I'm working on a custom interior, about to start on the inside door panels. After removing the original door panels, I noticed that the paper "water shields" are in horrible shape. They're all wavy and crinkley, with several rips (apparently from previous "invasive surgery").

I was thinking of replacing them with garbage bag plastic. That would be kind of a PITA though, because the paper is sandwiched between the door frame and the metal brackets for the door handle, which would mean drilling out and replacing several rivets.

Can I just rip the things out and forget about it? Hopefully, someone else has done this before and has some experiences to share.

paper water shields?

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'86 Fiero GT

www.KylesFiero.tk www.XoticRydz.tk

I've done both before,leaving them out and using garbage bags in their place (not on a Fiero but I'm sure the results would be the same) leaving them out can destroy your inside door panels from moisture,putting in garbage bags may drive you crazy with noise from the plastic flapping around.Best to find good stock replacements.By the way these are plastic coated paper.

[This message has been edited by samt (edited 07-19-2004).]

When I restored my 88 GT I discovered that a previous owner had taken the water shields completely out. It doesn't seem to hurt anything. As long as your outer dew wipes are in good condition you shouldn't get any water in the door.

Yup, Taurus Thug, they are made out of PAPER!!!!!

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Rod Schneider, Woodstock, Ga.
"You can't have too many toys!"
1988 Fiero GT
1966 Porsche 911

I've used clear vapour barrier plastic sheeting. Use a bead of adhesive/caulking compound to fasten it in. Trim after with a x-acto knife. It's all hidden behind the panel anyhooo...

Yep, I've seen some of the newer cars/trucks that came with plastic from the manufactorer. But, try to find something heavier than a garbage bag. The only downside to plastic that I can think of, is moisture 'could' condensate behind it, possibly leading to rusty door parts I guess.

You should have them in there in some form. They are there for a reason. If your originals are shot, you can use sheet plastic as FieroBUZZ said. Make sure it's the thicker stuff....I believe 4 mils worth at least. I think paint drop plastic is about right.

My Suburban has the plastic sheeting instead of paper, and it does protect the interior from moisture.

Mark

Hmmm... how about attaching plastic to the backside of the door panels (with spray adhesive)? That would keep it from flapping.

I forgot to mention the car now has new dew wipes.

[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 07-20-2004).]

I did the plastic sheeting thing before and didn't have a problem with them making noise. I used a plastic shower curtain liner so it was fairly thick and silicone caulking to hold it in place.

The advantage that I found is that it drastically cut down on the draft around the door handle during the winter months.

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I think the key word here is heavy plastic,the light stuff will make a lot of noise,I guess you could glue it down,the car I was working on was a Corvair I ending up buying repros from a Corvair vendor they were cheap I think about 5.00 a door and were the heavy plastic coated paper as original that make no noise.Maybe try an interior shop I think they get the stuff on rolls and cut to fit.

They serve 2 purposes.

1. they keep moisture that seeps in the door out of the car and off the door panels.
2. they minimize drafts.

Buy some non-hardening rope caulk to replace the old stuff. It's sticky enough to hole the barrier in place but not so sticky that you can't remove the barrier if the need arrises. By the way, I've used both empty fertilize and water softener salt bags as vapor barriers (washed out and cleaned of course). It's a heavey mil plastic (cheap, too if you have a lawn or water softener ).

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Roy

double-click on this link to follow my interior build-up https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/023174.html

Blue 87 GT w/ 4th generation Firebird interior.
Suncoast Fieros

Judged "Best Custom Interior" at the 20th Anniversary Show @ Pontiac, Mich - 7/2003
Judged "Best Custom Interior" at the 8th Annual Fiero Fun Weekend @ Daytona - 3/2004

I believe I read somewhere that someone on the forum used a plastic sheet that was used for houses. I don’t know what it is called, maybe someone will chime in.

quote Originally posted by samt: I've done both before,leaving them out and using garbage bags in their place (not on a Fiero but I'm sure the results would be the same) leaving them out can destroy your inside door panels from moisture,putting in garbage bags may drive you crazy with noise from the plastic flapping around.Best to find good stock replacements.By the way these are plastic coated paper.

quote Originally posted by Phantom Rage: I believe I read somewhere that someone on the forum used a plastic sheet that was used for houses. I don’t know what it is called, maybe someone will chime in.

I was thinking the same thing. I believe it's called Tyvek (sp?).

quote Originally posted by GTDude: I have used garbage bags on every door panel that I have pulled. They should be secured by spraying an adhesive like 3M spray trim adhesive. They work PERFECTLY FINE and protect the valuable door panel. Good luck. Phil

Note to self... garbage bags may cause fires!

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THere good to use if your car has cardboard door panels. It keeps them from falling apart. If their plastic it dont do anything except keep out a few drafts in the winter. If you do put something else in, be careful a defective window motor or wire can cause a fire when it touches something like a garbage bag.

Some good advise has been posted above to seal up the doors, just use a good polyethlene sheet, and non-hardening caulk (or butyl rope seal) at the outer most point of all holes in the inner panel. You do not want any water getting near or at the backside of the Trim Panels as they are made of wood particles clued together (similar to particle board), and water will destroy them.

When I lived in Michigan everybody seemed to know of and use "Visqueen" (6 mil polyethylene) for uses like this. It's fairly stiff and lays nice and flat. The home improvement centers had boxes of the stuff in big rolls for paint drop clothes, as dust curtains for demolition, etc., for very cheap. A google search didn't turn up much, however.

Wow, I didn't expect this to become such a hot topic. Thanks to everyone for the good ideas.

When I was working with roofers (heh..) they used Visqueen to seal against moisture before the final membrane was layed down.

Really durable stuff.

You can also try the shrink film for window weathersealing.

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