Interior Door Panels

[packman]

If I stuck screwdrivers in the drainhole inside the door frame, can I use POR15 to coat the inside? Figured that I would rustproof this area since I got it apart.


Packman

[sly]

you could also wad/fold up a little masking tape and shove in there You'd have to tape off every joint in the latching/locking system and window regulator (unless you take that all out first). I don't see why not though.

[packman]

What I ended up doing was degrease up to the door locking mechanism, cover it with plastic, and rinse the grease build up off of the inner door skin. I POR15'd half of the inside and the outer lower lip of the door. My father had some scrap metal tabs that jammed quite well into the drainage holes. I was able to pull them out after the POR15 dried. Tomorrow morning before I install the window motor, I will run the hose into the door to see if it drains.



Packman

[sly]

pics man... gotta see this

[packman]

There's nothing much to see. I'm probably going to pull the door apart sometime soon to get the door locks to work again; at that time I will have some film in my camera for pics. I ran the hose into the door panel and it drains out fast. The drainage holes were plugged with old insulation that crumbled. If I had a door or two, I would play around with making my own panels.


Packman

[packman]

I tried to install the window motor by myself, but holding it in place, keeping the door panel out of the way, and trying to line up and keep the 5/8" bolt lined up (non magnetic driver) was too much, so I had my father help me. He has a knack with getting blind bolts to line up. I was going to try out the motor, but I noticed the bolt or screw that holds the vent window bracket to the door frame was missing. IDK if it was always like this, but I decided to take a break and scrounge around for some sheet metal screws. Hopefully that will hold the bracket in place until I can get back there again.


Packman

[87gtVIC]

Why didnt you remove teh door panels? This would have made everything yo are doing easy as pie.

[sly]

probably because removing the wires and such to get the panel actually away from the car is way more trouble than it's worth most of the time. I still haven't figured out how to actually disconnect the wires on my 88 and the 93 is a severe trial in not breaking tabs... so I just let them hang loose on the wires with the rear edge of the panel resting on the ground when I do stuff.

[gadget73]

most of the time you can just rotate that switch panel and pull it back through the opening in the armrest, then the rest of the panel will come away without any hassle. The part that sucks on the Grand Marq is that idiotic slide lock lever thing. Those always seem to break. I think the Vic LX had that BS too.

[packman]

I took the door panel halfway off of the door. The armrest and the main wiring harness gets in the way. Unless I cut a larger hole in the fiberboard backing, I can't get the armrest through the door panel. I don't have the ballz to figure out where the harness leads to so I can un plug it or something, so I just manuever the panel around when doing the installation.

I found that the U-nut that holds the vent window bracket had a snapped screw inside of it. By the looks of it, it was like that for a long long time. I tried drilling it out, and for whatever reasons, it was fighting hard. So out of frustration, I took the center punch to re-center the drill and the U-bolt snapped off. Then I took another hour trying to get my arm manuevered into the slot to install a new bolt and U-nut. After that was done, I hooked up the battery, and tested the window motor. It works, but it's backwards like the motor was wired the wrong way. I hit down on the switch and the window rolls up and visa versa. I can live with that. This time when I put the door panel back on, it is a bit more loose than it was before. The fiberboard is trashed. At some point I will have to make a new panel, or have somebody make them for me.



Packman

[sly]

plastic lined 1/8" ply FTW. Gonna have to do that for the driver sun visor in the escort. Cardboard has disintegrated... or pay cash upholstery to do it (for being in the Dallas area, they have good prices on interiors stuff).

[gadget73]

Since you have basically flat door panels, no reason you couldn't make the backer boards yourself out of thin wood. I'm kind of screwed with the moulded plastic nonsense. Of course its not the plastic thats a problem with Lincolns, its the vinyl over top of it.

[sly]

plastic lined 1/8" ply FTW. Gonna have to do that for the driver sun visor in the escort. Cardboard has disintegrated... or pay cash upholstery to do it (for being in the Dallas area, they have good prices on interiors stuff).

actually just gonna redneck it with some bracing and glue and shove it back in.