1972 - door panels

[Jerome P.]

I have taken the door panels off to adjust the windows and found that there is no plastic barrier. There is nothing. I thought there was some kind of inner liner or something. I have looked in some of the supply house catalogies and have nothing. If there is an inner liner where can I buy them.

What, if anything, should be behind the door panels?

Jerry

[Jim T.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

Don't know about the 72, but my 68 and 70 have a clear plastic water barrier that is attached to the door frame. If I had to replace one I would use some clear heavy duty plastic I bought to put over a house window when tornado debris broke some windows on a friends house. It came in a package and the plastic was rolled up. I would use the 3M strip chaulk to attach the plastic to the door frame. Another product that is thicker is the wrong color. It is a black plastic. I used this to lay on the ground as a moisture barrier on a conventional house with crawl space under the house. The thicker mil will serve well if you don't mind the color change, but you have to buy so much of it to get it.

[Jack H.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

The vapor barrier was installed to extend the life of factory original door panels which were used a form of fiberboard for the backing. Today's reproduction door panels employ vacuum-formed plastic for the backing material and aren't prone to moisture damage. Therefore, there's little call for reproduction moisture barriers...

The moisture barrier material was a thick translucent plastic that was 'formed' to cover protruding door assy items like window crank & door release mechanism. It was held to the door with a bead line of caulk around the outer edges.

Quite a few Bubba mechanics and prior owners simply discarded the original moisture barrier when they removed door panels to work inside the door cavity. For quite some time there were no sources for replacement vapor barriers and restorers either hand-cut 'look alikes' from bulk material (plastic paint drop clothes, Etc.) or sourced a used original from Corvette specialty scrap yards.

Judges have to carefully lift a door panel at its edges to see if the moisture barrier(s) are present or not, but some factory original installations were sloppy enough that you can see exposed edges of the barrier at the door panel's sides/bottom.

I don't know if anyone is currently reproducing these moisture barriers, but it'd be a matter of contacting the major reproduction parts houses (Paragon, Corvette Central, Zip) who cater to C3 owners...

[Tom H.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

My Dec.71 build 72 coupe has them. Clear plastic.

[Alan S.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

Hi Jerry,
The plastic shields on my 71 , #6589, are vacuum formed and die-cut with a surprising amount of detail to match the contour and allow for the various door and window mechanisms attached to the inner face of the door.
Regards,
Alan

PS: When I ask about them at Corvette salvage yards I'm always told they have disintegrated and are just 'shreds'. Perhaps it's a UV light thing?

[Jerome P.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

Hi Allan,

Are your vapor barrier's clear, opague, semi clear, etc.

It seems Mid America sells a vapor barrier, but I am not sure if they are correct for the 68 to 72 cars.

Any thoughts?

Jerry

[Terry M.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

1968-1972 vapor barriers may not all be the same. My 1970 is opaque white, and fits so poorly I don't have to do anything more than open the door to check them out.

[Alan S.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

Hi Jerry,
The shields on my 71 are 'almost' clear. The perimeter is surprisingly intricately cut to match the shape of the door, and as I said the shield itself is VERY vacuum formed. When you lay it out on a work surface very little of it is flat.
As Terry said, it's pretty easy to see SOME of the shield when the door panel is in place. On my car that seemed to be because of the so-so fit of the door panel. You could look through some gaps and see the beginning of the shield. ( is so-so an engineering term of measurement?)
The shield shown in my Mid -America catalogue looks to be the 84-96 version. The material is MUCH milkier than what's on my 71. You can see the 'vacuum forming' though quite easily. I don't know about their 68-82 version.
I would think that using a flat sheet of plastic would have to involve the word PUCKER. NOW, a person COULD cut a large 3 " wide ring of plastic sheet, stick it to the perimeter of the door using strip caulk (the original had a piece of string embedded in it) and that's what the Judge would see if he looked for it. I don't know anyone who would stoop to doing that.
What, if any, of this matters to more than 6 people in the whole world?
Regards,
Alan

[Gary S.]

Re: 1972 - door panels

Funny thing about threads like this. I glossed over it and then, today, I replaced the door opening mechanism on my 72. The vapor barrier in my 38000 mile car (30000 when I bought it 9 years ago) is clear plastic. It is cut to reveal the various arms and pivot points for the door handle, window crank and door lock.

Gary