DIY door cards for full doors?

Bammo68

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 27, 2021
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Western Australia
Just picked up a pair of full size doors to complete my Lego collection of TJ parts! They were in a rolled Jeep so have some cosmetic scratches on the exterior but given I have to repaint them anyway, all good.

The interior, not so much. Both door cards are missing along with the window winders. I can replace the winders easily enough but factory door cards are attracting drug money. I dont need them to look original - just to be neat and functional. I was thinking of making up door cards using from 1/4" ply or similar and coating them with some vinyl or similar.

Has anyone done this and - if so - any tips or tricks?
 
That is a tall order and you’re best bet would be finding a pair of door cards from a junk yard , or classifieds . It will take some digging but they are out there . You can find any color door card that isn’t cracked and just paint it
 
They were in a rolled Jeep so have some cosmetic scratches on the exterior

That's the same way I found my half doors. 😬
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Couple of pics of the drivers side (RHD) door from the outside and the passenger side from the inside. As you can see, pretty dusty and a few small scrapes on the exterior but will come up a treat once repainted. Inside...not so much! I'm thinking of building up a card using that expanded PVC sheet material as per some of the tutorials on Youtube. Wreckers here in Australia want more for the door cards than the doors themselves cost and freight from the US is prohibitive.

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Door outside.jpg
 
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I was thinking of making up door cards using from 1/4" ply or similar and coating them with some vinyl or similar.

I have helped a friend do this, but I don't have any pic. As flat and small as a Jeep door is, it should be relatively easy as long as you don't want to get fancy. Keep in mind that the door side will likely get wet at some point, so if you use wood, make sure it's up for it. As an alternative, you can use something like a sheet of ABS. Just cut in your handles. You could cover that with a layer of padded vinyl if you want a soft feel/look.

Edit; if I remember correctly, ABS can be molded fairly easily with a little heat from a heat gun.

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What my friend did was use aluminum, but this was in a hot rod, and he was getting a little fancy (he has the tools).

Simple aluminum, or get fancy.
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There's also the full-retard option if you want to learn a new trade. ;)
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You would think that the aftermarket industry would have come up with a direct bolt in replacement for the Jeep TJ door cards by now. Of course you can buy replacement cards but the cost is way out of line with what I would consider reasonable even for used cards. The plastic these are made becomes brittle over time and if you replace with used cards they will most likely develop cracks as well. I have reinforced my existing cards with JB Weld in more places than I can count and they are still cracking. If someone out there has a method of fabricating door cards for a Jeep TJ I would very much like to see this process. Keep in mind as a Jeep enthusiast I do not have access to specialized sheet metal tools, Just the basic hammer and die or a heat gun, heard someone mention Molded ABS plastics.
 
Ive spent a few hours looking also. Eventually im going to make an attempt at it with either sheet metal or aluminum... the biggest issue i see from a arm chair prospective (i have not pulled the door cards yet just internet investigation) is the window wipers and making a piece to do that. The cj/yj doors have the metal exposed at the top which makes them easier to do or so it seems. My reason for door panels is i want to build speaker pods for the doors. The plan is to do my half doors. If i can get them to look/work like i want them to i will post them up