A new Idea for Attaching Upper Door Panels

[Farrar]

The natural progression of this mod is to find a way to "magnetize" the lower door panel.

Why not glue a ferrous metal strip to the inside of the lip? If neodymium magnets are as strong as you say they are, they should grip right through the stainless.

Farrar

[r00b]

Magnets lose their magnetism from being struck or from being heated. I'm interested in how long these magnets will last in a car in central California during the summer? Speaker magnets seem to do fine, but they are not as strong as these.

[SamHill]

Scientists are gettin' me pissed!

[Farrar]

From WIkipedia:

"Neodymium magnet electric motors have also been responsible for the development of purely electrical model aircraft within the first decade of the 21st century, to the point that these are displacing internal combustion powered models internationally. Likewise, due to this high magnetic capacity, it is heavily used in the electric motors of hybrid automobiles and in the electricity generators of commercial wind turbines."

How hot does an electric motor of a hybrid automobile get?

Farrar

[Ashyukun]

Why not glue a ferrous metal strip to the inside of the lip? If neodymium magnets are as strong as you say they are, they should grip right through the stainless.

Farrar

Or better yet, another set of magnets so things line up perfectly on their own...

[TTait]

That was my thought - If you can get your hand to the inside of the door where each hole is drilled, simply goop glue a magnet 1/4" forward of each hole, and use the fir tree holes on the door panel as a guide to put magnets there too. I suggest going just off the stock locations in case you ever have to or want to use a fir tree again, you still can.

OK - I'm ready to do this mod too, but I'm too ADD to wait. I have a NOS grey upper and lower door panel pair that I want to stay perfect (Got em on ebay the other day for $300 total - sorry you guys missed out!)

So, what national chain sells the magnets? Michaels? Lowes? have we seen these things sold retail somewhere?

Thanks for coming up with this Chris!

BTW Chris - I assume you are not the same Chris Miles who designed The Silver Legacy... are you?

[Chris 16409]

BTW Chris - I assume you are not the same Chris Miles who designed The Silver Legacy... are you?

I had to google that, and I sill was not sure what that was (I saw something about a casino)! So to answer your question, no I am not the same Chris Miles.

About the magnets, I do not know where you can get them locally. Maybe an old fashion hardware store might sell them. For the price, you can't beat the eBay auction. Look for CMS-Magnets on eBay if you want to see a listing of all their inventory.

I'm jealous you got two NOS upper door panels on eBay. I din't see that auction, are they the plastic backed panels or the fiber backed ones. Mine are the fiber backed ones, so that is why I had the issues of the fir tress pulling out of the panels.

[Spittybug]

Great idea and it sounds like it has worked nicely. I found some pretty damned strong magnets at Harbor Freight. I also got a bunch that were sold as a bracelet on some web site...need to dig it up. They were very inexpensive, small cylinders that all stick together very strongly and make for a funky bracelet. I bought them thinking about their possible use for sensing cam or flywheel positions by attaching them and using a hall sensor. Haven't done that, but door idea sounds good. Got me thinking about a slick way to mount my GPS unit too, but will have to see if the magnets interfere with any of the electronics first.

[TTait]

I'm jealous you got two NOS upper door panels on eBay. I din't see that auction, are they the plastic backed panels or the fiber backed ones. Mine are the fiber backed ones, so that is why I had the issues of the fir tress pulling out of the panels.

It was a drivers side upper and lower - NOS - with the fiber backing. They were both buy it now for 150 each or make an offer. I made an offer, but then just bought them 10 minutes later. They came up in the middle of the night and I figured by the next morning someone would just grab them.

Your mod comes with perfect timing.

T

[dvonk]

I found some pretty damned strong magnets at Harbor Freight.

i almost posted last night that i saw some at Harbor Freight, but after i couldnt find the magnet(s) on their website, i thought i had imagined it... i guess i wasnt crazy after all.