in the post about the new armrest supports....someone brought up the problem about the top of the door panel pulling up......
I thought I would start a new post to see what can has been done to fix this

I have the same problem...you too I bet
p

 

I ran across this in my old 928. Fortionately it has not happened to my current one. I never got around to reparing them before i sold the car.

I was planning on getting a 3' or so strip of 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 right angle aluminum 14 gague or so and reinforce the top. There is enough room without interfearing with the top of the inner door casing. i would peel back the leather attach the reinforcement with rivits and epoxy and reinstall. ...but as noted i have not had a chance to try it yet..just throwing out ideas..

 

Are you talking about the very top? By the window? If so, that's a pretty easy fix. My '90 S4 had this problem when I first got it.

If you know how to remove the door panels, it's a snap. I just used some 3M Hi-Strength 90 spray adhesive on the back of the leather, and also added some 1/4" staple-gunned staples. It's held just great for almost 5 years.

There are some door panel removal tips out at the Greg Nichols 928 Tips web site.

I've also got some photos of the procedure that I took when I was upgrading my audio system.

 

I tried wetting and clamping mine. Had them clamped for a week. There was some improvement, but still looked crappy.

 

So are you talking about actual warpage of the backing or just the leather pulling up? I was just addressing the leather pulling up issue. I can see that actual warpage of the backing to be a much harder problem.

 

Very good write up!

Thats what I need to do and suggest spray glue to the vinal and door panel to reglue. If they are warped I'm not sure how to fix that.

 

Jim B posted something awhile back where he used expoxy to wet the fiberboard, then fiberglassed and clamped it. Used plastic wrap to keep the fiberglass from sticking to the wood/clamps. Messy, time consuming, but probably bulletproof. I need to do the same but it's farther down on the list.

 

The fiberglass fix was actually pretty easy since the door panel is a flat straight piece. Peel back the upholstery (panel off the car) use a couple lengths of scrap wood to clamp to both sides of the panel (test fit until you like how it looks) Mix up some resin and soak it into the fiberboard both sides and lay 2-3 layers of cloth glass on the underside. Apply mold release( kitchen plastic wrap) Clamp the wood in place. Wake up the next day and remove the boards glue down the upholstery and install your now straight unwarped door panel. I believe that moisture from inside the door gets up under the fiberboard and helps warp them. The plastic sheet factory membrane glued top the door which often gets "lost" probably helps prevent this.