05 - 09 Door Panels

Mach2burnout said:

No! You cannot remove all the factory adhesive. It cannot be done! The factory adhesive is some kind of epoxy that glues the felt panel to the door panel. This adhesive actually heats up when curing and melts the felt into the plastic! Trust me I tried for months, any and every tool on the market and chemical imaginable to remove this adhesive. I eventually just bought the Coverlay and put it on the panel.

This is after months of trying to clean this panel so it would look like just a standard panel.

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I didn't try to strip the door panels down to bare plastic; that looked like an impossible task. I just used a fine wire brush, acetone, and a towel to get the old deteriorated foam completely off.

Mach2burnout said:

Pretty straight forward. There are several Youtube videos.

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Thanks, thats easy. I hate the push pins that break or don't come off. I figured the door card was full of them but thankfully its not.

I had the leather inserts start to come loose on my 2007 Gt and this car is kept in a garage most of the time so heat was never a factor. it appears the foam type backing to make the panels soft just fell apart and the panels began to pull away from the door. To remedy this I removed the panels and brushed the material loose with a wire brush. When I had them cleaned I use 3m Headliner Adhesive to stick them back in place. I had used this material replacing headliners on some older vehicles and it always worked well. These panels are good as new and holding up well and only cost me the adhesive! This material sticks and when it dries it is not coming loose,

Mach2burnout said:

No! You cannot remove all the factory adhesive. It cannot be done! The factory adhesive is some kind of epoxy that glues the felt panel to the door panel. This adhesive actually heats up when curing and melts the felt into the plastic! Trust me I tried for months, any and every tool on the market and chemical imaginable to remove this adhesive. I eventually just bought the Coverlay and put it on the panel.

This is after months of trying to clean this panel so it would look like just a standard panel.

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Welp, Learn something new LOL. I didn't even attempt the headache you went through so I just assumed it was some bs adhesive that could come off with googone. I gave them away for free off offerup since that adhesive was a fuckin mess.

Deathstang II said:

Welp, Learn something new LOL. I didn't even attempt the headache you went through so I just assumed it was some bs adhesive that could come off with googone. I gave them away for free off offerup since that adhesive was a fuckin mess.

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That adhesive laughs at GooGone!


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I went with a custom leather insert.

I took my 2009 Bullitt to my auto trim shop and they were able to remove the old adhesive and the foam that deteriorates -- as @Laga notes. We re-used the same leather and a year later it still looked great when I sold the car.

I just bought a 2007 Shelby GT for me (and a 2008 Saleen Dan Gurney for my son) and both cars need door panels done -- and I'm going back to the same auto shop to have them do the panels as the leather material is in "like new" condition and I do prefer the look over the hard plastic.

I'm simply posting this testimonial because the DIY'ers on this thread may want to simply swap the inserts because of the time/technique required to remove the adhesive and foam -- but for those (like me) that prefer to keep cars original, a good shop should be able to do it. Indeed, you get what you pay for and I'm OK with spending $200/door card to get them done at a shop where they come back better than Ford.

There is a simple cheap fix. No glue. Use window screen spline and tool. It's held up over a year through lots of hot days and looks fine. I have posted about it before, but can share details again if anyone needs them.
Best wishes

Racer47 said:

Thanks, thats easy. I hate the push pins that break or don't come off. I figured the door card was full of them but thankfully its not.

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It helps if you use a plastic trim removal tool; one that slides in behind the panel where the push pins are located. That way you pry on the panel, which then pushes on the push pin. Doing it any other way risks breaking the pin and/or the panel.

I purchased the "Buckskin" black vinyl to keep the original Bullitt door panel look. I cleaned all the old panel foam & felt off & wire wheeled the glue off. I lightly sanded the panel with 80 grit sand paper by hand & cleaned it up with Acetone. i made a pattern outta painters paper off the old vinyl. I used 1/4" black dense foam. I cut the new vinyl out glued it to the foam before I cut it out. I used SprayWay 92 spray glue. It looks original. It took about 2 hrs. to clean glue off of each panel. The pattern took awhile to lay out & cut out but it tuned really nice. I had ask 2 different Upholstery Shops & neither one said they could get the correct material. I found it on line, the foam & vinyl were $110.00 with shipping & the glue I got on Ebay for $18.95 with shipping. I did it all with the panels off the car. The car only has 14,000 miles on it & it sits on jacks stands in a air conditioned garage & the vinyl panels fell off. Thanks Ford.

Yeah, I reglued mine using contact cement. Held well for about 2 years. One side began to come loose in the middle, enough to annoy the shit out of me.
Of course it was the passenger side so I got to look at it every time I got in or drove the car.
I said screw it, and got the Coverlays.
My door is black so I got the dark grey for a little accent.
Looks good and the plastic smell almost smells like a new car smell.
A little something extra for nothing......

I’d love to find a reasonably priced carbon fiber insert. Someone used to make one but I haven’t seen one in a while.
I used spray adhesive on my passenger side and it lasted a couple of years. I tried contact cement on my driver side and totally screwed it up. Had to throw away the insert and still have contact cement on the door.


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The only carbon fiber inserts that I'm aware of are from a vendor which goes by the name of Predator Mustang.. The owner is Jeff Pittman, if interested? his YouTube video/link is provided below..

Very True....cannot get all the glue off.....I just got it all smooth....no way to remove all the "spots". Would have to paint it at the very least...or live with "spots"....
I used a very sharp knife to clean the edges and my wood chisels. Now of course I have to spend a day re-sharping the chisels.

Damn this thread!!


My door panels were perfect when I bought my car a year ago and thought they still were... until I checked them yesterday because of this thread.

Passenger side panel is just starting to pull...
Dammit!

I guess it's time to put it up for sell.

I have some coverlay door panels. I think I'm going to try and color match them with the exterior. I have some leftover paint. Worried about the texture and the glossy paint, might give it an ugly finish. Thought about spending some time and using some high fill primer and some sanding. Or should I just spray it and go?

07 Boss said:

I have some coverlay door panels. I think I'm going to try and color match them with the exterior. I have some leftover paint. Worried about the texture and the glossy paint, might give it an ugly finish. Thought about spending some time and using some high fill primer and some sanding. Or should I just spray it and go?

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Make sure you use some paint prep spray prier to painting them. If not the paint will peal right off. Then use a flat or matte clear to cut the gloss.


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Mach2burnout said:

Make sure you use some paint prep spray prier to painting them. If not the paint will peal right off. Then use a flat or matte clear to cut the gloss.


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Yeah I have prep solvent and I will use an adhesive promotor primer. If I can get it to look smooth I will keep it gloss. They would match my center console and sail panels that I did a decade ago.



If they don't turn out I may just buy another set in black and slap them on there.

Adding my two cents - many of the inserts mentioned above are, of course, not OEM. To more closely match them you'll need to also have the thin foam insert installed behind the covering. I went to a car upholster and had that done. If it matters......