Door Panel Leather Sagging - **FIX**

spectreman

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Well, the heat/humidity of SoFla finally caused dreaded door panel flop on the ol' '09 GT500. I've used the techniques (listed in this thread) on my former '08 Bullitt but again, the heat/humidity of SoFla always caused it to fail w/in 6 mos.

So this time I'm going to a pro upholstery shop. Did so this AM. The good folks there told me they've done this repair 100's of times to all models of Fords from the 05-09 gen. They do the same basic technique as mentioned in this thread except they use a much heavier duty adhesive and have told me it'll never peel again. Cost? $200.

I'm gonna give it a whirl and see how well it goes.
Lee
 

mfergel

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Well, the heat/humidity of SoFla finally caused dreaded door panel flop on the ol' '09 GT500. I've used the techniques (listed in this thread) on my former '08 Bullitt but again, the heat/humidity of SoFla always caused it to fail w/in 6 mos.

So this time I'm going to a pro upholstery shop. Did so this AM. The good folks there told me they've done this repair 100's of times to all models of Fords from the 05-09 gen. They do the same basic technique as mentioned in this thread except they use a much heavier duty adhesive and have told me it'll never peel again. Cost? $200.

I'm gonna give it a whirl and see how well it goes.
Lee

Going with just reusing the factory insert? I was thinking of doing this but getting some nice leather this time around.
 

spectreman

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Going with just reusing the factory insert? I was thinking of doing this but getting some nice leather this time around.

Ayup, just stuck w/the factory OEM stuff.

The shop did an ok job & for $100, I'm pleased w/it. That is, I'll remain pleased so long as it sticks. The owners were nice folks; to that point, he told me the passenger door was fine & recommended no repair on that. That saved me $100 and cost him the same amount. There's some shop honesty. I was going to do it anyway but he insisted to leave it alone since it didn't need it. Well, ok then! So, reasonable price, appears to be good work - what else can you ask for? Time till tell tho.

One item the shop owner did mention- Armorall/protectorant type products. He thinks that some folks saturate those door panels when spraying protectorant sprays on them. He says protectorant sprays:
-seep thru the leather,
-can break down the mounting glue,
-recommended you do not directly spray the stuff on the panels and
-when you do use protectorant, to do so sparingly, like misting it lightly on a cloth and then wipe down.
Lee
 
Last edited:

MikeVistaBlue06

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No they are base model door panels with the shaker option I found on ebay. I was in the process of stripping them when I found those
a9aqu3e4.jpg


Very sorry to bring this old thread up again, but mine started doing it again after the contact cement repair. I have yanked mine off down to the plastic, but have the shit left on the plastic from the glue the factory used as shown in this picture.

What can I use to take this shit off???

I've tried:

acetone
turpentine
goo gone
gumout carb cleaner

and this shit is stuck on there still.

Please help. Trying to sell this car.

EDIT: I found what works: BRUTE FORCE--a drill and a steel wire brush!!!! What a pain in the ass!

Thanks!

Mike
 
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MikeVistaBlue06

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Here's how you fix this annoying cheap ass POS SOB once and for all!!!

1. You need some primer and then this type of paint:

http://www.vhtpaint.com/high-heat/vht-wrinkle-plus-coatings

2. Yank all the shit off that came from Ford down to the bare plastic, and throw the leather and other shit in the trash can!

3. Use a steel wire brush that you attach to a drill and buff off all the glue residue from whatever that shit is Ford attached to the plastic door frame. Sand with 80 grit sandpaper to remove any other bits of glue and smooth out any brushmarks from that steel wire brush. That shit is stuck on there, believe you me!

4. Take compressed air and blow away the shavings/sanding residue.

5. Clean with acetone.

6. Tape and Paper (mask) it off so that just the outline of where the leather was is showing.

7. Spray with primer and wait 30 minutes.

full


8. When primer is dry, spray with VHT wrinkle paint. I used black since my leather was black.

full


9. Let it dry 30 minutes, and if it looks like it needs another coat, lay it to it! It works best if you have sunshine hitting it after you paint it because this paint dries slow. You can speed it along with a heat gun, but be careful to not make it bubble up too much.

10. Eventually it will dry and look like this:

Passenger's side:

full


Driver's side:

full


All that is needed now is to take a fine paintbrush dipped in black paint, and even up the edges and then put Armor All on all the plastic parts to spiff them back up, and bingo done.

Hope this helps.

Mike
 

07gts197

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Mine is coming undone again ughhhhh. I used silicone last time and it lasted a good 5 or so years so I cant complain but still what a pain in the ass. I think Im going to swap to 10-14 door panels instead of fixing these again anyway. I messed them up a bit when I pulled the dash to replace my evaporator core a few years back.
 

Mach2burnout

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Here's how you fix this annoying cheap ass POS SOB once and for all!!!

1. You need some primer and then this type of paint:

http://www.vhtpaint.com/high-heat/vht-wrinkle-plus-coatings

2. Yank all the shit off that came from Ford down to the bare plastic, and throw the leather and other shit in the trash can!

3. Use a steel wire brush that you attach to a drill and buff off all the glue residue from whatever that shit is Ford attached to the plastic door frame. Sand with 80 grit sandpaper to remove any other bits of glue and smooth out any brushmarks from that steel wire brush. That shit is stuck on there, believe you me!

4. Take compressed air and blow away the shavings/sanding residue.

5. Clean with acetone.

6. Tape and Paper (mask) it off so that just the outline of where the leather was is showing.

7. Spray with primer and wait 30 minutes.

full


8. When primer is dry, spray with VHT wrinkle paint. I used black since my leather was black.

full


9. Let it dry 30 minutes, and if it looks like it needs another coat, lay it to it! It works best if you have sunshine hitting it after you paint it because this paint dries slow. You can speed it along with a heat gun, but be careful to not make it bubble up too much.

10. Eventually it will dry and look like this:

Passenger's side:

full


Driver's side:

full


All that is needed now is to take a fine paintbrush dipped in black paint, and even up the edges and then put Armor All on all the plastic parts to spiff them back up, and bingo done.

Hope this helps.

Mike


How well is this holding up?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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