You were on the right track with the vacume but with a tire valve stem, plastic bag material and stronger tape, a real suction would of been acomplished and resulted in a perfect form fit. Course I would of opted to just get some new door panels which are readily available on fleebay (did this when I went to red leather on the lower trim just to make sure I had panels in reserve)

 

That should work great. My main objective was to keep the price down to a minimum so that is why the vac was used but a true pump would be way better.

The theory behind the amount of holes was that I wanted to be able to apply glue to the entire back side and I didn't know how well the epoxy would spread. To insure correct coverage I made many holes to offer several different injection points incase I had flow out issues with the glue. I knew it would be hard to go back and fix an area that didn't get epoxy coverage so my feeling was that there was zero downside to drilling multiple holes and better safe than sorry. Also I wanted to make sure the vac could get a good pull on the whole area. After doing the driver's side first I opted for far less holes on the passenger side once I realized there were no flowing issues with the glue or holding issues with the vac.

The goal of this project was to offer an inexpensive way to fix this common problem that someone could do themselves in an afternoon. New panels are always an option but not everybody has the extra cash laying around to scoop some up. Not sure what they are going for on ebay but I fixed mine for about $20 and I would guess that doesn't even cover the shipping on your new panels from the auction site.

 

Thats for sure! I got my pair for around $200 so my hat is off to you! Well done!

 

NOW you did it!!! More details on the compressor motor application!!

 

GOTCHA. It's pedophile.

 

Thanks Mark, great article! Your eloquence is entertaining as is your creativity and attention to detail.
As for your photoshop skills, I've been looking for a 'soft grip' pebble finish drill for years, and all the while you had one!!!
I'm intrigued by the other alternatives for a vacuum source. Reminds me of when my brother was a kid, they had a toy called 'vacu-form' where one heated a sheet of thin plastic in a mold where you pumped it to suck the plastic into a mold.
Wonder if a hair dryer warming the vinyl would have reduced some of the vacuum time.