C4 1994 Convertible Door panels not staying on

[Jim P.]

This has been an on going problem with the car, my door panels don't stay firmly attached to the door. I have spent hours trying to get them to stay on firmly and they come out of the window track, I have glued the panels down up by front of the door and the rear view mirror, I have put screws through the panel into the door where the panel overlaps the back of the door.

Anyone had any luck with some solution?

I am ready to consider purchasing new reproduction door panels, not because mine look bad but because of the above issues. Has anyone bought the replacements and do they stay on any better than the originals?

Thanks as always for your help.

[Vinnie P.]

Re: C4 1994 Convertible Door panels not staying on

Jim...take a look at the article that is in the current issue (spring 2023) of The Restorer, page 7, this might be your solution.
Vinnie Peters

https://www.ncrs.org/restorer/rm2023_2/

[Jim P.]

Re: C4 1994 Convertible Door panels not staying on

Thanks Vinnie - I am excited about the solution to this nagging problem. I will be heading to Lowes this morning.

[Jim P.]

Re: C4 1994 Convertible Door panels not staying on

Well I went and got the 90 degree brackets and it works described in the article. Fixing my nagging problem of loose door panels. Thanks Vinnie for pointing out the article and Frank Erbio for taking the time to write it. My Lowes didn't have the Stanley brackets so I pictured the RB brackets that they did have below.

A couple of notes regarding the installation. I had to drill out the holes in the brackets so the 10mm bolts from the door would fit. There are only 2 of the bolts on each door that actually have the window bumpers on them so those are the two that I used. As Frank says you have to hold the window bumpers in place or they will fall into the door. After I took off one I used a small vice grip to hold the bumper in place while I figured out the size of the drill bit to use on the brackets to make the hole large enough for the bolt. However when I was put that bracket on and with each of the subsequent brackets, I just used my fingers to hold the bumpers in place while I took the bolts out and put the brackets on.

While I had the drivers side door panel off I fixed the door pocket cover on the drivers door. Above 10 years ago I jb welded some wall anchors to the back of the padded arm rest cover because the bosses that held the screws in place had broken off. It held until recently so I went ahead and just glued again with the JB Weld. As far as I can tell that arm rest/ map pocket cover is not available from any reproduction supplier. Pictures below.