The FAMOUS Door Panel Cracks
FWIW my 98 was made in June, stored outdoors all the time, and it never had a spot of trouble with the sail panel. I may have just lucked out and they had enough of the old glue left.
No sign of any problems on my current 99 yet but I suspect it is only a matter of time
No sign of any problems on my current 99 yet but I suspect it is only a matter of time
I think color pays a role in it too. The lighter the color, the less bubbles. I have to look very hard to see the approx 10 bubbles (total) I have on mine.
TA's were only available with the Monsoon speaker system, which has tweeters. The base model Firebirds have only a four speaker system, with no tweeters. Therefore GM made separate door panels that did not have tweeter pods (otherwise people would contact GM and be like "wtf, why isn't my tweeter working?") for the base models with 4 speaker sound systems. I have also seen those same door panels also used on 1LE Formulas. The V6/1LE panels do not have an issue with cracking as the TA panels do.
I had zero cracking issues with the door panels I will say though
My point remains the same. My '95 has just over 100k miles along with the 10 speaker system and I haven't had a single problem with my interior panels. My buddy's '94 TA is approaching 150k miles and has never seen a garage, has been ripped apart about a thousand times, and still has no interior plastics problems. Yet it seems to me every other LS1 TA i see, including low mileage/garaged ones have cracks in the door panels. Sorry if that offends anybody.
My 99 TA is ok so far but my 2001 Firebird panels are both cracked,BTW my 01 has the Monsoon system.
On The Tree
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 183
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From: Orlando, FL
I have also never seen an LT1 T/A that has this problem. Maybe different plastic was used?
Mine is a 97 (and so has the newer interior) with the Monsoon option, no problems after 15 years, and I've had a few LT1 T/A owner friends (also with Monsoon) that are even older, also with no problems. I've seen LT1 T/As in junkyards with no problems. There is definitely something to it.
So maybe the 'permanent' solution is just buying older T/A door panels from eBay?
Mine is a 97 (and so has the newer interior) with the Monsoon option, no problems after 15 years, and I've had a few LT1 T/A owner friends (also with Monsoon) that are even older, also with no problems. I've seen LT1 T/As in junkyards with no problems. There is definitely something to it.
So maybe the 'permanent' solution is just buying older T/A door panels from eBay?
I was begining to wonder if I was the only one lol. I mean I have seen some really rough and neglected LT1 cars that don't have interior cracks, and have seen some meticulously cared for/garaged low mileage LS1 car with cracks a few inches long on each door. Weird.
It's only a solution if you don't mind mismatching colors, or leather wrapping your entire interior.
Last edited by ZexGX; Apr 25, 2012 at 12:02 PM.
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Verdad Gallardo Not possible to have the base speaker system and the tweeter/Monsoon panels. Tweeters count as additional speakers, so your car has a 6 speaker system... Which isn't the base 4 speaker system (math fail). I'm willing to bet you mysteriously have a Monsoon amp in your car too, or the tweeters aren't hooked up with factory wiring.
You lost the bet, there is no Monsoon amp in my car. Didn't even think about the tweeters counting as speakers. Not sure if the tweeters are hooked up to the factory wiring, kinda hard for me to tell and I haven't really dicked with the speaker system all that much, though my fronts blew out so it might be time to start looking into that. I also discovered when I dynamatted my interior that I have no sail panel speakers, so who knows how much I've been missing out on.
I used the repair that 97RAMSST posted for my passenger side door cover. Worked great, as you can barely see the crack if you are looking for it. I went ahead and did my DS even though it hadn't cracked yet.
You also have an Ebony swapped interior. Which means you have different door panels from stock.
Last edited by ZexGX; Apr 26, 2012 at 11:32 PM.
What bet? You said you have tweeters, I said are you sure they are factory and hooked up, and you said you had no clue and aren't knowledgeable on the subject, later mentioning you just realized you don't have hatch speakers... Are you sure you don't have a Monsoon system and wires to hook up factory hatch speakers? You weren't too sure about even having working tweeters. And yes, this is relevant.
You also have an Ebony swapped interior. Which means you have different door panels from stock.
You also have an Ebony swapped interior. Which means you have different door panels from stock.
That bet.
They were factory, they were on my stock door panels as well. I didn't just realize I don't have hatch speakers. I do have hatch speakers, I don't have sail panel speakers, and I learned this back in December.
I'm confused to be honest, I'm just wanting to know exactly what speaker package my car came with.
Here's the lowdown. I bought the car bone stock as you already know, I thought it had the door speakers, tweeters, sail speakers and hatch speakers. It turned out I never had sail panel speakers and I do not know if I have tweeters or not, but if I *HAD* to guess, I would say I do, but I'm not positive. I feel like I recall disconnecting wires to them from previous door panel removals, but I could just be speaking out my *** here. I've had my interior apart several times now and can safely say there is no Monsoon Amp in my car, so does this not mean I have the the base speaker package, even though I had tweeter provisions in the door panel? It throws me off
Dude, every 4th gen with a sound system from the factory had sail panel speakers. Your **** has clearly been tampered with if it is missing the sail panel speakers. You cannot get hatch speakers (and tweeters) on a 98-02 Bird without the Monsoon option.
Weird part was, person who owned it before me was an Indian dude who owned it for about two months, and the person before that was an old lady, and when I removed those panels for the first time it seemed like they never were removed before, like, EVER. Maybe I just got a factory dud?
