80-86 Door Panel restoration.

1986 Ford Bronco/F-series door panel restoration.

Supplies
6 Cans of dark red ColorBond purchased from LMC truck.
1 large bottle of Acitone.
1 bottle of Purple Power from Advance Auto Parts.
One roll of Peal & Seal from Lows. (Look in the roofing section)
Two boxes of Ford style trim tabs.

Old faded door panels








Dooor panel disassembly.

Remove the 4 nuts that hold on the trim around the power window switch (Only one shown)




Bend the tabs that hold the cloth covered section strait. There are a lot of them, so make sure you get them all. Also remove the carpet padding/sound deadener from the door panel.




All of the metal tabs for the cloth covered section bent strait.




Remove the 4 screws that hold the armrest pad on.




When you flip the door over the armrest pad should fall off, the cloth covered section may as well. If not, it should lift off easily.




Cloth covered part removed.





The chrome trim ring is held on by three kinds of tabs, one kind is identical to the others




Anther kind is the same metal tabs but it has these locks on them.




I removed them by prying up on one side of the slit the retaining tab goes through, then slowly wiggling them off.




Same as above.




Go ahead and remove the rest of that carpet padding/sound deadener.




This is the final type of tab holding the chrome trim ring in place. Just remove the lock the same way you did the other kind.




Bare door panel, ready for prep.




Badly faded pink speaker grill.




Remove the staples that hold the mesh screen in place.




The speaker grill is held on with more metal tabs.




Bend one side strait and the grill will slide out easily.




I placed all the small parts that where not going to be painted in a ziplock labeled "Drivers Side" for this panel.




Here are the small parts after being thoroughly cleaned with "Purple Power" and a brush and wiped down with Acetone.




Door panel after being thoroughly cleaned with "Purple Power" and a brush, and wiped down with Acetone.




Prepped driver side door panel hanging in our custom paint booth.




After two light mist coats of "ColorBond" Still a bit blotchy, but looking a little better. ColorBond should be sprayed in several light coats, about 10 minutes apart.




Armrest, Speaker grill, and power window switch trim coated with ColorBond. (I repainted the table Black when I was done)




The restored drivers side door panel next to the non restored passenger side panel.
















Restored door panel with window felt reinstalled.




Bare door. I lubed all the window regulator mechanism with white lithium grease. lubed the lock cylinder with graphite, and lubed the window tracks and power door lock servo with a light spray silicone lubricant. Power windows go up and down like they should now.
Then I cleaned the door with a mild cleaner to prepare it for Peal&Seal.

(Do not use "Grease" or "tire dressing" on your window tracks, and if you have tinted windows, protect them from over-spray by any lubricant)



Peal & Seal applied, two layers towards the middle, one layer at the edges where the door panel clearance is lower




Restored door panel installed with all new fasteners. Color is not dead on but it is way better than the faded pink they had become.




A little warning for 80-86ers. If you decide to remove the felt screen from the speaker grill as I did, it will expose the lower, rearward edge of the inner panel. The speakers are not centered in the grill, so if you want a finished look you will need to paint this area.

I did not do this to my pass side door and you can see bare Peal & Seal from the drivers seat. Fortunately the louvers on the grill prevent the passenger from seeing it from there point of view. I will fix this the next time I pull the pass side panel off, or it bugs me enough to do it.