A couple years back, a forum member posted detailed instructions on how to fix your delaminated door panels: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...up-how-to.html

This problem seems to happen to every C5 eventually, and Argent was no exception:




Not having a shop vac to sacrifice, nor the time and patience to do the whole remove, drill, hypo, suction thing, I was looking for another approach. Another post had mentioned slicing the door panel, regluing and adding an aftermarket armrest. Made sense and I thought I'd document how easy it is:

What you need (well maybe not the duct tape):




Outline the area of the armrest pad to avoid making too large a cut:




Then make several cuts with the razor knife:




Use a hairdryer to soften the vinyl (it is actually pretty pliable to begin with), liberally spray the adhesive into the opening and work the vinyl back against the door panel. If you have a fast-acting adhesive, you need only hold it down for a few minutes because there is no longer any pull on the vinyl. Note that there had been enough shrinkage over the years that the cut separates by about 1/4" or so and the wrinkle is gone:




Cover the cut ends with duct tape (probably unnecessary but all bubba-fixes should involve duct tape):




Affix the armrest and you are done:




On close examination you can see it is not perfect -- there is still a tiny bit of separation toward the back of the panel over the armrest pad. But, with the added "slack" in the vinyl there is unlikely to be any further separation, and the armrest will not come up. $100 and less than 2 hours to do both sides.

Now you have options!

 

You also can do it from going from the back side in the spots where it has com loose at. Some guy had it up as a post also. Your way you dont have to pull the door panel off.... Robert

 

My thought was using a hypo with gorilla glue, then applying the aftermarket arm rests to cover the holes. Cutting slits should be a better idea.

 

Sure beats having to buy a new door panel.

 

This would be my try as well. I'd actually use two hypos...one to inject the glue, the other to suck air that will be trapped in between. A two man operation......has anybody tried this method???

 

I don't know whether slits are "better" but I am certain they are easier!

Also, Gorilla Glue will expand as it dries so I would not recommend it.

 

Nice fix!

 

I hadn't thought of that, maybe a two part epoxy. Loctite has an automatic mixing hypo that would serve both purposes. I've never had much luck with the spray contact cement unless there was enough space to allow curing before placement. Cover with wax paper and tape a length of 2" PVC pipe to approximate the radius. (There's yer duct tape Bubba!)