I need to repair the door panel insert above the arm rest (see photo). In addition to the delaminating vinyl covering, the panel has pulled away from the door card. I can see that the PO had just double-sided taped it to the door card, but I can also see some studs (of a sort) in there that won’t stay plugged into the card.
Question 1: Is the insert supposed to be removable? If I glue the insert to the door card, will I not be able to access something important later?
Question 2: If it is supposed to remain removable, how could I repair it so it stays put?
Thanks guys!

 

Seems like a simple fix. It was not designed to be removable but looks easy enough to reattach.

This pic should help.

 

Howdy Folks:
I had good results by filling the broken plastic pin areas from the back side with an industrial grade wood hot glue stick . I just held the two pieces tightly together at each area until the glue cooled. The panel should also be easy to remove later if need be.

 

So the next question is: What are the tricks of trade to get the door panel free without breaking any of those plastic pins / mounts?

Thanks Rothwell and Dr. D! Looks like I can cut the back off those little tabs and take the insert out altogether. Then I can easily glue the vinyl back onto the insert's foam while sitting comfortably at the work bench, and then permanently re-afix it to the door panel (or use velcro - another idea).

That picture reminded me: the upper left corner of my door panel (based on your picture) won't secure in place on the door. It isn't a major problem, but it does annoy me every time I notice it. I may find that Dr. D's hot glue (or something similar) might be the cure.

 

Get the Harbor Freight trim pliers.The yank it off hand method may crack the door panel as I did. Thanks to White XKR recommendation If only I had known sooner about those pliers.

 

That upper left plastic clip is the one most prone to breaking. If it has detached then it can be glued but I'd bet the PO had the door panel off and broke at least one. Both of mine split when I removed the door panels.

Fortunately, Jaguar sells those parts, and they aren't even all that expensive.
RH Clip: C2N3836
LH Clip: C2N3837
Fir tree: KTC100017

Best luck I have had getting the door panel off is to start at the front near the hinge. If you can get your fingers behind the top (upper right in the picture) and slowly work the clips loose.

You will have to pull harder than you expect. Just make sure all of the screws are out.

For gluing the clip back on, I tried hot glue, which eventually gave out on a hot Phoenix day. Replaced that with JB weld 2 part epoxy and haven't had any trouble since.

 

All good stuff. Thanks guys. I guess these are the pliers you've talked about:

Panel Clip Pliers

Charlie - I'm pretty sure those part numbers will come in handy (sigh).

 

OK. Here we go.

Got the panel off. It's an IPO disaster area!

From the previous photo: The upper left corner tower that holds the plastic pin is gone altogether. Now where do I find one of THOSE?!

There are only four of the eight plastic pins. Three others were broken and, ... get this.... he tried to GLUE the posts together. Oh yeh - that worked well. I'll try and modify some pins I got from NAPA and see if they'll work.

Now to cut that panel insert free and fix that.

And look for a replacement upper left corner post (sigh).

Thanks guys!

 

You can order those posts from a dealer, that is what I meant by "clip" in the earlier post. Pretty common to break and the repair procedure is to remove and replace.

Gaudin has them listed for less than $2.

 

see here https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-repair-95549/

 

Outstanding guys.

Let me get those on order and I'll her fixed-up sweet (or sweetly if you're checking my grammar - )