Not sure if this has been discussed, but I wanted to share how I fixed the plastic door panel on my wife's 2006 4runner. This is rather a kindergarten car work, but some people don't know how to work with fiberglass and this is an easy place to start. What happened was the small plastic pieces that hold the trim onto the door had broken off, so the panel was "broken". I went to the dealer and a replacement panel of the same color was going to cost $500+. I searched all over the internet and the cheapest used I could find was around $300+ after shipping. So I scoured my garage and found everything needed to fix this myself(don't ask why I have fiberglass sitting around, I just do).
Here is what was needed:
Foam(I stole some from my neighbors new TV box) $0
2" Fiberglass Tape(not actually tape, its just what they call it) $0(because I had it, but can be found on amazon etc for under $10)
Epoxy(I have large jugs, but 2 small tubes would work) $0 or ~$8 if you don't have any laying around
Toyota Body Panel Clips(5 x blue 4 x orange) $4
Plastic cups(for epoxy), stir sticks(I used kitchen skewers), latex gloves $0(you may have these laying around)
First thing to do is completely clean the body panel and sand a generous area of where the broken tabs once were. Then you need to build your foam molds. I used a jig saw and a combo bench top sander to match the angles of the original clips. See image 1.
After you have matched the angles as best as possible super glue the foam piece directly over where the old tabs were located. See image 2
Now its time to lay up the fiberglass, cut two pieces per tab that go over the entire foam mold and just past the mold an additional 1/2" to 1" on each side. Cover a the entire mold with epoxy as well as beyond on the plastic, lay one fiberglass strip and push the epoxy around and into the fiberglass. Cover this first piece of fiberglass with more epoxy and add the second piece of fiberglass on top of this. Finish it by adding epoxy to this last layer so the entire piece of fiberglass is saturated in epoxy. Complete this too all of the molds. I replaced all tabs that broke off and then added some additional fiberglass to the tabs that were not broken. Let this dry for a few hours in the sun, or in a heated area, epoxy drys quicker and better in room temperature or hotter. See image 3
The last piece of the picture would be to dremel out the holes for the openings for the body clips. You could use a drill for this as well. For your best bet for marking where these holes should go would be by taking off your interior door panel(easy and painless) have a friend hold or tape the door panel into place, then mark with a sharpie. From there you will get a general idea of where to dremel. Remember that the holes in the door allow the body clips to adjust horizontally, and the holes on the panel allow the body clips to adjust vertically, so do not dremel the exactly width that you mark with your sharpie, dremel the same width that you have on any existing tabs. Lastly you will place the new clips on the door, then push the panel into place. If you forget about the one slide in tab on the door, no big deal, that can be unscrewed to be put into place. See image 4 for final look.
Pros to this approach:
- Save hundreds of dollars
- You get to work with fiberglass and epoxy(I think its fun)
- You might get special treatment from your wife for a few nights
Cons to this approach:
- Takes about an hour to finish
- If you mess up on the height of the foam molds the fiberglass clips will pull on the plastic door panel, which can be seen vaguely when the car is clean, however they are unnoticeable if you aren't looking for them, or if your car is dirty most of the time.
Thats all for now until I find this unicorn of an FJ60 to start working on.
Here is what was needed:
Foam(I stole some from my neighbors new TV box) $0
2" Fiberglass Tape(not actually tape, its just what they call it) $0(because I had it, but can be found on amazon etc for under $10)
Epoxy(I have large jugs, but 2 small tubes would work) $0 or ~$8 if you don't have any laying around
Toyota Body Panel Clips(5 x blue 4 x orange) $4
Plastic cups(for epoxy), stir sticks(I used kitchen skewers), latex gloves $0(you may have these laying around)
First thing to do is completely clean the body panel and sand a generous area of where the broken tabs once were. Then you need to build your foam molds. I used a jig saw and a combo bench top sander to match the angles of the original clips. See image 1.
After you have matched the angles as best as possible super glue the foam piece directly over where the old tabs were located. See image 2
Now its time to lay up the fiberglass, cut two pieces per tab that go over the entire foam mold and just past the mold an additional 1/2" to 1" on each side. Cover a the entire mold with epoxy as well as beyond on the plastic, lay one fiberglass strip and push the epoxy around and into the fiberglass. Cover this first piece of fiberglass with more epoxy and add the second piece of fiberglass on top of this. Finish it by adding epoxy to this last layer so the entire piece of fiberglass is saturated in epoxy. Complete this too all of the molds. I replaced all tabs that broke off and then added some additional fiberglass to the tabs that were not broken. Let this dry for a few hours in the sun, or in a heated area, epoxy drys quicker and better in room temperature or hotter. See image 3
The last piece of the picture would be to dremel out the holes for the openings for the body clips. You could use a drill for this as well. For your best bet for marking where these holes should go would be by taking off your interior door panel(easy and painless) have a friend hold or tape the door panel into place, then mark with a sharpie. From there you will get a general idea of where to dremel. Remember that the holes in the door allow the body clips to adjust horizontally, and the holes on the panel allow the body clips to adjust vertically, so do not dremel the exactly width that you mark with your sharpie, dremel the same width that you have on any existing tabs. Lastly you will place the new clips on the door, then push the panel into place. If you forget about the one slide in tab on the door, no big deal, that can be unscrewed to be put into place. See image 4 for final look.
Pros to this approach:
- Save hundreds of dollars
- You get to work with fiberglass and epoxy(I think its fun)
- You might get special treatment from your wife for a few nights
Cons to this approach:
- Takes about an hour to finish
- If you mess up on the height of the foam molds the fiberglass clips will pull on the plastic door panel, which can be seen vaguely when the car is clean, however they are unnoticeable if you aren't looking for them, or if your car is dirty most of the time.
Thats all for now until I find this unicorn of an FJ60 to start working on.