When I try to close my driver door with the handle, the whole interior kind of bends towards me & it makes the door hard to shut... plus I worry about breaking it more. So I have just been rolling down the window to shut the door...

This is FAR too ghetto for a classy ride...

I have read that this is a fairly common problem. One option is to (obviously) replace the entire interior... but being a poor bastard... I am hoping there is something I can do to strengthen the door myself. Has anyone had any luck modifying their door interior so that you can actually use the interior door handle to shut the door? Maybe just put some strong epoxy on the inside (unseen) part of the interior peice? Or metal plates to strengthen it?

Any suggestions?

 

sounds like you are missing some hardware on the door...there should be a screw at the base of the handle cup and three more around the perimeter of the door panel...check for these and let us know if there is still a problem! oh and a small amount of flex is normal...but to ease the stress on the door panel try putting some grease on the door stop(black thing that stops the door from opening too far)!

 

I've pulled the peice off (had to replace window motor). The screws are all there. The backing of the peice (yellow-ish color) is cracked where the handle cup attaches to it... so do you think I just need to ad some brackets to reinforce this break?

 

can you take a pic of this and post it--this will help us?

 

Car is in storage 4 hours away... so pics are kind of difficult.

Thought someone may have run into this problem... along with a solution...

 

I would fiber glass the cracked area back together. It will make it a lot stronger.

 

I used a thin strip of metal and glued the broken peices together. So far its held up great and seemed to strengthen it alot.

 

You can check my writeup on removing the door panel - this shows where all the fasteners should be -

http://www.clubrx.org/default.asp?id...ntent=21&mnu=5

Dale

 

I too had that bending problem. So I pulled it apart and it was cracked like yours. I took all the pieces off the door panel and did some nice fiberglass work on it. Put it together and it is like new. I already had the fiber glass so total cost was ZERO, ZIP , NADA...

 

Fiberglass work... sounds fun! What supplies did you use? Are there any good kits to start out with?

 

Yeah... how do you fiber glass something? It obviously doesn't have to look pretty...

 

You need:

-Glass matt
-Resin
-Catalyst for the resin

and off you go!!

 

I'm new to 'do it yourself fiberglass'... You just go to local hardware? store & buy those 3 things... mix them up... & put it where you want it & let it sit?

 

If you have a walmart or orchard near you the will have a small fiber glass kit. It all comes together and is super easy to use. You simply cut out some of the fiber glass material(mat, looks like white carbon fiber) to fit over the crack. then you put some resin in a can or jar you dont want any more. Squeze in a few drops of hardener(catalyst) mix those up. put your mat over the crack and apply you resin hardener mixter over that with a paint brush or something. let dry for a few minutes then put a slightly larger piece of mat over the top and repeat with the mixture.

Oh yeah try to use some sort of desposible gloves. You will thank me later.

 

Great writeup. I just pulled apart my door and sure enough: two missing screws, broken bin, broken handle and broken "foam" backing. I have started the repair of the plastic parts using epoxy. Next step, fiberglass.

 

Fiberglass is so easy. My dad is really good at it seeing that he built all of his 3 boats from fiberglass himself. Whatever you do, dont use to much catalyst. It will make the resin dry up too fast.

 

Great write up Dale!

Thank you!

 

I am one of the guys who likes to OD on the manufactures amount of hardner. I like that stuff to get hot and stiffen up in minutes. If you put too little and it is cold out that stuff never sets up. The good thing is you can peel it of and start over six hours later . If you OD on hardner you have a few minutes max... good luck.

 

Just finished my fiberglass repair of my driver's side door and it is a HUGE improvement. It only cost about $20 for the fiberglass supplies at Home Depot. I repaired all of the foam cracks and the door handle pocket with fiberglass. On the plastic bits, I used epoxy. Once it was assembled I used more fiberglass to permantly attach the storage bin to the door. This helps to reduce the stress on the two small pieces of foam/plastic at the ends of the door handle pocket. I am really impressed with the strength and effectiveness of the fiberglass. The door handle feels very solid and does make that aweful creaking noise when you pull the handle. Now we will see how it holds up over time.

Check out the pics.

 

Call me when you're back in town... I'll come help you out as I've had to do something similar to my passenger side.
-Nic

 

Thanks, but I'm going to be bringing the 7 with me to Terre Haute for the remainder of the school year. I'll probably go ahead with the fiberglass fix whenever I get a chance to get it. But don't worry... I'll LET you help me out with all sorts of other tests, mods, & repairs.

 

haha alright

 

you did a good job for never having done fiberglass before. There is also fiberglass resin, which is in turn like bondo but it sands like fiberglass, very effective for filling cracks or fixing the handle. I reinforced one with a small piece of Carbon Fiber and that thing will not break again. fiberglass is extremely strong if you mix the resin properly and use multiple layers, that is much more important than anyone stated. Especially the resin needs to be mixed properly and cured at a temperature above 70 degrees for at least 24 hours. that will ensure a proper cure.

 

Ghetto fix: use quick setting epoxy for plastic, embed some hidden toothpicks or small diameter wire, like from paper clips, in the epoxy and glue things back together. If the epoxy is cream colored or off color, use a felt tip marker to "paint" it.

Or pay $700 for a new door interior panel?

 

You can create your own DIY composite material by using a synthetic fabric like nylon or polyester (got any old Umbro shorts laying around?) Alternate thin layers of epoxy or JB Weld and strips of the fabric and you'll basically be making something like carbon fiber, only instead of carbon fiber suspended in epoxy, it's synthetic fabric. I only mention this because it works well and is good if you don't have any fiberglass materials around, but do happen to have some synthetic fabric and epoxy of some sort. This is how I fixed the broken plastic where my passenger-side grab handle attaches to the door.