Progress on door panels and rear side panels

[chevynut]

I've been working on covering the foam on my door panels with fiberglass the past few days. It's a time-consuming process but it's going fairly well. I have 5 separate sections on each door panel and I have 3 sections almost completed. I've been working my way down from the top and I have to get the panel thickness just right in some places. The most challenging sections will probably be the ones behind my grab bars. I used spray foam on them and they have a lot of bubbles, plus they have the most complex shapes. The thickness needs to be just right at the door handle and grab bar too.

Here's what the panels looked like before I started fiberglassing them. I had them at net shape so I had to sand them down to make them thinner before applying the fiberglass. I'm using 1.5 oz mat and 4 oz cloth with polyester resin. The mat actually works very well. I haven't started on the rear panels yet, but I think they're going to be easier than the door panels. I'm waiting until the door panels are finished so I can match up the lines exactly.

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I'll post a couple of progress pics when I get them downloaded from my camera. I also have the rear armrests fitted to the side panels now.

[smooth 56]

Looking good chevy, it's going to be bad ass when you get it completed.

[MP&C]

I'm itching just thinking about the f/g! Layout looks good Laszlo!

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

should look great when your done, thanks for sharing.

[chevynut]

Thanks guys. Robert, the fiberglass doesn't really bother me much. Once it's covered with resin it just makes dust and it doesn't seem to itch.

I got the foam close to the right shape, but not perfect, so the fiberglass has to fix any irregularities. The biggest issue I've had is sanding too much resin away and having to re-apply it. It's hard to tell how far you've sanded and I've been using a linear air sander on some of it.

There are places on the door panels that are 3" or more thick foam. I have to finish the sides of all sections so the interior guy has something to stick the leather to so the sides have to be reasonably smooth too. There are two removable sections and three stationary ones but everything except the armrest will have to be assembled before the panel is put on the car. I have two screws that help locate and hold the panels in place and the removable armrests cover them. I haven't figured out how to secure the front armrests yet but I'm sure I can and hopefully there will be no screws showing. The armrests will be aluminum.

The other critical thing is that the panels have to fit the doors perfectly without warping. Once the fiberglass is applied, the panels don't flex much like they do with just the foam. The top section has a bend in the aluminum so I wasn't too worried about that. The large section in the middle worried me so I actually put the panels on the doors to apply the first layer of fiberglass. I will also do that on the bottom section to make sure the edges fit properly.

This is really my first attempt ever to use fiberglass mat and cloth. I find it fairly forgiving and not that hard to finish.

[chevynut]

Finally got some recent pictures. It doesn't look like much, but this is the result of many hours of glassing and sanding. I'm preparing to start on the area above the armrest now. That piece and the piece with the speaker hole are removable. Since those areas have so many bubbles, I'm considering coating them with a mixture of polyester resin and glass microspheres. I wish I'd used the regular pour foam on those areas instead of the spray foam, but I don't want to re-do it.

I have the gaps close but will do the final gapping with the panels attached to the car.



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[567chevys]

Very Nice Job .

Hope you enjoy them . Thanks for posting steps and pictures .


Sid

[chevynut]

Got the next sections just about finished, just have the top of the armrest area and edges to do. These were really tricky with all the compound curves and to make them fit the handle tightly. I think I applied fiberglass/mat at least 6 times in different areas. The panels now weigh about 14 pounds each....is that a lot? Just the aluminum parts are about 10.4 pounds so there's 3.6 pounds of foam and fiberglass. I still have to adjust all the gaps to .110".

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[chevynut]

I worked on the removable aluminum armrests tonight and I think I may have a slight problem I need to fix. The area under the armrest is 2 7/8" wide at the grab bar and I made it slightly wider, about 3 1/4", in the center of the door panel. The problem is it's still angling away from the door at the top, and when I try to fit the 2 1/2" tall aluminum armrest to it following the contour, it's getting too wide and touches the seat bolster. The seat rubs against it when it's tilted forward.

I think I'm going to have to do some slight re-shaping of the large areas and re-fiberglass them to keep the armrest a little narrower. Seems like a never-ending project.

[JT56]

Cnut will that be electric door locks too? They look nice