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I can't comment on whether its the plastic or not to blame. I can state for certainty that removing the two rear staples releases the door panel from compression/tension forces and relaxes to the point that you can just position the cracked portion with one hand to where the crack is barely visible. I imagine that some careful light application of vinyl/plastic paint in the correct shade would help conceal the crack after the repair has been performed.
I recommend removing all the staples. I am not sure what I will use yet but I am considering using some small zip ties to hold the inner window sweep on and epoxy a patch on the back of the crack.
See photos for two staples removed before and after
Staples removed AND crack NOT aligned
Staples removed/crack aligned. Some light application of plastic/vinyl paint should make this mostly invisible.
My 99 had both split all the way trough I did the NJSteve repair using 97 and older panels and looks good my 2000 has the cracks starting this and I will repair as above
zip tie, epoxy and reinforce and restaple
Wish GM would pay better attention to details like this! alot of peoples pride and joy at stake. This is why people by jap cars! quality fit and finish that we cant seem to care about producing
I failed at the repair. None of the plastic epoxies suggested worked and I am realizing that even if it did the hairline crack would still be visible. For some people this may be a non-issue.
I may try something stronger and then try my hand at blending in the hairline crack with one of those old style venial repair patch patterns.
Damn, right when I get ready to attempt this fix the pics went down in post 504. They were up like last week, lol. Anyway I can get them or does anyone have them or similar?
Well, I have two Firebirds. My '98 Bird does not show crack. But, since there have been a major issue I decided to take the staples out of the window sweep and epoxy the sweep to the door panel a few months back.
On my '00 - It was cracked from day one and after looking for a year I decided to see if I could fix it. I pulled the door panel carefully and took out the suspicious staple and one to the rt and lf of the crack. Epoxied the window sweep to the door panel and filled the staple hole. After that I applied a generous amount of epoxy to the area of the crack and one inch either side of the crack to stop it getting worse.
In reality, that worked really well.
However, finding a reasonably priced repair panel with cloth damage I later swapped out my leather insert into that panel and replaced it altogether. I reinforced both driver and passenger panels like I did on my '98 and so far so good.
Good luck out there... This one is a bugger.... ;-)
just saw this thread, fixed my door panels a couple years ago, the driver side was starting to show a faint white line crack and the passenger side had a small 1/2" crack forming..pulled a few staples out and made two small holes in the top of the door panel and used a zip tie to pull it back together and put some plastic two part epoxy on the back side. been this way for 2 years now and neither has gotten any worse. The previous owner tried concealing the white crack line by coloring over it with a sharpie..so i'll have to try and remove that.
mine at 30,000. just at the top, but still sucks. I am going to have the plastic on the doors covered in leather. then the plastic can crack all it wants.
I think part of the problem with our bird is that once disturbed, (had both sides off twice to repair window motor issues) cracks appeared a few months later.
I think part of the problem with our bird is that once disturbed, (had both sides off twice to repair window motor issues) cracks appeared a few months later.
It's burred deep in this long thread, but there is a defect in the design and assembly of the panel. Everyone has the issue and the fix here relieves the stress.
I have 7 birds from 95 to 2002. ALL have panel cracks. Its from, as a post wayyy up mentioned, the staples. If yours are not cracked at the top, prevent it by taking them off. Dont touch staples yet. Get FIBERGLASS cloth tape about 2 inches wide. Get strong twin tube epoxy. Sear it on the underside area that cant be seen. Press glass tape into it and smear more on top. Use an old credit card (anything like that) to smooth it out. Use mild heat to cure it. A hair dryer works. You can carefully remove staples and string a single piece of wire through all the holes and dab a touch of hot glue, epoxy, etc to each hole. ANother way is to get another old beat up panel and cut a 4 inch piece out of the arm edge to fit INSIDE your panel in the exact same spot. Use plastic bonding cement to glue it to the underside area, ans light clamps or weight to keep it tight until dry. It now cant crack!
Regarding how any have this problem? My hobby is collecting parts for 95 through 2002. I have a 30 foot semi dry van in my back yard with enough parts to probably 5 cars from scratch and fix up another 20. I crusie junk yards all the time. Ive seen TWO sets that wre not cracked! Anothe great idea from GM
My panels were uncracked but when I removed them I could see a crack starting to form at the typical location, 8" from rear. So I recently did the preventative fix.
I used the zip tie method and added a layer of JB Weld Plastic Bonder (black) over the crack area.
When I re-assembled, it appears that the door panel now sits slightly higher due to thickness of zip tie "eye" resting on the frame of the door below. It seems this issue would be similar for the original High Performance Pontiac magazine approach due to the thickness of the nuts they used. Other than the slight lift, the door panel mounting screws fit nicely and the panel is secure. However, the opening between the felt and the rain guard is a wider now when the window is rolled down since it is not snugged down all the way.
For those who used zip tie or nut/bolt methods, are you seeing the same thing? Should I have flipped the zip ties so the eyes are on the top side or would that create other issues?
Ive watched this thread for a long time. I have seven birds and have looked and hundreds in junk yards for parts. I have seen ONE firebird with uncracked panels---a hard top 1996 that was pretty trashed EXCEPT for the panels, lol Ive cured all mine by taking strips of flexible plastc 1.5 inches wide and 18 inches long, then using two stage epoxy to glue them inside the main panel while holding the cracks tightly together. Also have done fiberglass boat repair kit. Thas hard sticking stuff! For the crack on the outside, I mixed plasticote spray paint of as close to the color as possibnle with3m glue from a parts store, then used a razor blade as a trowel to smear it in the crack area then quickly wipe of the excess. Like many other things about 90s GM cars in general, they were made cheap, fast and with no concern at all for their future. Hence the drivers doors hinges breaking at the door panel itself, the stupid inner manifold gaskets on all the 3.8s being eaten up by GM coolant, window motors wire design ON AND ON they are crappy cars. Gotta love em though! I have a 28 foor semi dry van filled with parts Ive scoured from junk yards in three states. Oh forgot that I pulled the staples, glued the area, and have no more cracks due to the hard plastic splint.
For those who used zip tie or nut/bolt methods, are you seeing the same thing? Should I have flipped the zip ties so the eyes are on the top side or would that create other issues?
I did the nut & bolt fix on my panels years ago when this started being talked about as I bought my TA new in 2002. No issues at all with improper fit and have never had an issue with panels cracking since they could move as temps changed since they weren't stapled in place. Not sure about the zip tie fix but no issues in many years since I did my fix. I did double nuts on the bolts so they are locked in place and won't come off but room left on the bolt so it can move as required. Good luck!
Loctite would help but I'd use the strong stuff because you want something that will hold (mostly) forever.
I actually looked for the nuts you mentioned with the nylon inserts and didn't fine them locally at the time. That was going to be what I used but since I don't find them and being impatient once I was starting the project I used what I could find.
I was trying to figure out if the door panel could sit right with if I used the special nylon locknuts? Any thoughts?
When I fixed mine, I just drilled the holes larger and then re-used the staples. All was great.
Nylock nuts are larger than regular nuts. They give you an advantage of reusability over threadlocker, which is not an issue here - you aren't going to ever remove these fasteners. If you want to try nuts and bolts, I'd suggest going for standard hardware and then testing the fit. Hopefully you can find short bolts that don't protrude past the thin nuts once everything is fastened together. If you like the way it sits, then you can undo everything and secure it with threadlocker. (The red stuff is more permanent and holds stronger. Blue is weaker and comes apart a little more easily.)
10-15-2016, 10:43 PM
