Door Pockets

[_Tony]

The door pockets in my car arent in bad condition, but they are bowing a bit. When looking down on them they dont look the greatest. Are there any methods to straightening these out?

 

I have seen on pelican replacement fibreglass pockets which look to be a good option if i want to replace them, but the interior colour of my car might be hard to match. Its a burgundy. If i went down this route i was thinking to possibly do the leather and carpet trim for the pocket in black, but not sure if the two tone look would work. Or if its at all possible, to remove the leather and carpet from the existing pocket. Dont know how hard this would be without damaging the trim.

 

Would prefer to just try and straighten them out if i can

 

Here is a pic (The pocket doesnt look bad from this angle, but they are bowed)

 

 

 

[wasserkuhl]

They look alright to me.

 

The original Pockets are a press-formed cardboard composite material, which over time, when it gets some moisture on it will de-form.

 

There are a number of Fibre-glass pocket replacement kits available, however they tend to be alot thinner than the original pockets.

 

You would be able to get replacement carpet covers in your colour from places like Lakewell.com , auto's international or southboud trimmers in the UK.

 

The only way to 're-form' your door pockets would be to make a precise jig to clamp the pocket in the shape you want it and then steam it whilst its in the jig. Then, dry the pocket out slowly and it should stay in its newly formed position.

 

Best way to avoid any further deforming is to ensure that the door seals are all good and that the plastic membrane between the door card and the door are present and correct.

[_Tony]

Thanks, yeah they arent in terrible shape, they are just bowing a bit, so would prefer to have them straightened out. Will see if i can mock up a jig with clamps and maybe get a heat gun

 

the seals seems to look ok, but will have to pull the door apart to check the membrane. 

 

I think the replacement pockets and trim will be my last resort given the relative expense

[wasserkuhl]

Don't apply too much heat to them when you are drying them out.

 

and only use a steam wand or gun to 'soften' them. You can hire a steamer from a local industrial hire place.

[_Tony]

Cheers, thanks.. will be doing the pockets over the weekend

[_Tony]

I ended up doing the passenger side door. I used a heat gun to heat the bowed sections and then clamped them down to straighten and left overnight. I also took the door pocket lid off and straightened that out. After years of elbows resting on it that had bent as well. There seems to be a metal rod inside the lid since it was very easy to manipulate back.

 

I forgot to take before shots of the passenger door which had a more severe bow than the driver side, but i took a pic of the driver side to demonstrate:

 

 

Here is the door pocket clamped after heat application

 

 

and after:

 

 

 

 

very happy with the result. Now for the driver side pocket