A little LX door card love.... (1 Viewer)

[xd9sc1]

I bought a '97 LX450 recently, and I joked with my wife that this was the fastest I've ever fallen in love.....

So, after a night of sleeping on the sofa, I wanted to post a small write-up on how I used a door card from a LC as a swap for an LX door card. There are some differences to note, since the LX has the "woodgrain" trim. Someone on the forum noted that the door cards between the LC and LX were not interchangeable. However, I could find no reason why that would be the case, so I purchased a LC door card and embarked on the swap. Here is a pic of the two panels. Sure, the LC panel isn't perfect, but it's better than the LX panel it's going to replace!

The woodgrain trim is held on by retaining clips. I wanted to remove the retaining clips but did not want to damage the plastic posts retained by the clips. So, used a dremel to cut the retaining ring and the used pliers to pry off the retaining clips.

Here is a what the backside of the "woodgrain" looks like, as well as the door card with the trim removed.

I clamped the trim piece to the LC panel to create indent marks on the leather (probably vinyl).

 

[xd9sc1]

Then, I stepped up in drill bit size, first drilling a pilot hole (5/64") and stepping up in size until I got to 3/16". Honestly, if using retaining clips to secure the trim, I'd likely need to step up to 1/4". At 3/16", the hole was just large enough for me to "snap" in the piece through the door card. When drilling, I was careful to ease into the leather to avoid having it pinch and twist with the bit. It was not a big deal to keep it from twisting the leather. I also ran the bits in from the back side of the panel as well, to help get things bored out. I also used a center punch to help get the hole bored out by just hand-twisting the punch through the hole. I was trying to make sure I didn't do any irreversible damage to the door card, so maybe I was being too cautious, but hey, I don't do this stuff on a daily basis, so....

 

[xd9sc1]

Here's a pic of the panels with the LC door card and LX trim, along with the old LX panel. I did order the retaining clips, so when they arrive I'll bore out the openings so it looks more like the LX door card's openings. Right now, the trim piece is secured in place by pushing each mounting post through its opening in the door card. I'll also attempt to repair the small tear in the LC panel, but haven't quite figured out how just yet. If anyone has ideas, I'd love to hear them!

 

[xd9sc1]

One thing I realized is that the LC door card has more foam padding in the area where the trim piece resides. So, once I get the retaining clips I will try and get them installed, but if I can't then I'll have to remove some of the foam padding to give the extra clearance needed to get the clips to secure to the posts.

 

[firemanj92]

One thing I realized is that the LC door card has more foam padding in the area where the trim piece resides. So, once I get the retaining clips I will try and get them installed, but if I can't then I'll have to remove some of the foam padding to give the extra clearance needed to get the clips to secure to the posts.

Nice job!!