Water Damage Door Cards (1 Viewer)

[EarthQuake]

Hi All, this is my first post here. We have recently purchased a 1996 80 with about 242k miles on it. It needed some TLC and I enjoy fixing things up so I've been digging in and getting things in better shape. At the moment, I've removed both rear door panels and have found there to be some water damage and it's pretty bad (starting to mold). The moisture barriers on one of the doors was completely intact and looks like it had never been removed. Surprisingly, this door card was the worst looking. There was a little moisture on the barrier in the area of the where the door panel is damaged.
The truck has been in the garage for a couple of weeks and all of the door/window belts seem to be in decent shape (no major gaps where water might easily pass).

My question and concern is where is this coming from?!?

I'm planning to get replacement door panels or cards but I'm going to be really disappointed if this just ends up happening again to the replacement parts. I'd like to solve whatever is causing the problem. Is it possible that there is not enough air getting in to allow condensation to evaporate? I can't imagine this would be the case, but if so, how could this be fixed? To me, it looks like there has been a significant amount of water sitting next to the door card, not just condensation. The worst of it makes the card itself very weak and very flexible.

Your help is appreciated!

 

[JoeW]

How do the vapor barriers look? The plastic sheets behind the panel are designed to keep water on the inside of the door. Over time they get hard and crack and the butyl holding them to the door stops being as tacky as it should. You can get them from Delta or the dealer and the butyl can be sourced from 3M.

I'm in the process of redoing all 4 of my doors as the panels looked similar to yours on the inside.

 

[EarthQuake]

How do the vapor barriers look? The plastic sheets behind the panel are designed to keep water on the inside of the door. Over time they get hard and crack and the butyl holding them to the door stops being as tacky as it should. You can get them from Delta or the dealer and the butyl can be sourced from 3M.

I'm in the process of redoing all 4 of my doors as the panels looked similar to yours on the inside.

Looked fine, however I didn't inspect so closely as to spot cracks.

 

[BILT4ME]

Most likely the slits in the bottom of the doors are clogged (use a zip-tie to clean them) and the doors filled with rain water, then leaked into the door cards through the speakers.

Also, look into changing inner and outer mouldings (door seal to the glass) to keep the rain water in the doors to a minimum.

 

[JoeW]

Sorry for shooting from the hip; just going on person experience with my truck and other vehicles. Maybe try water testing the door, with the panel removed and see if you can pinpoint if its leaking past the barrier or pooling up due to clogged drain holes as mentioned above.

 

[b16]

Your drains are clogged for sure. Also there should be a plastic vapor barrier between the door card and the door itself. Is that gone?

 

[clx16]

This was mine. Pretty sure the previous owner...elderly lady left the window cracked and never parked in a garage. I ended up removing the panel cover and making new board. Helped with the moldy smell

 

[Kernal]

Uber important to have a completely intact vapor barrier, which probably should be called a water barrier as water normally trickles though the inside cavity of the doors everytime it rains or you wash your vehicle.

You could buy a complete set of new door cards (the bare fiberboard) from Australia:

Door Cards Fits Toyota Landcruiser 80 Series Electric Model Quality Masonite x4

Set of 4 Door Cards / Trim Panels Suit: Toyota 80 Series Landcruiser - Electric Model - SUV Brand: Australian Door Cards Thickness: 2.5mm Recommended Door Side: Smooth Trim Side: Mesh Pattern Material: Premium Finland Masonite These Toyota 80 Series Landcruiser door cards are a brand new...

australiandoorcards.com.au

LANDCRUISER

Australian Door Cards is a specialist supplier of Masonite door cards / trim panels for a wide range of vehicles.

australiandoorcards.com.au

Not sure if anyone in the US sells these, might save on shipping costs/time.

 

[EarthQuake]

Your drains are clogged for sure. Also there should be a plastic vapor barrier between the door card and the door itself. Is that gone?

I suspect you’re right. I’ll check the drain holes out.

 

[EarthQuake]

Thanks everyone for the input!

 

[Kernal]

Just finished a quick minor repair of some cracking of driver's side door card. Got some large popsicle sticks from Lowe's paint dept (forget what they call them), then cut small sections and glued them with two part epoxy to the inner aspect of the door card (under the vinyl) between the rivet holes and the outer edge to strengthen that area. Also spread some more epoxy on the other side of the card to add some additional strength. Did not add wood to the other side as was concerned the extra thickness might interfer with the plastic rivets being able to be fully seated once installed back on the door.

I also sprayed the exposed side of the door card with a clear Shellac which was absorbed a bit into the fibers of the masonite board. Figured it might stabilize the wood fibers and protect them a bit from moisture. When I did this in the past to another card I spray painted over the shellac to help seal it up some more.

Top photo you can see the thin wood reinforcement on the inner
aspect of the card (click and magnify for a closer look). Slathered some two part epoxy on the outer surface to bolster it a bit more.

Zinsser® Bulls Eye® Shellac Product Page

Bulls Eye® Shellac is an alcohol-based solution of lac available in Clear and Amber tones. Bulls Eye® Shellac is easy to use and dries quickly.

www.rustoleum.com

After a couple of coats of spray Shellac:

 

[adventurewagon]

This was mine. Pretty sure the previous owner...elderly lady left the window cracked and never parked in a garage. I ended up removing the panel cover and making new board. Helped with the moldy smell



View attachment 2249917

What material did you use to remake the cards? I need to do the same...

 

[clx16]

masonite board from homedepot. Probably not the quality that you would normally make them with at the factory as i am not sure they are treated for moisture, but if you have good plastic liner and use some sort of spray sealant on the board i think it will be fine. In short its way better than it was before.

 

[Azca]

Masonite is a good choice for the door cards. Make sure you are using the darker board, it is oil treated and tempered. Harder and more durable than standard hardboard.

 

[80 Life]

masonite board from homedepot. Probably not the quality that you would normally make them with at the factory as i am not sure they are treated for moisture, but if you have good plastic liner and use some sort of spray sealant on the board i think it will be fine. In short its way better than it was before.

Anyone ever use spray sealant on their door cards? Mine are in pretty decent shape, but I was thinking it would help to keep them that way.
Thinking some clear Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal might go a long way. Not one to really trust a waterproofing spray much, but I will use anything Gorilla.

 

[Kernal]

Haven't used that product, as mentioned above I've used both a shellac because it seems to get soaked into the wood fibers and a polyurethane to seal it. Not a wood preservation expert but those seemed to help. If the wood is really bad like the OP posted the best fix probably is to replace the panels IMHO.

Key is keeping the water/vapor barrier intact and to check to see if the PO tore into it and never closed it back up.

 

[cahill]

Shellac is waterproof. You may have to build up a few layers but it shouldn't need any other coating beyond that.