I have decided to reconstruct the stock Fiero panel board before I get serious about modifying it. There were a number of problems that I noticed when doing the trial fitting. The upper half of the Fiero panel is stamped so that it is raised and sits out about 1/2" to 3/4" more than the lower half. This is pushing the GA armrest out more than I would like. Additionally the existing penetrations and the hand recess are making it difficult to attache the GA recess for the door latch lever. So I would like to have a uniform base to work on. Here's the stock panel:


Thinking along the lines that Icelander mentioned I went and picked up some 1/8" and 1/4" hardboard. I will use the 1/8" board to rebuild the panels. First I traced out the rough outline of the front (not the back outline) of the panel onto the hardboard, I marked it out slightly larger than the front of the panel. Then I drew a line around the top half that was strait with the lower half and using a jig saw i removed the entire raised portion and cut out the hard board. Heres the hardboard panel:

I then attached it to the front of the panel using PL 400 construction adhesive. This stuff is used for sub floors, will stick to just about anything and dries tough as nails. Once again I got creative for clamping the two pieces together:

Nothing like and engine block and a couple of front rotors for weight.

Here's the door panel after the adhesive dried but before the new front of the panel is shaved down to the right size:



And after the "shaving" with some more Pl 400 added to the seams:


This should give me a nice uniform surface to work with.

Incidental, the hardboard was attached to the front so that the "Christmas trees" on the back can be kept. I will need to reattach the two upper ones however.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-29-2007).]

Not to hijack the thread..

I was thinking that it might be kinda nice to make a mold of the door panel complete with the bosses for all the panel attachments to the door. I'd leave the exterior side blank to allow people to build their own panels from there.

Would there be any reason why this wouldn't be a good idea? I know that the door panels are made of what they are for sound insulation, but some dynomat stuck to the inside would be just as efficient and less likely to sustain water damage should a weatherstrip fail.

Should I make this a separate thread?

Kendall
'85 Fiero 2M4 - L4 - Isuzu 5spd.
'67 LeMans/GTO - 396 - TH400
The rest aren't Pontiacs, so who cares?

[This message has been edited by Icelander (edited 08-14-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Icelander (edited 08-21-2006).]