Passenger side plastic door panel

[professor229]

Hey.... didn't want to spend a great deal of time out in the garage yesterday (too cold outside) so I decided to pull off the passenger side interior door panel that the previous owner tried to remove, and failed, but managed to put a break in it about a foot long..... I started by watching a how to You Tube video and it was pretty straight forward.... found out Ford's idea it to lift up on the plastic panel and designed the catches that way... where GM you more/less pry straight out..... After watching the video of the 2004 Ranger I went out to remove it so I could bring it in the house to work on it.... except, the fastener locations/devices on the video didn't match what I saw in reality..... hmmmm so I went back in and found ANOTHER video and it showed a little bit different type of design.... went out... checked and it was wrong too!!! so did a little intuitive looking and found a screw in the armrest straight down and also one near the bottom of the plastic panel.... used a putty knife to wedge in and tried to get something to wiggle to give me a clue...... not much was moving.... so back in and found yet another video on how to remove it and this one was the most helpful... remove the smaller trim panel in the middle by prying it out and there should be two screws under it.... Did the pry out technique and it worked but there were NOT two screws under it.... so got my putty knife and pried UP and that worked fine.... got the broken door panel off and inside.... brought in some clamps, and plastic JB WELD and my hot glue gun too..... Other than holding these two broken pieces together, I am looking for another alternative... Please remember that this is a $500 project truck... I looked on CARID and they want mega bucks for a new interior panel and that ain't happening.... I looked on Ebay.... which was better.... $60... but then $50 to ship it.... $110???? I don't think so.... Looked at OEM and I am not paying hundreds of dollars for a door panel either...... I looked at my Used Parts Search and apparently junk yards don't want to deal with them... So I am back to plan A..... trying to repair the panel somehow.... and looking for someone with some creative ideas.... I don't need it to look perfect or new.... I just need it to hold together and look respectable... not asking for much am I???? My thoughts are JB WELD because it works and is a gray adhesive... a hot glue gun would work quicker and better but probably wouldn't hold up very well... So back to JB WELD and how to clamp the seam together???? Looking for creative suggestions and ideas..... Thanks..... (took some pictures too.... )

 

[Uncle Gump]

If you really want to fix it with JB... I would get a piece of plywood and a couple blocks of wood. Use the wood blocks screwed to the plywood to keep the panel pushed together.

Then just be on the lookout for a cheap pair/single of door panel(s).

 

[professor229]

I spent some time on this yesterday and tried to hold the broken piece in tight but the only way to do it is to hold it by hand really.... and JB WELD takes a long time to set up so that isn't much of an option.... Therefore, I am contemplating using the hot glue gun and at least try it.... This isn't going to be a world class fix but it will be good enough and should not be too noticeable... and just hope it holds up when I reinstall it.... I also gave up on the fill idea using a welder to fill in above the wheel wells.. the metal was just too poor for this so I got out the cut off wheel and removed all the poor metal.... used a manual file to clean it all up and now will use my flange tool to design the four patches I will need... No place to clamp the patches because of the inner fender so I will put the patches in place with a magnet, tack weld and then take my time... I had to do this kind of sheet metal welding on a 1927 Chevy pickup that I fabricated parts for... and you could not tell there was any metal damage when I was done.... This doesn't need to be perfect, because I will ad fender flares to cover these areas too.... Always something it seems... Have a good one.

 

[BrooksK]

Can you get some thin plywood, and glue it to the back of the door panel, while holding the crack closed until the glue sets? Do you have any wood clamps to hold the plywood in place? You could use a ratchet strap around the whole door panel to hold the crack closed while it dries. You would only have the seam from the crack visible from the outside. If you're going to use a glue gun, get some sand paper and roughen up the backside where the plywood will be glued to it. This will help the hot glue stick better, but if you want a more permanent fix, trade the glue gun for liquid nails and glue the plywood on with that.