Grrrrrrrrrr

[azruss]

Installing new interior door panels. man, what a hassle. First, they arrive with no window felt. Ordered the felt and watched the IAP video. the panel had pre-drilled holes for the felt. lined it up and punch holes in the felt with an awl and the drilled and pop rivited. 1st problem. even with the shortest pop rivits i could find, they stick out to far. had to grind the backside. This required reverse mounting a new 4 1/2" grinder disk and carefully grinding the rivit. Next issue. the panel is pre-drilled with holes to mount the plastic lock pins. When I look at the door, there are no holes. So i hang the panel to mark where to drill and realize of the 4 holes along the bottom, only one hits sheetmetal. To top if off, the hole for the door handles is 1/8" too high and the door handle wont go on. Had to do some upholstery cutting to get the panel all the way down on the door frame. It feels like it is all the way down. did some serious coaxing with a large rubber hammer. Gave up on that for the time being. I will look at the drivers door tomorrow.

[NJFIAT1981]

Where did you get the door panels?

[azruss]

I got them from Ramzi and Csaba.

[RRoller123]

I had the same problem doing my window felt. The standard pop rivet heads sit too high after installation. I ended up using a type of rivet (wish I could remember the damned name of it) that has 2 tangs that you fold over. They have a solid head. There are paper fasteners that are of a similar style. I got them at the local True Value HW and they worked fine. I set them with a pair of vice grips, adjusted to just the right point. So far so good after a year.

[4uall]

like these?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener

[RRoller123]

Yes! That's it, I remember now they are referred to as "Split Rivets". They can be easily set with vice grips and offer a really low profile.

[supplyguy]

Good to know on rivets. Installed my new panels (IAP) and they fit fine - but I have yet to tackle the felt. The velcro fastening at the bottom did not work very well - too big of a gap. But when the doors are shut....man they look good.

[RRoller123]

I remember now that I folded over the tangs as far as I could with a screwdriver before flattening (setting) them with the vice-grips.

[baltobernie]

YMMV, but the panels I got from IAP had a larger gap than OE, and no felt was required.

[azruss]

These also had a large gap with the upholstery running between the window and door. The purpose of the felt is more anti-rattle than anything else.

[RRoller123]

what is YMMV?

[baltobernie]

"Your mileage may vary", a disclaimer once used in car commercials, but has been adopted in Internet-speak to "this has been my experience; your's might be different."

[RRoller123]

Got it! Thanks!

[ozmington]

For anyone else wrestling with the window felts, I have found that using the two piece post fasteners that can be found at hardware stores work best. Find your local store with the aisle that contains all the strange little fasteners (in my town it's Ace Hardware). These aluminum fasteners screw together through the holes and they are flat on both sides. They have a flat head screw slot to tighten with a screwdriver.
Leaves a nice finished look.