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Crx Design Flaw: Door Side Skins (plastic)


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#16
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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Okay, Input updated slides to WIKI. I've included several inputs from you during this post.

Thnx again for your help in its under "body and cosmetic". Look in D for door skin side garnish

Thnx
D
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#17
Tim

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Just read your Wiki entry. Good work .

Now, somebody get busy fabbing these!!!!! Both sides of mine are busted, and that's keeping me out of the paintshop as well.
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#18
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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I"m going to bring this back up again when it gets Sh$%--Ass cold this winter and ask you guys to took for the gap (well, lack of), thenyou'll all see it.

But I think the solution is to grinb down the 2 little protrusion on the door by like .060", and you'll be just fine. Or, keep your car out of the really cold weather. Those protrusions act like a backwards vise and just keeps working the plastic until it breaks.

So if you find these panels in the yards, get them. It'll be a hot item in the next 10 years.

Glad you liked it. My team use to put together quick summeries for the government army test command (ATEC) when we'd have a failure. So we'd do a top level like what's on WIKI, then the engineers would hand over the rehm of tech datato support that noone would ever read.

D
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#19
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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Another lost wiki post. My power point Illustrasions are no longer connected to this thread

Bringing the old plastic investigation info from archives


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#20
Smokescreem

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Great intell greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's, Just to threw in my 2 cents . I live in the south and my crx stays out side all day. My door caps started to break from the bottom. but b 4 that they faded out. My si ground effects started to break from the back side on the very first screw up top. Again my 2 cents. :blink:

#21
eec4tuner

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Yeah i would like to see the wiki post.

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#22
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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ok. my door caps started cracking......

texas had the coldest recorded temps in over 40 years. i pull the car out of the garage to play driftin’ in the snow. grew up in the north. just can’t help myself

it was 0f. i drive 4 miles down the road. park at a gas station to fuel up. then i here cracking.... i knew exactly what it was. after pumping the gas. i look at my door caps and cracks began to form. damn. my math of thermal expansion years ago leaned toward below 32f is correct. i think the sudden jump from 32 to 0 just put the 34 year old plastic over the edge

they haven’t cracked all the way through, so they r still in service.

explains why california cars don’t have this problem
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#23
CSPCRX

Mine are both cracked.  Glad Marcus makes replacements.


Victor
86 K24 Powered CRX SI (SMF Solo2, HPDE-4 NASA & TA-A Time Attack

85 CRX DX totally original
07 Harley FXST Softail

2021 Tacoma Tow/Daily


#24
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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back in the day, i designed optics. old school systems housed in aluminum. due to cost/weight constraints, converted to plastics. you never design in interference over operating/storage specifications. this door panel design ignored this fundamental engineering principle.

i had to tweak the composite material, usually w variations of glass filler (think fiberglass) to maintain uniform dimensional change over temp. i’m curious to purchase a marcus panel and compare the cte variation to the door

this is why fiberglass reinforced oem plastic panels won’t work over full temp range. the fiberglass resists movement, while pc/abs blend wants to move more
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#25
CSPCRX

His are fiberglass.  After I get the K swap done my plan is to address some of the cosmetics of the car which means new door panels, skirts and nose.  Plan is to get them all from Marcus.

 

He is also working on fenders with a bit of flare in them and I have a friend making some with a lot of flare so fenders may be changing as well.  The new 245s up front poke a lot!


Victor
86 K24 Powered CRX SI (SMF Solo2, HPDE-4 NASA & TA-A Time Attack

85 CRX DX totally original
07 Harley FXST Softail

2021 Tacoma Tow/Daily


#26
greasemonkeyreborne 5x1g's

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The last time I had my car out in the really cold, it was 0F.  My 34 year old door garnishes finally cracked.   It was about 20F yesterday.  Since the cracks already started, I took the Beater out for a spin. 

 

Heres a pix of the inside edge of the door.  My finger is on the inner lip of the plastic door panel.  In the summer, there's a gap between the plastic lip and the metal door.  (The summer heat expends the plastic more than the metal giving it more clearance.  Now its winter, theres no gap at 20F on my car.  When I took it to 0F, it shrunk enough (and with age, UV damage), the plastic just couldnt' hold up anymore and began cracking to give way.   

 

Scratching my head "how can I use this car in the winter, wo ruining my panels?"  ......  Since this car is not for show, I'm going to dremmel the edge off.  So when it gets cold, the plastic can shrink all it want's.  Once lip will be gone.  I"ll keep the mounting screws under the side protector molding loose so the panel can flow as it was designed to.

 

I need to pop the door garnishs off.  I hope I have enough room to bond some Saturn patches on the backside.

 

 

51862690596_cd2cb8b336_z.jpg

 

Too much wash out w the snow.  Crappy camera.  I assume you can see there's no gap at 20F

 

I'm glad I've not refurbished the rest of my cars.  Once I do, need to keep them above 30-40F to prevent this interference problem.  Hate to put the money into a paint job, only to redo it.


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#27
CSPCRX

These things are so old not surprising the are shocked by those temps


Victor
86 K24 Powered CRX SI (SMF Solo2, HPDE-4 NASA & TA-A Time Attack

85 CRX DX totally original
07 Harley FXST Softail

2021 Tacoma Tow/Daily