[cougarbass99]

i wanna paint my door panels, the same way puck puck and a few other members have. can anyone give me a good how-to on doing this?

 

[PuckPuck]

here goes nothing:

- Open door (duuuh)
- remove all screws holding door panel, you will find some in the inner door jam, more behind thoses plastic buttons towards the bottom of the panel, and another screw behind the cougar head emblem.
- take panel, pull up then out (not all the way)
- from behind the panel disconnect the door latch wire (works like a brake cable on pedal bike) and all the electrical brackets, you don't really need to worry about which goes where, cause they are color coded and only go in one way
- put panel on bench
--------------this is where my memory gets a little sketchy----------
- from the back side of the panel you should see a nut/washer type thingy holding down the panel arm, undo it and this will give you plenty of slack to work with so you can paint behind the panel.
- remove the door opener handle, should be obvious
-------------done sketchy part---------------------
- take a good hour and tape it off carefully, take your time here and tape off EVERYTHING on the door panel that you don't want painted (overspray is bad)
- scuff all areas before painting, use plastic prep
- paint


then do everything backwards to put back in

 

[ChrisF]

Would this work the same if i want to get to my window itself? My drivers side window doesn't look like it's sitting properly in there. There is a big gap between the two windows on the drivers side than the passangers side. Plus when the window is rolled down you can see the back of the window and on the passangers side this can not be seen.

Thanks

 

[PuckPuck]

you can get to some parts of the window... the window is within the door shell itself

 

[Crispy]

Chris
make sure you use a flexible primer as well..... and do exactly like Puck says with taping off.... I painted my passenger door and didn't like it... thought mine was a tad too messy for my liking... I ended up buying a new door panel from my 1999 donor Melina Blue that visit a few times a year.... I spent 150 on a new door... FYI - before you paint please be aware that a new panel from a dealer is over 400.00 -- make sure it is something that you want to do and something that you want to keep like that... the handles get ALOT of use... so expect it to wear off or discolor over time... I've even seen some crack... unfortunately there is no way to remove the handle or switch area for when you paint... you just have to mask with ALOT of tape.... and if you don't use the right prepping and painting materials your hard work will peel off with the tape (that happened to me)

 

[cougarbass99]

ok christina, you've talked me out of it i went lookin in a couple junkyards yesterday but there was no cougars to be found. i'll wait till i can get ahold of some extra door panels befor i try this.

 

[Zman]

Or just give it to a competant body shop to paint, that's what I did and it came out great!

 

[Morph]

If its the panels you want done, and not the handle, just go to an upholstery shop, pick out a material you like and voila! I think Fett or SaidSevn can give you a detailed how-to if you want to try it yourself. I would have had mine done in yellow leather when I had my seats reupholstered, but it would have ruined my neon wires.