Door Panel Leather Sagging - **FIX**
6th Gear Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 6,411
From: Southeast Virginia
I have the same problem in my 2007 GT! I just got off the phone with Ford's customer service line and she stated that there is NOT YET a recall for this particular problem on the mustangs but if enough people make them aware that it is a recurring problem, it will become a recall! This also means that if you previously paid a Ford dealership to repair the problem, you will be reimbursed as long as you have the original receipt. Hope this helps! Great DIY video, I'm not about to pay someone $300 per door at Ford to fix this (the quote I received)!
Gentleman's Relish
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 13,189
From: AZ
Davis6456, you must have misinterpreted what the ford rep told you.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchVehicles
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 357
From: FL
Absolutely. A most excellent Panel Re-Attachment Procedure. Well done! Oh... and HEADS UP... anyone about to undertake... do NOT skimp and think you can brush the cement on by hand with accuracy. USE THE MASKING TAPE. Makes for a MUCH easier job!
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3
I have to say finding this thread was a blessing and a curse.
My driver door panel started coming loose last year and by the fall it fell all the way down. Before I put the car away in storage for the winter here in NH, I had seen this thread and took the door panel off. I planned to fix it myself in time for spring. Well of course I put it off till the last minute. I got the foam brushes, DAP cement and masking tape and did the job. Or at least I tried.
The adhesive, no matter how much or how little I put on, it would never dry right. I did a few heavy coats on the felt to let it soak in. Then I tried gluing the panel and it would stick fine, then an hour later the vinyl would lift off the door. So I tried redoing it a couple times with the same result. Then I had realized that the 15-20 minutes they recommend for the glue to dry was more like 2 hours to overnight to get it tacky/sticky enough to glue. Long story short I finally figured out that DAP doesn't joke about the 65 degree minimum temperature needed for the glue to activate. It's still in the high 50s here, maybe 60 during the day. So it's not warm enough yet to get it to work.
It finally got to be about 75 the last couple days so the glue finally started working like it should. I finally got the leather to stick right and everything was good, then I realized that all these repeated gluing made the vinyl rigid and SHRINK and it doesn't fit all the way to the edges anymore. I was screwed at that point I ruined the material.
There are several auto upholstery shops in the area, so I picked one of them and headed down (like I should have done initially). They found the red crimson leather in the "detroit catalog", part #s V2819 and L7488 which was an exact match to the red vinyl on the red IUP door panels. Well they don't have it in stock anymore and it’s discontinued. Great now I’m screwed because I have to replace the material on both doors because they won’t match. I settled on Morbern Wave Acid Sun WV-204 material http://www.morbern.com/product/563 which is as close to a pattern and color that I could find.
It was funny when they called to see if it was in stock, because as soon as they said the part number, Morbern was like “oh you must be doing a Mustang door!” . So I knew I was onto something and wasn’t alone in this.
So the lesson of my story is this: IF YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM, BRING IT TO A UPHOLSTERY SHOP TO FIX IT!!!!!!!!! It would have cost me $40 to have them reglue the material on 1 door. So now I’m out the $20 in glue, tape and brushes I spent on DIY plus another $250-300 to have a shop fix my mistake and redo both doors from scratch. You’re only saving $20 to DIY, save yourself the hassle. Sometimes the cheapest way is the most expensive, and I’ve proved that here.
My driver door panel started coming loose last year and by the fall it fell all the way down. Before I put the car away in storage for the winter here in NH, I had seen this thread and took the door panel off. I planned to fix it myself in time for spring. Well of course I put it off till the last minute. I got the foam brushes, DAP cement and masking tape and did the job. Or at least I tried.
The adhesive, no matter how much or how little I put on, it would never dry right. I did a few heavy coats on the felt to let it soak in. Then I tried gluing the panel and it would stick fine, then an hour later the vinyl would lift off the door. So I tried redoing it a couple times with the same result. Then I had realized that the 15-20 minutes they recommend for the glue to dry was more like 2 hours to overnight to get it tacky/sticky enough to glue. Long story short I finally figured out that DAP doesn't joke about the 65 degree minimum temperature needed for the glue to activate. It's still in the high 50s here, maybe 60 during the day. So it's not warm enough yet to get it to work.
It finally got to be about 75 the last couple days so the glue finally started working like it should. I finally got the leather to stick right and everything was good, then I realized that all these repeated gluing made the vinyl rigid and SHRINK and it doesn't fit all the way to the edges anymore. I was screwed at that point I ruined the material.
There are several auto upholstery shops in the area, so I picked one of them and headed down (like I should have done initially). They found the red crimson leather in the "detroit catalog", part #s V2819 and L7488 which was an exact match to the red vinyl on the red IUP door panels. Well they don't have it in stock anymore and it’s discontinued. Great now I’m screwed because I have to replace the material on both doors because they won’t match. I settled on Morbern Wave Acid Sun WV-204 material http://www.morbern.com/product/563 which is as close to a pattern and color that I could find.
It was funny when they called to see if it was in stock, because as soon as they said the part number, Morbern was like “oh you must be doing a Mustang door!” . So I knew I was onto something and wasn’t alone in this.
So the lesson of my story is this: IF YOU HAVE THIS PROBLEM, BRING IT TO A UPHOLSTERY SHOP TO FIX IT!!!!!!!!! It would have cost me $40 to have them reglue the material on 1 door. So now I’m out the $20 in glue, tape and brushes I spent on DIY plus another $250-300 to have a shop fix my mistake and redo both doors from scratch. You’re only saving $20 to DIY, save yourself the hassle. Sometimes the cheapest way is the most expensive, and I’ve proved that here.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3
I was quoted an hour for each door @ $75 an hour (which is standard around here in MA/NH) plus another 30-50 in materials. So I'm hoping it will end up at around 200 bucks for both doors. Which isn't bad but I hate spending money on something so stupid.
Thread Starter
5th Gear Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,214
From: Winter Haven, Florida
So was the point of your post to urge ppl with this problem NOT to try this DIY?
And this is something u decided solely based you not being able to repair yours bc u didn't follow the temperature directions on the cement?
So then since it didn't work for u and now that u have to pay $200, u come and post on here for ppl to skip the $20 DIY and just pay the $200?
Sounds a little selfish to me...most ppl who have discovered this thread followed everything step by step and are cruising around with fully repaired doors for only $20 so I think u r in this by yourself...
If anything, your message should be not to try this in cold weather...
GL with your $200 upholstery shop repair.
And this is something u decided solely based you not being able to repair yours bc u didn't follow the temperature directions on the cement?
So then since it didn't work for u and now that u have to pay $200, u come and post on here for ppl to skip the $20 DIY and just pay the $200?
Sounds a little selfish to me...most ppl who have discovered this thread followed everything step by step and are cruising around with fully repaired doors for only $20 so I think u r in this by yourself...
If anything, your message should be not to try this in cold weather...
GL with your $200 upholstery shop repair.