77-80 door panel trim rings

[xbanone]

I bought a set of 77 door panels from the classifieds here to use in the retro-fit of a set of power window/lock '86 doors onto my '76.

During disassembly of the door panels, everyone of the studs on the back side that hold the trim ring on is breaking, these studs are plastic and 36 years old. Is there anyway to save them? Is there a source for new ones? I have seen the inserts but not the trim ring itself.

Here are the door panels in question.

[79Betty]

The studs are chrome piece are all in one so can't seperate. But lmc has aftermarket ones. Finding NOS is prefered by me though. Could try fleabay?
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[xbanone]

I couldn't find them in LMC, but I did find them at classic parts $39 per side.

[Oilbrnr]

Same thing happened on my '77. The original owner drilled about eight holes evenly (seems like of couple of them strategically to clear stuff on the back of the panel) and then used small pan head machine screws and nuts. When I redid the window channels and wing vent on the passenger side, I had a number of nice countersunk SS bolts with nyloc nuts that I used to replace them with. I aligned the Phillips pattern to match that scroll and from a short distance away, they are very unnoticeable, esp. since they are now flush. I plan on duplicating this on the driver side door here shortly when I get enough energy up to tackle that damn vent.

So, you're going to use manual inserts to run power windows? If so, does the switch escutcheon cover the hole?

[xbanone]

Originally Posted by Oilbrnr

Same thing happened on my '77. The original owner drilled about eight holes evenly (seems like of couple of them strategically to clear stuff on the back of the panel) and then used small pan head machine screws and nuts. When I redid the window channels and wing vent on the passenger side, I had a number of nice countersunk SS bolts with nyloc nuts that I used to replace them with. I aligned the Phillips pattern to match that scroll and from a short distance away, they are very unnoticeable, esp. since they are now flush. I plan on duplicating this on the driver side door here shortly when I get enough energy up to tackle that damn vent.

So, you're going to use manual inserts to run power windows? If so, does the switch escutcheon cover the hole?

That seams like a logical solution that would still look nice? Do you have a picture?

Yes, I plan on using manual inserts on power doors, I originally bought these panels for a set of manual doors I had but found these that are power and in much better shape. The power switch will cover the hole and if you look under the insert the door panel is molded with a support so they can be either manual or electric, just have to cut the holes.

[Oilbrnr]

I'll take a picture tonight and post it up.

I guess I'd forgotten that the panels were made for either. (Been a few years since I did that passenger side, which points to how much I dread doing the other )

[ray_mcavoy]

I ran into a few broken studs on those door panel trim ring pieces on Dad's 77 too.

We didn't want any exposed screws showing so I came up with a plan to use 3M double-sided trim/emblem mounting tape.

The original setup used the trim ring to hold the woodgrain (77) or brushed aluminum (78-80) trim plate in place. So simply using the 3M tape alone would have just stuck the trim ring to the flange on the woodgrain trim plate but not to the door panel itself. So I drilled a few 1/8" holes through the flange of the trim plate and door panel in the area that's covered by the trim ring. Then I used some pop rivets in those holes to secure the woodgrain trim plate to the door panel. And finally, used the 3M tape (along with the remaining studs that didn't break) to re-attach the trim ring, covering the rivet heads so it all looks original.

[Oilbrnr]

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[xbanone]

^ That looks pretty good, you can barely tell the screws are there. Thanks for taking the pictures. I also like the 3m tape idea, never thought of that. Thanks for the ideas, at least now I know I dont need to spend $80 to replace the rings.