Carpeted Roadmaster door panel inserts

What's the deal with these? I mean the scraggly carpet material that is on the bottom half of 94-96 Roadmaster doors. They match the carpet color but don't really look like carpet, per se. On the door panels I'm repairing (94, tan or beige) they look more sparse and ... thin. You can clearly see the speaker slots behind them, which is good as far as the speaker is concerned. No real pile, if that's the right term. Kinda like the fur on an elderly dog but they don't smell as bad. It looks like if I "combed" them longways you could see the door panel right through them. I haven't tried that. It is probably just age because it is obviously the same material as the inside of the storage bins in the doors but those look OK. I doubt replacement material can be had, so what do? I don't think it would look right to just glue floor carpet there. I could refinish them with SEM, which I will be using on my doors, but how to make it look good? How would I get it off, if I wanted to. Heat gun? If I can't make them look good then I don't think it would be hateful to strip all of it off and just SEM the panel underneath. I I did that I might probably use the grille that came with my new speakers rather than conceal the speakers behind the door. Maybe they'd look OK if I didn't really do anything. Anybody?

It is the lighter than the material on the tailgate, and storage compartment. They were attached with hot glue, or contact cement. The tailgate carpet is held on with hot glue. It is a PITA to get off, and usually damages the surface under it. If you heat it to remove it, it will probably warp the door panel, and that is not a good thing. The material is similar to the carpet, but thinner. If you are going to use heat, get a trial panel from the junk yard to practice on.

Do not use solvents on the lower door panels, they are polystyrene, and do not hold up well to solvents.

If you paint over the cloth on the doors with SEM, it will become stiff and nasty. There is nothing you can do to remove the SEM from the door once you have painted it.

Check with either a custom builder, or maybe a stereo shop. The often have specialty cloths to hide speakers.

OK, Fred. That is exactly what I wanted to know. I will do exactly nothing with them except maybe clean them carefully and brush them longways so they don't look so thin looking down. Kinda like Homer Simpson's combover. I've given a lot of thought to putting real wood veneers there and it is possible, but if I am likely to damage the door pane getting them off then they can stay on for now. I'm of two minds about the speakers. I have a close friend who is an audiophile and has an elaborate recording studio in his sub-basement. He says it doesn't matter much what I do so I'll probably just leave well enough alone.

You could check fabric shops or upholstery shops and see if they have something to replace the carpeting, like felt possibly, that is if you can get the old crap off.

I'm in the same boat the previous owner had some type of glue in the drivers side door pocket that completely dried . Tried a bit of acetone to gently remove it but no luck I'm on the hunt for a similar material and thinking about just gluing over the old piece .

Wojtek wrote:

I'm in the same boat the previous owner had some type of glue in the drivers side door pocket that completely dried . Tried a bit of acetone to gently remove it but no luck I'm on the hunt for a similar material and thinking about just gluing over the old piece .

The back of the pocket is a fiber material, and should not be harmed by solvents, but do not get any on the main lower panel. If the glue is urethane, it is impossible to remove. You can remove the pocket with heat from the back side, and any 91-96 Caprice part will fit, and can be mounted on the same pins. If you need to build up the pins, use a mix of scrap plastic and MEK. If the flange end is missing, you can make new flanges by wetting the end of the old ones, and adding the paste to it after installing the panel over them. Allow it to "dry" overnight while weighting it to keep it from moving.