lowws6

iTrader: (1)

Here are some pics of the crack on my door pannel. I have seen several do this and it seems to be caused by cold weather. What is everyone doing about it? Please help!!

mrws6speed

There's nothing you can do about it. You can get a new door panel....but it'll just crack again.

I've been trying to convince Joshua to make a replacement door panel that doesn't crack (or at least make a fix for this design flaw)

Come on Joshua!!!!

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

I'm havn't had a chance to take my door apart to change the window motor this weekend. I spent the whole weekend fabbing the protoype Coil Relocation kit. Asap I'm going to take the door panel off and leave it off after I change the motor so I can come up with some ideas.

I'm simply thinking about a super tough fiberglass cloth (shaped and hardened to fit the contours perfectly) that you can bond the the inside of the panel to stop that top part of the panel from flexing and stop the splitting.

The only bad part is that it would be a preventative maintenance type of deal and most people will wait till they see the tear first before they use the kit/instructions.

BlackHawk T/A

iTrader: (3)

Mine is cracked all the way on both doors.

DopeFedZ

iTrader: (34)

This sounds like a great idea.

KrazyDan

I have a crack on my passenger door in the same spot. I always wondered how it got there.

FAST LS1

iTrader: (2)

How much are new plastics from GM? I thought I looked once and they were outragous, like $560 each. I'm thinking about replacing mine, and when I do I heard there's a reinforcement rib of plastic behind where the crack starts. This needs to be ground down, as the window pushes against it as it goes up and down, forming the stress crack. I don't know if it's true, but both of my window motors are shot, so I'll be taking these off soon.

Pewterpower

It's not the cold........I'm in Fla and it's happened to me. Luckily, I snuck it in just before the warranty expired and got them replaced for free. Extended warranty?? Maybe??? I dunno. Unfortunately, there is not an F-body that in warranty anymore.

lowws6

iTrader: (1)

I only thought it was the cold weather because it is bigger everytime I take the car out of storage. My friends suddenly cracked clean on one of the coldest days of the year.

SweeTbone

iTrader: (8)

https://ls1tech.com/forums/pontiac-firebird-1967-2002/440767-cracked-interior-door-panel-don-t-quote-pics.html

As stated, it's the window going to far down and a stress crack will happen. I have a 1/2 inch crack on each side. Best thing to do right now is roll the window down 95% of the way. Don't roll it down so it totally vanishes. I leave a little bit of it up before the panel bows out. Best advice I can offer now. Somebody in the thread I linked got some epoxy and filled and sanded it out to fix it, but it's time consuming. Good luck.

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

I'll be the 1st to try it out. I had to get a new door panel last year and I don't want this one to crack. Those things are expensive from GM

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

I paid less than half that for a new one from GM but look to pay at least 300 for a new one at best.

Snootch

iTrader: (3)

http://www.ls2.com/forums/showthread...hreadid=340995

~JOSHUA

iTrader: (92)

Very good find Snootch!

Tech

iTrader: (1)

Duramix 40/40 on the underside. It won't make the crack go away but it'll hold it closed.

01 Red WS6

iTrader: (4)

I have some kevlar sitting around here and I've thought about just laying some down to the back of the door panel to try to reinforce it. Does that sound like it might work?

382WS6

I had an interior shop epoxy the cracks. Then they took the plastic and wrapped it in a vinyl similar to what the seats are wrapped in. Even if it cracks again (which the epoxy should prevent) it won't be visible under the wrap. Just an idea.

peterlawl84

iTrader: (12)

I bought an fiberglass kit that you can pick up at walmart last year because my drivers side cracked about an inch. i did as suggested above, took it off and just put a couple layers on the underside. I did the same to the passenger side too and so far the passenger side hasnt cracked and the drivers side hasnt gotten worse.

mrws6speed

Ok....so I haven't taken these door panels appart and I haven't tried to fix them.

But logically, they crack because of a stress point (something pushing against them).

Would it make sense that adding more material (i.e. fiberglass, epoxy, etc) would just make more stress from whatever's pushing against it?

lowws6

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for all the great ideas. I work at a dealership so I am going to have the dealer trim guy look at it and see what he can do. Our sales manager said he could fix it and nobody will notice.