Door Panel Rebuild

[Mr Rusty850]

I'll be starting the rebuild of the door panels of my 61 mini soon. The backing board needs replacing and I was planning on using a 2mm compressed fibreboard from Segal Car Trimmings in Manchester but when I rang them this morning they told me they are closing down on Friday and don't have any stock. They suggested Millboard from Woolies as an alternative. I also wondered if 2 mm MDF might be an option. What have you guys used and were you happy with it?
Also, did you use Dacron for the thin padding between the board and the vinyl or has anyone tried 3mm scrim foam?

Many thanks,
Mr Rusty

[1071 S]

Just remember that you have to bend the backboard to get it into place. Make sure your new panel is flexible enough.

I would think you could test it by taking a piece meeting the top to bottom dimension and bending it so that the top meets the bottom.....

Cheers, Ian

[Tim]

Its far from original, and I'm not sure whether I'd use it on that basis, but foamed PVC panel is being used to replace fibreboard panels in trimming now. It is light and rigid but also flexible, and has the big advantage of being waterproof. Its available in 2 and 3mm sheets. Its used a lot in sign making. Brand names include celuka and foamex.

Tim

[Peter Laidler]

+1 for foamex as suggested by Tim, above. For yoiur purpose, it's out of sight, the face is covered, rot-proof, water-proof and pretty much everything else proof. What's even better, is that it's cheap and even better than that, if you break a bit off (or need to add a bit), superglue was made to stick it.

I've got a load of off-cuts from a sign-makers locally that I use for all manner of small jobs on my car, house and machines. In fact, you can machine it too.......

[Mr Rusty850]

Brilliant, thanks guys. I'll try and find a local supplier.
Barry (Mr Rusty)