cracked door panels ?

**02 red hawk** · 01-18-2014, 07:38 PM

Originally Posted by Rob00Taws6

?? Not sure, I think I used 6/32 nuts and screws, took a long time to test and fit, they were getting hung up on the composite lip... Dam i just figured it out... HPP. calls for 4/40 screws. Ones i used were to big, oh well, took a little more time to get them in with all the grinding, it was worth it thought. beats having the crack getting worse.

The HPP article is good to follow. It must be stressed however to bore out 1 of the 2 holes left from each of the removed staples. Take a drill bit that's a bit bigger than the 4-40 machine screws & bore that hole. That creates the room needed for expansion/contraction. I did this to my 3 02 TA's in '09 & they are still perfect. It's an easy fix & well worth the effort.

**TransAmTerry** · 12-24-2014, 11:24 AM

I wish I would've seen this sticky years ago before mine cracked. I had my windows tinted and noticed the cracks ( both sides ) after that and just chalked it up to them man-handling the panels. I lived with them ( annoyingly ) for years after that and watched them get bigger till they cracked all the way down. I have one of those cars that has every one of the "common" problems that us firebird owners have -- still love my car though ! Over the summer, I went to GM Carlise and snatched a perfect set of uncracked door panels but I have yet to do anything with them. After reading this though, I'm getting them out and at least taking the staples out until I get around to doing the swap. I think I'll even try to fix the old ones just because! I'll let you all know how it goes.
Terry

**INMY01TA** · 12-24-2014, 11:39 AM

Are they still making those panels? If not they must have cost a pretty penny.

**024mula** · 12-24-2014, 03:48 PM

I hear of a guy that did cover his entire door panel with leather and he let the cracks go. If I find more info on that, I'll let you know.

**TransAmTerry** · 12-25-2014, 10:23 AM

No, like most everything else for our cars, they don't make'em anymore -- and yes, pretty penny = $450. I thought not bad for 2 matching panels. The lether idea is interesting - I may look into that for the old ones.

**az gt eater** · 12-25-2014, 06:00 PM

I tried covering mine. They did not turn out well. As I am a simple roofer, no surprise there. I bought new to me panels that had small cracks and drilled out, then bolted them. They don't flex anymore. That means they shouldn't crack. (Fingers crossed)

**02 red hawk** · 12-26-2014, 12:09 PM

Originally Posted by 02 red hawk

The HPP article is good to follow. It must be stressed however to bore out 1 of the 2 holes left from each of the removed staples. Take a drill bit that's a bit bigger than the 4-40 machine screws & bore that hole. That creates the room needed for expansion/contraction. I did this to my 3 02 TA's in '09 & they are still perfect. It's an easy fix & well worth the effort.

This is a better thread. The pics are more detailed.http://www.firebirdnation.com/pdf/doorpanel.pdf

**Waynestep** · 12-28-2014, 11:18 AM

For those of us that have both sides cracked, does anyone know of a fix that can just fill in/cover the cracks? I have a 2002 with 74k miles.

**theorangeguy** · 12-28-2014, 12:32 PM

I fixed mine pretty easily...pulled the panels off, took the factory staples out, zip tied the crack together on the inside of the panel, scuffed up the back side of the crack, put some Jb weld plastic adhesive on the back of it, replaced the staples with paperclips and problem solved. Super easy and can't tell that a crack was ever there.

Before:

After:

I took this picture at this angle on purpose because you can barely see the edge of the crack but if you dont know what to look for you'll never know it was there.

**Too Fast** · 12-30-2014, 03:24 AM

Nice job, Patrick. You can barely see the cracks, but only if you know what to look for.

**5.0THIS** · 01-05-2015, 01:47 AM

Lolz. I've been fixing up an 02 TA lately. Without having spent much time in LS1 TAs over the past several years, I've been getting acquainted with all of the typical problems, including the cracked door panels, which mine has two of (one on each side)

I first saw it and thought, that's kind of weird to find on a 35K mile car. Then I noticed that every single one I saw had cracked panels. Guess I'll have to look into at least glueing them back together, the driver's side is cracked clean through, which looks like shit in an otherwise great condition interior. I know the fix may not work on the completely cracked one, but hopefully the one that's only half cracked.

Guess I should have done it when I had the panels off doing... wait for it... you guessed it... window motors.

**TransAmTerry** · 01-05-2015, 05:36 PM

Holy crap !!! you guys aren't kidding when you say the hardest part of the project is those damn staples !! I think i took cussing to a new high. I stabbed the end of my thumb really bad with an ice pick trying to get the curved end of the staples straightened out. Once i got both weather strips off, I was able to inspect the panels really good and discovered one of the panels had begun very slightly to crack in the usual spot, the other one is fine. I'm going to do the reinforcing thing to both just to be sure... but my hands need to take a day or two off. ---can't decide whether to do the thin wire or tiny nut & bolt method.

**theorangeguy** · 01-05-2015, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by TransAmTerry

Holy crap !!! you guys aren't kidding when you say the hardest part of the project is those damn staples !! I think i took cussing to a new high. I stabbed the end of my thumb really bad with an ice pick trying to get the curved end of the staples straightened out. Once i got both weather strips off, I was able to inspect the panels really good and discovered one of the panels had begun very slightly to crack in the usual spot, the other one is fine. I'm going to do the reinforcing thing to both just to be sure... but my hands need to take a day or two off. ---can't decide whether to do the thin wire or tiny nut & bolt method.

I clipped the staples with metal clippers and pulled them out with needle nose pliers...I didn't even really have to use my fingers lol

**screamin chicken** · 01-09-2015, 04:18 AM

I pretty sure it will just happen, My 2000 WS6 has 42,xxx and is kept in the garage, and the Dash is cracked, the Door panels, and this is why i will never buy a new Camaro unless they change the cheap plastic int, I also had the same problem in my 2007 Yukon XL SLT, and I made my mind up I was done with GM, lucky for GM I was in the market for a truck and just went to look at the new Silverado and nitice no cheap int. so I bought it. Please GM fix the cheap plastic int. in the Camaro, If they do not I will be in a SRT Challenger...

**theorangeguy** · 01-09-2015, 06:01 AM

Originally Posted by screamin chicken

I pretty sure it will just happen, My 2000 WS6 has 42,xxx and is kept in the garage, and the Dash is cracked, the Door panels, and this is why i will never buy a new Camaro unless they change the cheap plastic int, I also had the same problem in my 2007 Yukon XL SLT, and I made my mind up I was done with GM, lucky for GM I was in the market for a truck and just went to look at the new Silverado and nitice no cheap int. so I bought it. Please GM fix the cheap plastic int. in the Camaro, If they do not I will be in a SRT Challenger...

One way to prevent it from happening is to never use the armor all brand. The plastic in our cars gets really brittle on its own but that stuff makes it worse.

**Whamhammer** · 01-09-2015, 10:53 AM

Originally Posted by TransAmTerry

Holy crap !!! you guys aren't kidding when you say the hardest part of the project is those damn staples !! I think i took cussing to a new high. I stabbed the end of my thumb really bad with an ice pick trying to get the curved end of the staples straightened out. Once i got both weather strips off, I was able to inspect the panels really good and discovered one of the panels had begun very slightly to crack in the usual spot, the other one is fine. I'm going to do the reinforcing thing to both just to be sure... but my hands need to take a day or two off. ---can't decide whether to do the thin wire or tiny nut & bolt method.

I used my trusty Dremel to remove the staple ends , I had access to all but one that way. As far as hardware to use, I would argue that the small nuts and bolts (trimmed to the length they need to be) with some locktite is the way to go. The wire can lose tension, while the nuts/bolts you can tighten it just enough to give it the desired amount of slack.

**024mula** · 01-09-2015, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by theorangeguy

One way to prevent it from happening is to never use the armor all brand. The plastic in our cars gets really brittle on its own but that stuff makes it worse.

So, what do you use?

**theorangeguy** · 01-09-2015, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by 024mula

Originally Posted by theorangeguy

One way to prevent it from happening is to never use the armor all brand. The plastic in our cars gets really brittle on its own but that stuff makes it worse.

So, what do you use?

Meguiars Natural Shine with UV Protectant. Stick to professional grade, Meguiars, or Mothers and you're good. Armor all is bad juju.

**024mula** · 01-09-2015, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by theorangeguy

One way to prevent it from happening is to never use the armor all brand. The plastic in our cars gets really brittle on its own but that stuff makes it worse.

Originally Posted by 024mula

So, what do you use?

Originally Posted by theorangeguy

Meguiars Natural Shine with UV Protectant. Stick to professional grade, Meguiars, or Mothers and you're good. Armor all is bad juju.

Thanks for the tip!

**TransAmTerry** · 01-12-2015, 12:18 PM

Well, I braved my cold garage and finally got around to swapping out my old door panels for my new-er and now improved door panels. When I bought them at GM Carlise, I thought they were both uncracked but once I got the weather strips off, I discovered the the passenger side was JUST beginning to crack. So I treated them both like they ARE cracked. I had some metal mesh that i cut to fit about 4" wide and bent to fit the curve ( much sturdier than screen material ). Then I spread a nice thick coat of Permatex black silicone adhesive sealant ( item # 81173) a little bigger than the patch and mashed the mesh down into it and covered that with another coat. I gave that a good couple/ three days to dry in a warm house. I reattached the weather strip with the small screws & nuts. I tried some wire but it just wasn't cutting it for me. Anyway,, it looks so good now - like it did when it was new !! My interior is nearly perfect and those cracked panels were driving me nuts. If it cracks again I will loose my mind. Now, I'm going to fix my old ones the same way ..just because ! Those cracks were really wide and all the way down. I'll let you all know how that turns out. Maybe I'll attempt some pictures -- I haven't figured that out yet.