Alright guys, I just finished this a few days ago and I know I'm not the only person that's been interested in this conversion so I wanted to write a little "How-To" for everyone.
These panels are starting to come down a bit in price and I've seen them selling for around $300 a pair. Still more than fixing your sagging vinyl, so it comes down to what you think it's worth.
So, these are the panels I bought:
I chose these because I had the Shaker door speakers, and I really liked the design of these ones with the running pony emblem on the insert. I originally paid $350 for these, but the passenger side panel had some damage and was seriously warped so the seller gave me $75 back on them.
PANEL FITMENT
When you initially take these and hang them in the car, it almost looks like they will go right on, but it's not quite that simple. They go on easily but most of the fastener holes do not line up.
This picture shows the main differences that have to be accounted for. '10-14 style panel is on left, '05-09 is on right. First off, the three locating "dowels" on the back of the newer door panel should just be cut off flush. Installing and removing the panel is a lot easier with them off, and they seem to throw things off a little by staying on (the front one has to come off regardless as it hits the door). Also, as the picture shows, the older panel has 4 fastener holes along the bottom, whereas the newer panel has 3 and they are located higher up. On the two front holes nearest the hinges, the top one lines up, the bottom one is slightly off (a hole drilled near the existing one is all that is needed here). The rear two holes by the latch do not line up at all. More on that later.
The plus is that the two torx head bolts (the one behind the armrest and the one behind the door latch pull) both line up fine.
I have also circled what I believe is part of the resonation chamber for the door speaker on the back of the door. The part circled both sticks out and down further than this part on the old panel. I can't say with certainty if anything needs to be done with this- on mine, it seemed to be fighting with the vapor shield so I cut it down a bit, filled the gaps with ABS plastic sheet, glued it together and sealed it with silicone.
Another important thing that needs to be addressed: On the inside of the door on the '05-09 cars, there is a raised area where the plastic blocks attach that the screws go into for securing the back of the door panel (I don't know the actual name of these parts). For whatever reason, the newer panel hits this raised area and will not sit flush against the door unless you make a relief in the door panel as shown here:
I simply cut at the edges with a hacksaw, scored along the bottom and snapped it off with pliers, trimmed back the plastic at the top of it (a half inch or so should be plenty), and glued it back into place. Note that the corner is shaved off on the left of where the relief is cut, I found that it was still hitting there but I couldn't cut anymore out of there without risking going through the face of the panel.
WINDOW SWITCHES
The window switches from the new panels will not work. I tried to take the switches apart just to see if there was any chance of swapping the older "guts" into the newer switch body- nope, they're completely different inside. I also noticed the switch rockers on the newer switches are larger than the old ones:
The driver's side switch will snap right into place in the newer switch panel, the passenger side will not. You'll have to trim it out and glue it into place unfortunately.
Also, because the rockers are smaller there was a huge gap behind the old switches in the new panel. I made a little filler piece to cover that spot. As it just so happens, the small plastic trim piece that covers the bolt behind the door latch pull is almost exactly the right width to fit into the recess that the driver's side switch snaps into. Since I wasn't reusing my old ones anyway, I cut and trimmed a couple pieces down and glued them into place.
This is the finished result. The old switches are evidently a slightly different color from the new panel but it wasn't even obvious to me until i took this picture with the flash on.
SECURING THE PANEL
Now, as I stated before, the last thing you need to do is secure the panel into place. I wanted to put some of the extra screws in mine, to make sure it was secure and to make it fit flush.
The lower screw on the front of the panel (nearest the hinges) needs a hole drilled just where this picture shows and you will be able to run the screw into one of the original nylon pieces in the door. The top screw lines up fine as-is.
Along the bottom of the door, you can't drill the panel to use the original nylon mountings as they are too close to the bottom of the panel. I elected to use the middle and rear original holes in the panel. I put a 1/4" hex driver in my drill and used a self tapping screw to drill new holes, then you can either use new trim screws (I used 5/8" long ones because the originals a 1 1/2" long and I didn't know if they might run into something by being higher up in the panel) or you can use the original screws. I didn't feel like the front one was necessary, and it's in a weird spot that would require drilling the door panel to make it work and I didn't feel like messing with it.
The back of the door panel, as I stated, neither of the nylon things lines up with the holes at all. I made a little bracket for mine that allowed me to use a screw on the top one (which I had taken pictures of while I was installing the panels and my phone didn't save it), but to be honest I don't know if you really HAVE to have anything there or not.
On my passenger side one it wasn't sitting against the door at all so I again drilled holes with a self-drilling screw and used trim screws to bring it flush against the door. You can see in this pic how the plastic is discolored, it was all bent up along this edge. This is probably the easiest option if you want to secure the panel on this back edge.
And so, this is the final result: Fits good, looks good, I'm very happy with it.
One last thing to note: The door lock post will no longer be centered in the opening with these new panels, for whatever reason. You can bend it over enough to get it mostly centered and be able to put the trim piece back on without it binding up.
So there you have it! Admittedly you don't have to do all this work to just swap on the panels but I wanted it to be secured and not look too weird, and fit more or less like factory. Hope this helps anyone thinking about the swap.
These panels are starting to come down a bit in price and I've seen them selling for around $300 a pair. Still more than fixing your sagging vinyl, so it comes down to what you think it's worth.
So, these are the panels I bought:
I chose these because I had the Shaker door speakers, and I really liked the design of these ones with the running pony emblem on the insert. I originally paid $350 for these, but the passenger side panel had some damage and was seriously warped so the seller gave me $75 back on them.
PANEL FITMENT
When you initially take these and hang them in the car, it almost looks like they will go right on, but it's not quite that simple. They go on easily but most of the fastener holes do not line up.
This picture shows the main differences that have to be accounted for. '10-14 style panel is on left, '05-09 is on right. First off, the three locating "dowels" on the back of the newer door panel should just be cut off flush. Installing and removing the panel is a lot easier with them off, and they seem to throw things off a little by staying on (the front one has to come off regardless as it hits the door). Also, as the picture shows, the older panel has 4 fastener holes along the bottom, whereas the newer panel has 3 and they are located higher up. On the two front holes nearest the hinges, the top one lines up, the bottom one is slightly off (a hole drilled near the existing one is all that is needed here). The rear two holes by the latch do not line up at all. More on that later.
The plus is that the two torx head bolts (the one behind the armrest and the one behind the door latch pull) both line up fine.
I have also circled what I believe is part of the resonation chamber for the door speaker on the back of the door. The part circled both sticks out and down further than this part on the old panel. I can't say with certainty if anything needs to be done with this- on mine, it seemed to be fighting with the vapor shield so I cut it down a bit, filled the gaps with ABS plastic sheet, glued it together and sealed it with silicone.
Another important thing that needs to be addressed: On the inside of the door on the '05-09 cars, there is a raised area where the plastic blocks attach that the screws go into for securing the back of the door panel (I don't know the actual name of these parts). For whatever reason, the newer panel hits this raised area and will not sit flush against the door unless you make a relief in the door panel as shown here:
I simply cut at the edges with a hacksaw, scored along the bottom and snapped it off with pliers, trimmed back the plastic at the top of it (a half inch or so should be plenty), and glued it back into place. Note that the corner is shaved off on the left of where the relief is cut, I found that it was still hitting there but I couldn't cut anymore out of there without risking going through the face of the panel.
WINDOW SWITCHES
The window switches from the new panels will not work. I tried to take the switches apart just to see if there was any chance of swapping the older "guts" into the newer switch body- nope, they're completely different inside. I also noticed the switch rockers on the newer switches are larger than the old ones:
The driver's side switch will snap right into place in the newer switch panel, the passenger side will not. You'll have to trim it out and glue it into place unfortunately.
Also, because the rockers are smaller there was a huge gap behind the old switches in the new panel. I made a little filler piece to cover that spot. As it just so happens, the small plastic trim piece that covers the bolt behind the door latch pull is almost exactly the right width to fit into the recess that the driver's side switch snaps into. Since I wasn't reusing my old ones anyway, I cut and trimmed a couple pieces down and glued them into place.
This is the finished result. The old switches are evidently a slightly different color from the new panel but it wasn't even obvious to me until i took this picture with the flash on.
SECURING THE PANEL
Now, as I stated before, the last thing you need to do is secure the panel into place. I wanted to put some of the extra screws in mine, to make sure it was secure and to make it fit flush.
The lower screw on the front of the panel (nearest the hinges) needs a hole drilled just where this picture shows and you will be able to run the screw into one of the original nylon pieces in the door. The top screw lines up fine as-is.
Along the bottom of the door, you can't drill the panel to use the original nylon mountings as they are too close to the bottom of the panel. I elected to use the middle and rear original holes in the panel. I put a 1/4" hex driver in my drill and used a self tapping screw to drill new holes, then you can either use new trim screws (I used 5/8" long ones because the originals a 1 1/2" long and I didn't know if they might run into something by being higher up in the panel) or you can use the original screws. I didn't feel like the front one was necessary, and it's in a weird spot that would require drilling the door panel to make it work and I didn't feel like messing with it.
The back of the door panel, as I stated, neither of the nylon things lines up with the holes at all. I made a little bracket for mine that allowed me to use a screw on the top one (which I had taken pictures of while I was installing the panels and my phone didn't save it), but to be honest I don't know if you really HAVE to have anything there or not.
On my passenger side one it wasn't sitting against the door at all so I again drilled holes with a self-drilling screw and used trim screws to bring it flush against the door. You can see in this pic how the plastic is discolored, it was all bent up along this edge. This is probably the easiest option if you want to secure the panel on this back edge.
And so, this is the final result: Fits good, looks good, I'm very happy with it.
One last thing to note: The door lock post will no longer be centered in the opening with these new panels, for whatever reason. You can bend it over enough to get it mostly centered and be able to put the trim piece back on without it binding up.
So there you have it! Admittedly you don't have to do all this work to just swap on the panels but I wanted it to be secured and not look too weird, and fit more or less like factory. Hope this helps anyone thinking about the swap.
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