Door Panel Repair
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,105
Likes: 114
From: Lawrenceburg, KY
Door Panel Repair
This morning I repaired the broken tabs on my passenger's door panel. As seems to be well known, the plastic tabs on the door panels that hold the push pins tend to snap off. I've seem people post different DIY home remedies. Here is how I did it.
Buy the following off ebay:
Corvette C5 door panel repair kit 1997-2004 (need 1 per broken tab)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/261191736700
4 INTERIOR DOOR PANEL RETAINERS -FITS GM C5 C6 1997-2012 CHEVY CORVETTES 346-21X (if needed)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-INTERIOR-...72.m2749.l2649
1997-2012 C5 C6 CORVETTE DOOR PANEL RETAINER PIN CLIP NUT HOLDER SNAP FEMALE (if missing any like I was)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/121043790550
The door repair "kit" is just a piece a stamped and bent aluminum (someone COULD always make them if they so desired) and are a bit expensive, but they work PERFECTLY. Slip right on as advertised and once the retainer pin is inserted in the tab, they are tight. It takes longer to remove/install the door panel than it does to do the "fix" and these will never crack/pull lose/not adhere correctly/etc.
For me, I'm planning to buy up enough to repair every tab on both doors (so 12 in total) and put them in a box for future repairs.
Buy the following off ebay:
Corvette C5 door panel repair kit 1997-2004 (need 1 per broken tab)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/261191736700
4 INTERIOR DOOR PANEL RETAINERS -FITS GM C5 C6 1997-2012 CHEVY CORVETTES 346-21X (if needed)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-INTERIOR-...72.m2749.l2649
1997-2012 C5 C6 CORVETTE DOOR PANEL RETAINER PIN CLIP NUT HOLDER SNAP FEMALE (if missing any like I was)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/121043790550
The door repair "kit" is just a piece a stamped and bent aluminum (someone COULD always make them if they so desired) and are a bit expensive, but they work PERFECTLY. Slip right on as advertised and once the retainer pin is inserted in the tab, they are tight. It takes longer to remove/install the door panel than it does to do the "fix" and these will never crack/pull lose/not adhere correctly/etc.
For me, I'm planning to buy up enough to repair every tab on both doors (so 12 in total) and put them in a box for future repairs.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 958
Likes: 177
From: Newark Delaware
I'm getting ready to swap out my torn door panel for a replacement I picked up from a forum member. It to has a broken retainer and I saw these online. Can't believe they're 20 bucks but I'll get one and certainly see if I can reproduce them for a fraction of the cost.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,105
Likes: 114
From: Lawrenceburg, KY
Last edited by ChrisLSx; Oct 28, 2017 at 09:36 PM.
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Great find and thanks for posting up the details.
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