How to mount RS Door Panels?

[blau911]

Well, I am pretty good at figuring things out and have done quite a few things to my early 911's. But I bought a pair of RS door panels to put on my 73 911T and no instructions came with the box. The question I have is, how do the door straps mount to the door latch mechanism? Is there any drilling involved? Anyone hgave some pic's showing how they connect to the door latch mechanism?
Thanks

[flatsixcrazy]

I am interested in knowing this information as well. X2 on the pics :-). Andy

[bluesky]

I bought mine from Bob at Appbiz....they came with instructions.

I recall there was another thread asking the same thing and Bob jumped in and eventhough they didn't buy their panels from him, he provided instructions.....that was a huge reason why I bought his product.

Let me see if i can find that thread.

[ShakinJoe]

1+ on BlueSky comment. AppBiz is First Class.

The link is attached. RSA Door Panel - How To

[appbiz]

blau911
Bob at APPBIZ here
I'm quite certain the panels did not come from us if you didn't receive intructions. The door panels we make for early cars (65-73) use a different hardware kit and the opener bezels are placed in a different area and orientation. Who did you purchase yours from? Was it a used set? If new, did you specify early car? We developed the Early car RS America set here and to my knowlege no one has copied it yet.

My panels can also be identified by the sound insulation on the back, Very thin dense black foam.

You could also post a pic of your panels (both front and rear of one panel will suffice), mine are pretty easy to spot.

Here are some pics of the RSA panels showing the differences


Early Cars (1965-1973) Note opener strap exit bezel placement/orientation



Later cars (1974 to 993 Models)

Hope this helps
Feel free to contact me
Bob

[blau911]

Here is a pic. They are new. I bought them from Brad at BlackForest.
Bob, Sorry I didn't buy them from you. I have bought a few carpet kits from you though and was very happy with your service. So are these door panels workable for a 73T?

[javadog]

That looks like the oanel for a later car. I suppose you could cut a new hole for the door release strap and use them, if you are careful.

It might be easier to sell them to someone with a later car and buy another set.

JR

[appbiz]

Blau
Sadly those are for 74+ doors from another vendor. If they were ours the solution would be very simple. Our inner panels are Die cut with provisions to become either an early or late RSA panel or a long strap RS/RSR style panel.

You can make them work by purchasing the control rod and pivot for a 1974+ but thats gonna run your costs up quite a bit, perhaps more than purchasing the proper panels from us.
In order to make that work without purchasing the control rod and pivot, you would need to relocate the exit strap bezel (This also commits you to recovering the doors vinyl) and purchasing the parts that are different from me.

I agree with JR that it might be easier just to sell these to a friend with a later car and purchase the proper ones.

The main difference in our panel sets are as follows;

1. Our panels are die cut, with a 100 ton full head press. not cut with a router or Sabre saw (This insures a consistant product, not depenedant on the skill of the fabricator or his/her mood)

2. Punched from panel board (This is a weather resistant material specifically made for door panles)

3. Sound/vibration insulated on the side facing the door. Using a pressure sensitive adhesive we laminate a thin laver of dense sound deadening foam to the panel prior to sending it through the press. In our research we noticed that there was often a noticeable vibration comming from the wood panel rubbing against the door.

4. Dimpled handle ends. We invested in tooling to fablicate our RSA Handle structure, this tooling forms a stamped contersink where the mounting screw goes in and allows a better fit of the poorly designed OEM plastic bezels.

5. Secure metric treaded mounting points for the handle. We provide metric treaded inserts and a disposable insert setting tool. (Most of our competitors simply send you some sheet metal screws)

6. Availability of an RSA set that is specifically designed for an Early car without the need for additional hardware.

7. Detailed installation instructions. The Instruction set for the 74+ model is a single page and very easy. The Pre 74 set is a bit more complex to install and is detailed with pictures in the installation documentation.

8. No waiting. No need to pre order and wait for these, we always have them boxed and on the shelf and can ship immediately.

I spent a great deal of time engineering this kit and I think we make the very best.

Here is a pic of our panels trimmed in leather with some of our exclusive options


Shown is our 74+ RS America panel trimmed in Black leather with the following options, 916 style Accordian pocket, Our stainless steel power window bezels, and our newest offering a perforated speaker area. (This allows grill free speaker installation)


Please give me a call if you have any additional questions/comments.
Bob

[blau911]

Bob,
I would probably consider selling these and going with a correct set of pre-74 door panels. However, I am in Germany and these have already been opened and slightly worked on. From what I can figure, my best option at this stage is simply to try to re-cut the hole for the door latch in the correct area for the pre 74 cars. Since there are no holes in the outer vinyl, I assume that I would be able to do this without any outer cosmetic difference. The question I still have however is how does the door strap replace the inner door handle? There are 4 screws holding the inner door handle mechanism in place. Does this original inner door mechanism need to be taken off in order for the strap to be attached? If so, what then does the strap attach to? Any advice is appreciated.

[appbiz]

Sorry Didn't realize you were in Germany, yes shipping/duty on another set would be expensive.

What we do on our early panels is remove the pivot, cut the control rod and attach an aluminum retainer that the strap attaches to. We also provide a rubber piece the prevents the rod from bouncing around
I could probably send you the parts that are different from what you have and the instruction set. But you would need to very carefuly cut the panel to re-orientate the strap exit. worst case is that you would need to re-cover the panel (really not that hard, no sewing)
Parts with new straps attached would be about $25 plus Priority mail shipping of $11.95 Total $36.95
Let me know if this is what you would like to do.
Bob

[blau911]

Originally Posted by appbiz

What we do on our early panels is remove the pivot, cut the control rod and attach an aluminum retainer that the strap attaches to.

Bob,
I have a bunch of extra parts besides what was included in the photo I posted. Can you or anyone else post any photos of what you mean by removing the pivot, cutting the control rod, and attach an aluminum retainer?

[appbiz]

Blau
Our instructions are not in PDF format, will go down to the production department later today
and pull a hardware kit to photograph
Bob

[strokher racing]

I like the speaker cutout. I might have to get a set for my turbo.......