The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Door Panel Ideas Sought - 52 3100

I have been noodling on the idea of trying to develop door panels from "marine plastic board" (HDPE). Enclosed are pictures of one of the door panels made of cardboard, foam and vinyl that I removed from the truck as well as a 1/16 inch thick ABS door panel that I intended to use as a template for my adventure. I am asking for advice/guidance on this process, from those who understand the issues better than I do (that would be most anyone!)
One challenge is that the surface underneath the door panel is curved (not flat) and has a few protrusions that prevent that 1/16 inch template from laying flat. It seems that the real, cardboard door panels have the flexibility to adapt to the curve and protrusions.
Another challenge is determining the right overall thickness of the door panel such that it does not interfere with operation of the door handle and window crank.

If anyone has experience in this area of our truck doors, I would appreciate learning from that experience, even if the answer is that some vendor has already done this (plastic door panels of the right thickness) and I should go there and save myself some trouble.
Thanks

I think HDPE would work fine for interior door panels. It's probably as flexible as cardboard, although cardboard will eventually maintain the shape with a bit of moisture. A plus to HDPE would be that it's waterproof.
I had a small leak (that I still need to fix) in my wing window on the right side that soaked the cardboard repro panels I got.

The original metal which goes around the cardboard panel has a bend in it to provide clearance for the door lock rod which sticks out, especially post '48 trucks. If you can duplicate that bend in your HDPE material, you should be good to go.

I will start my experiments with HDPE in February and will keep you posted on progress.. Thanks