Refurbishing early generation door pockets

[austinporsche]

anyone know where I can get the door pockets on my 1973.5 911T refurbished? The chrome trim -- and especially that little chrome corner piece -- were all beat up, so many years ago (like 1998), I replaced the chrome with simple black door edge trim. Now I want to get back to original -- but not for the $1,500 a new set of pockets cost.

[austinporsche]

. . . and also the pockets have distended over time, so any thoughts on how to get them back to their original shape. As they are basically cardboard, I thought about soaking them in water for a while, then using clamps to hold them back in shape while they dried. Crazy idea or make sense?

[67R69S]

I did that on an old BMW but I didn't soak them in water, I steamed them with a wallpaper remover. They turned out kinda floppy when they dried so I don't know if that was a great idea. I had some carbon fibre kicking around from a canoe repair so I put the pocket into the shape I wanted and epoxied the fibre on the inside of it. It was an invisible repair and it was very strong.

Next time I would skip the moisture and just force them into position and then glue on the reinforcing fibre. Fibreglass mat would work just as well and is quite a bit easier to cut. (and cheaper)

[Christien]

Have a look around here, or maybe a google search. I was considering the same thing recently and I found an excellent write up on the process. I do think it had to do with steam, and maybe an iron as well. It was a really long and involved process and it didn't seem like the kind of thing that was foolproof. This guy managed to make his pockets look great, but I could see many potential issues or problems.

In the end, I've decided to just replace mine with RS door panels.

[zithlord]

Go the early911S forum. You will find descriptions of how to best restore your pocket. Einmalig can supply the chrome trim. I myselves used a ordinary steam iron to syraighten out the cardboard after removing the vinyl.
John