door panels used on later D/W series

I'm using a set of the "LE" door panels from a 90 on my 85 crew cab. My question is was there ever a cheap fiberglass knock off made in this style? What I want to do is cut down a set to fit the rear crew doors and glass them back together. Could this be done with the OEM panels, and how would you bond them back together?

Not sure on crew cab but the plastic form is basically the same for base and le. The le just got some padding and upholstery.

Yes that is correct. For every style of door panel made for these trucks over the years the low end trucks and high end used the same "raw" panel. The high end models received all the ad on's which as you said were just added on... What I'm trying to do is use the last style made and fit it to the rear door.

Do the 80's crew cabs use the same panel as the 70's crew cabs? I haven't seen any later crews close enough to know.

That said, you could make a "master" from a old front panel and then mold custom rear panels in glass.

Yes, the crew cabs all had the same rear door panels. A copy of the 70's style, only narrower. The 70's crews had matching door panels. The 80's crew used the 80's style doors panel only on the front. So needless to say they don't match. I went up a few years to 90 and am using that panel which again is different from all the earlier panels. So I would like to copy that panel for the rear.

I have never made a mold or "Master" But if I did use an OEM plastic panel how do I bond it back together and make it seamless? In my mind it needs to be cut up/down and a section taken out to make it narrower. Then cut again to move the door handle opening and arm rest back. The height is correct. Also this would be a full panel to the bottom of the door. Thanks for any help you can give.

OK I didn't realize that they didn't update the door panels.

That said yes the panel is a different size, pretty sure the handle is in a different spot as the window crank too (unless you're going to power windows)
I'd start by making a cardboard template of bother front and rear doors noting the overall shape of the needed panel and the location of the window crank and handle.

Them overlay one over the other together an idea of what needs cut and repositioning.

The upper padded section can be trimmed and restiched to shape, the lower section can have the carpet trimmed and reglued. These will cover most of the plastic cuts.

I'd glue em back with plumbing glue for abs pipe (black plastic pipe) and use a thin sheet of Masonite and pop rivets for reinforce. Hide the rivets under the upholstery and put some near the notches for the mounting tabs.

A local upholstery shop should be able to help with the visible seams, I know there used to be kits for diy of repair torn vynil, a pro shop should be able to blend the exposed seams pretty well.

For plastic adhesives check out Lord Fusor products.They have several different varieties for various plastics,as well as adhesion promoter and backing reinforcement material.The plastic panel should be marked on the back with type identification (ABS,PPO,GTX,PA-PPO,etc).They are avilable at auto body supply/paint stores. Here's a link:
http://www.lord.com/products-and-solutions/brands/fusor---aftermarket-repair-adhesives

Thanks guy's. I can see this in my mind... Some type of backing for strength. A new panel on the out side with matching material in the inserts like factory. Just didn't know what might work well to bond the plastic pieces back together. Originally thought I might have to use fiberglass. Not sure that would have blend in very well. I've used the pluming stuff on the house. I will look into this and the links above too. Thank you

So here is my first prototype... It fits the door using the original screw holes. I added the 81-93 door handle to match the front. A new armrest will have to be made. I will add a grey insert to match the front and the bottom will have carpet installed like the front but without the grill.

What would you do with it at this point? I'm looking for any ideas to smooth it out. I'm still thinking that I should fiberglass the whole thing. Its been cut into four sections, lots of screw holes to fill...

Any ideas on how this should/could be finished off and look OEM??

Front door and the original rear panel

A few more. And please tell me what you think... Will this work? What would make it better?

Those panels look really nice. I don't really have any idea what to do about smoothing them out though. Have you thought about covering them with leather or vinyl? A member here made arm rest plugs from wood and covered them with leather and they looked awesome. I'll see if I can find the thread. My wife found some videos on you tube on how to cover dash pads and such with leather.

However, If you want to sell the original door panels I would gladly buy them from you. Mine are missing.

arm rests

Scroll down to almost the bottom of the page. There is a lot of very nice work done here so the whole thread is great.

I would re-do what you have accomplished but bond the panels to be molded with Hot Glue/Epoxy instead of Bolts/Rivets (less finish work)smooth the seams and make a "Rough Positive"(make extra heavy and reinforced)of the original then fix the undesirable features of the "Rough positive". Once satisfied with the quality of that make a part. In this part you will find anything you missed in the "Rough Positive". At this point you can just fix the part and use it or fix the part to exactly what you want and make another "finished positive". Then when you make a part it should not require any repairs...always thought about doing this on mine but didn't ever get to it.

great job

Thinking about it maybe you could use the filler that they use on the plastic fascias. That stuff can be sanded and shaped.

Light blasting with coarse medium might get the texture back.

Wow, very nice work. Looks great!

The member that did the armrests in the thread I linked sprayed his panels with bedliner. That also looked good and it hides a multitude of imperfections.

Thanks for the ideas everyone.

I would do a few things differently.... After making a bunch of cuts to get the right fit, I know where it needs to be cut now. I would use a table saw to make clean and straighter cuts.

The panel is rigid with the wood strips, but i have alot of screw holes now too.

I hate to hack up a good panel and this one was a little dry and crusty on the top. If I did fill and smooth this one, I would need to add some type of texture to it.

The arm rest link was exactly what i was thinking. Make a wood block/plug with a vinyl wrap. Its nice to see a completed Idea like that...