Door cards disintergrating

[donmac45]

SVX 95 -117000k
I'm onto my third rebuild of my door cards.
The pink plastic moulded stuff is gradually fracturing all over.
The inner handle just pulls out.
Has anyone come across a permanent fix?
I fixed the nacelle under the steering wheel with fibre-glass and gel-coat and it seems to be holding up OK, but I havn't had it off yet;-)
I'm thinking this time of coating the whole thing with gel coat, but rebuilding the screw attachments is a long and painstaking job, and I inevitable get 1-2 mounting posts off center!
Dont suppose anyone out there has made a fibreglass mould?
I guess these days they could be 3D printed?
Dont suppose new cards are available?

Any suggestions appreciated


regards Don McAlpine
Otaki
New Zealand

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Pink Plastic door cards?

[Ron Mummert]

OK. I Googled "door cards" called door panels in this hemisphere. The rest I simply don't comprehend.

[Sean486]

I have never seen a door card disintegrate, my 92, 95 and the 1 parts car all had decent door cards (except for the dirty arm rests). Are you in very warm climate?

[Dburger]

I usually alternate between door cards and door panels (usually I say door cards to mess with older people ). You'd probably need a fairly large 3D printer to print an entire door card/panel, but I've thought about trying to print parts before.

[SURTEESS]

Don,

never had any issues with my cards/panels - maybe your plastic liners are not sealed correctly - letting moisture in ?

[donmac45]

Hi Team, Thanks for the thoughts.
I should have been a little more specific -apologies.
The bits that fracture are the pink plastic bits that form the armrest part of the door card. They are held on to the compressed cardboard door panel with self tappers. They also form the backing for some of the dash panels.
The plastic seems to go soft and crumbly and the screws pull out.
NZ climate is temperate.
Problem reminds me of when you get a 2-pot plastic mix wrong and it doesnt set properly -but to a lesser degree.
I have managed to source a second hand door card, and will be interested to see if its the same, or whether the problem is specific to my car.

regards
Don McAlpine

[donmac45]

I've just taken a few pics.
If you have a look at donmac45.blogspot.com
you can see the bits.

regards
Don

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Wow, looks like a unique problem.

I had my door panels off last year and they don't have any pink on them. I wonder if that is some type of a plastic equivalent to rubber rot. ie a bacteria or fungus.

[spacepig]

mine have never looked like that...seems like a solvent exposure or some other condition that caused some component of the plastic compound to leech out?

[SURTEESS]

yes I agree, I suspect that a previous owner of the car/card has re-glued the cover & the solvent has caused some sort of stress cracking of the under plastic....