I’m in the process of fitting new door panels and running into fit problems. The panels are hitting the seal on the body and causing interference closing the door.

I put inner and outer stiffening kits, which could be part of the problem but it seems like the door panels are a little oversized. Unfortunately I’ve moved all my spare stock door panels and don’t have one here for comparison.

Anyone else run into this?

Is this a stock panel, a recovered stock panel or an aftermarket one?

Reproduction door panels

I ran into the same thing when trying to install a reproduction panel. Everything lined up, but the thickness of the backing panel along with the new vinyl increased the overall thickness just enough for the door to close. I went and found some very good original panels and they popped rich in without exception.

if you used the new 914rubber kits, you may find that the thickness of the butyl used behind the vapor barrier is the issue, i removed this and the reproduction panel then installed with no issue. So, i talked with mark about it and what you can do is stretch the butyl and it will give you a thinner line of butyl , but my panel is the cloth not vinyl and that is thicker as well so, not sure, my issue was not with shutting the door , but just getting the clips to grab when pressing the panel into place, and that was due to the full thickness of the butyl and the panel combined.

6 Mil plastic.

rather than using butyl on the vapor barrier, you can apply a few lines of high-quality spray adhesive. my go-to for auto applications is 3M high strength 90.

spray it on the perimeter and in a few of the high spots in the middle, let it sit for 30 seconds or so, then apply the vapor barrier.

I used the 6mil but forgot to include the double sided and cheap Scotch tape. You only have to hold the edges. I cut the plastic oversize and carefully trimmed it. Before the plastic, new cups and retainers in the door cards. Spray adhesive? Why? A big mess. If some reason you have to open up the door area, the plastic gets ruined. With the tape, you peel off the plastic, pull off the tape, perform the task, clean the the door where tape was, replace the tape and put the plastic back on.

Stock panels didn't have the foam overlap the edges when the vinyl was attached. Many of the redo's also wrapped the foam, with causes fit problems.

this is just my experience. high-quality adhesive is not messy if applied correctly, and the thicker barrier film can be removed and reapplied without ruining it. this is the way i've been doing it for 20 years or so, with good results. there are several paths to the same result though!

Early panels are smaller overall than the late panels. The early one leave a gap around the door of about 1/2 inch where you can see the body color paint. If you have early doors this may be your problem.

There's always more to the task while you're in there. Later doors? New felt guides in the vert runners. Correct end caps. New inner fuzzy. Lubing the winder assems. New roller wheels for early doors. Always more. I've never had reason to take the door cards off after getting rid of the ones with speaker holes in them. I also put new cams for outer door handles.

It does have early doors (real 6). The new panels seem to be molded to wrap around the perimeter of the door, which seems to be the problem. I’m not jumping in to pull the staples and trim the plastic door card just yet, but I’m afraid that’s what it may require.

I had a late door panel on our early cars passenger door for years. The door never shut very well and it wasn't till I redid the panels and trimmed the overlap that it shut properly.