Series 2 Spider Interior Door Panel Restoration

[Roadtrip]

First of all, this is meant for those owners who have warped interior door panels, but the outer cover is still in good condition. Those wishing to do a more than just a nice “driver” restoration should consider buying new panels. At about $180 a set, though, they’re not inexpensive.

Parts:
1. New backer board. Possible replacement materials are hardboard, luan plywood, or even plexiglass. The original backers were about 1/8” thick hardboard. The problem is they weren’t waterproofed and over the years they absorbed water and warped. I used regular hardboard, although I did waterproof. Also, my car is not taken out on wet days.

Many owners use luan plywood. It’s stiff and can be waterproofed with spray varathane or some other sealant. I used regular 1/8” hardboard, obtained from the local home center store. Bill Bain in an earlier thread used plexiglass . . . waterproof already, won’t warp, is has enough flexibility to conform to the door well, but is somewhat more expensive and harder to cut. You might also have to experiment a little with adhesives to see what will stick to it best.

2. Padding. Try and reuse the old padding. If unusable, very thin foam from a sewing store works, as will the thin closed-cell foam that is used for packing material.

3. Adhesive. I used the 3M automotive spray contact adhesive, although I’m sure Weldwood brush-on contact adhesive would work well also.

4. Fasteners. The door panel is held on with 4 spring push-fasteners. Often times they’re missing or corroded beyond use. You should be able to find some suitable replacements at the auto store or ACE hardware. There also are 4-5 screws at the bottom of the door. If yours aren’t in good shape, get some new black oxide auto trim screws.

5. Bright trim. Often times, also, the chrome-covering on the trim strips is damaged or gone. To recover them I’ve used some sticky-back chrome mylar from the hobby store. It’s used by builders of remote control airplane to accent their paint jobs. It’s cheap at about $3 a strip and one strip is more than enough to do one door. If careful how you cut, one strip could do both doors.

Procedure:

1. Carefully remove the interior door handle and window crank. Note their position and the position of the window so you can put them back in the same orientation. Compare to the other door.
2. Remove the two screws that hold the hard plastic upper trim on the door. Carefully lift up the rear of the trim first to loosen it from the pinch fasteners. After than a little see-saw motion sometimes helps it get loose. Be very careful, though, since the plastic is old.
3. Remove the screws from the bottom of the interior panel.
4. With a putty knife or some other wide thin blade carefully pry at the points where the push fasteners hold the door panel onto the metal. Don’t pull recklessly on the panel or you might make things worse. It should pop right off.
5. Check the interior of the door for cleanliness and the security of the plastic splash shield. Note in the picture how it’s installed.
6. Clean and re-lubricate the window regulator mechanism and the door lock mechanism.
7. Re-back the interior panel
a. On the workbench, carefully separate the foam mesh and vinyl from the warped backer board. It should separate fairly easily. Try and save the foam/mesh padding. If it’s in bad shape, then you’ll probably need to replace that too.
b. Use the old backer board as a template to cut your new one. A sabre saw works well for the outside cuts, and holesaws and/or large wood drills also work well to make the two holes for the window crank and door handle.
c. If using hardboard or plywood as a new backer, be sure to treat it with some kind of waterproofing. I used a couple of coats of spray varathane, with particular attention paid to the cut edges.
d. Once your new backer is cut and drilled, hold it up to the door itself to be SURE the holes line up.
e. Glue the cover to the new backer. A staple gun with ¼” staples works good to fasten the edges around the back (unable to use on plexiglass) in addition to the glue.
f. If renewing the chrome strips with mylar, to it now while you can lay the panel flat. Cut the strips somewhat smaller than the plastic trim. You won’t see the edges anyway and if trying to cover the entire plastic strip, the edges of the mylar may not stick well.
g. Install the spring push fasteners. Do a test fit. Make adjustments as necessary.
8. Re-install the door panel making sure that the splash shield is in place.
9. Re-install trim and handles.

[116_Veloce]

May I add that spraying the back of the board with a few thin layers
of clear-coat will make it last a very long time.

[Rosso Veloce]

Great right up John - are there any different/special considerations for redoing a S1 Spider?

Thanks!

[lgbalfa]

any more pics of the finished product?

[BlueSpider]

Nice job. I went through this myself. It was laborious allright. I bought new vinyl though - found one nearly identical to original, even came with padding! No 100% ideal though as wasn't thick enough and panel clip heads show thru by a little lump. See few remodel pics attached (especially old / new panel I made myself out of a hardboard)

[Mr. C.]

This is good info. I would add that you should glue vinyl sheet on the door and then put the panel on. The sheet is available in hardware stores. You can also find spray adhesive there.
Cut the required holes in the vinyl carefully and tight. There is or was a write up similar to this one on the bb a couple/3 years ago.