Repro door panels

[Patdown45]

After removing the panel and disconnecting the cables I am quite certain there is not enough room to get the threads to engage. I will take some exact measurements and quite certain the dremel tool will be required if not a custom part or 2 made to go with the custom tool that I had to make

[paulr]

I spent 6 unsuccessful hours yesterday trying to get the remote mirror controls installed on my replacment drivers door panel. The plastic and vinyl seem to be too thick to allow both parts to engage the threads while the cables are attached. If I disconnect the 3 cables I may succeed in installing the toggle but I am afraid I will not be able to reattach the cables on such a short reach, but at this point I am willing to try anything!

You hit on another design flaw in the reproduction panels we haven’t mentioned before—the hard plastic doesn’t have any give like the original cardboard. Pinching at the glass frame and threads not grabbing (like in your case) are some of the drawbacks. Use as much caution as you can command. If push comes to shove the soft vinyl will tear and then it’s too late to get the look you paid $700+ for. When I came up against all the little almost-but-not-quite-fit issues I solved some by means of a dremel tool and minute cuts, shaping, grinding, prayers, alcoholic beverages, and desperation.

In the remote toggle fixture case I think I enlarged the hole (without cutting the vinyl) and fabbed a sheet metal grommet to replace it with. It was thinner and it grabbed and held. Just one idea.

[Terry64HT]

I haven't replaced the panels on my 64, but when I took the originals off to do other work, I found that the cable was stretched to the limit, making reinstallation almost impossible. I drilled a new hole in the inner door panel to make the cable routing more direct. This gave me a bit of slack to work with.
Don't know if this will help you.
Terry
64HT

[JamesR]

Following this resurrected thread with interest, as I removed my driver side panel a couple weeks ago to address some door related issues, which I've pretty much resolved. I'm now trying to decide on the best way to refurbish my panel: replace panel or use an accuform plastic cover or just doctor up the existing panel.

The mirror control cable problems that have been mentioned:

The plastic and vinyl seem to be too thick to allow both parts to engage the threads while the cables are attached. If I disconnect the 3 cables I may succeed in installing the toggle but I am afraid I will not be able to reattach the cables on such a short reach. Patdownd45.

I haven't replaced the panels on my 64, but when I took the originals off to do other work, I found that the cable was stretched to the limit, making reinstallation almost impossible. I drilled a new hole in the inner door panel to make the cable routing more direct. This gave me a bit of slack to work with. Don't know if this will help you.
Terry

I'm worried that I'll encounter the same problem with the cable, but from what I see I seem to have more than enough length to reinstall in the existing hole. Was the cable length issue specific to the 1964 models? My car is a '65.