BamBam

iTrader: (4)

Alright, I need to vent.......
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A DOOR PANEL ON!!!!!!!

I swear, I am at my boiling point.... they started the door panel Friday, it is now Tuesday and they still can not get it on right... What in the HEL! kind of quality is GT Factory putting out that it takes a professional 30 hours to hang 1 stinking door panel...... Seriously I feel like hunting someone at GT Factory down and shoving his head into the speaker cutout so he can check for himself the crappy quality of his business.

Alright, now that is out of my system any thoughts on what to do? I mean I can not take the car because the doors are not finished and I can not drive around without panels. But leaving it there until they get it finished could take freaking weeks at this point....

ARGH this is soooooooo damn frustrating after spending so much on the damn things, they ought to freaking work like they are supposed to.

I HATE THIS!!!

Bubble

iTrader: (50)

is this the new panel from them or the old one? man, you make me worry now since my panel still in the wrap.

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

This is the panel shipped to me by GT Factory and I swear if the damn thing is not on today I am going to start raising absolute hell. 32 hours on a single door panel is freaking insane. I called Chaser Aero and they were like, yea the 350Z takes more time to install.

I was like, I know and understand that, but at this point it is taking longer to put the damn panel in then it took to measure, cut, weld, grind and paint the damn hinges. The doors open perfectly now, I just can't put the panels on....

He finally agreed that this is longer then normal.... I freaking hope so, cause otherwise those $800 CF door panels are so far costing $2,500 in labor plus the doors... Lord knows how much more time and $$$ will need to be spent to get them in properly.

sq40

iTrader: (4)

Inner or Outer?

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

Upper interior door panel. This takes the airvent out allowing for clearance of the A piller when the door goes up.

sq40

iTrader: (4)

Dman.. 4 Days.. I have had the stock pannels off and back on in less than 15 Min.. Both Sides.. Must be one hell of a custom job..

Bubble

iTrader: (50)

we are talking about this:

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

The fit is CRAP!!!! causing a lot of problems in trying to get the accessories to fit right (speakers, locks, armrest etc.)
Plus the damn thing does not want to seal around the window and mirror. There are BIG gaps where you can see down into the doorframe. We are already using self-tapping screws when we should not have to, but anything to get the damn thing on and looking reasonably good.

Keep in mind this is just for ONE door, once we get this on, we have to start working on the passenger side…. ;(

Bubble: yep, and the areas to look out for are where the back of the panel meets with the window seal ( in your picture the left hand upper corner notch there..) and the front where the window seal meets the mirror area (the top right hand corner of your picture) neither of these areas meet the door properly leaving a big gap.
Also the speaker area is not fitting flush which is requiring screws along the front (bottom right and up along that edge on your picture of the panel lying flat)
Oh, and you will have to shave some of the box that hold the door handel mechanism, otherwise it sticks out about 1-2 mm too far from the panel

Bubble

iTrader: (50)

can you returnd for a refund due to fitment issue?

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

Probably, but at this point I would rather crack it over someone’s head and let them sort the pieces out.

I have missed one important show already, I do not want to miss another one next weekend in FL. If that happens I will be asking for a complete refund for compensation due to their poor craftsmanship.

sq40

iTrader: (4)

Proves yet again, If you want to do something right, Do it yourself..

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

If I thought I had any sort of idea how to lay Carbon Fiber, I might try.... I mean, if Toby can do his own fiberglass work, then heck anyone can right



Just kidding Toby, you got the mad skills & patience I obviously do not have. No way would I even try that suff, and your looks good man. Awesome

My only other option is to leave it to people who are supposed to know what they are doing (READ get paid to do a quality job for their product).

Sly_Z

iTrader: (18)

Hey Brent,

the ones that I soold Bubble was a perfect fit on Mike's car, I'm surprised that you are having an issue with the door panel. Do you think they made have damaged the original panel and are getting you a replacement without telling you?

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

I am sure you would not sell something that was not a good deal to anyone Sly, never meant to suggest you would. I am sure it fits well on Mike’s car. Did he have to do anything to his door or the panel to get it to fit correctly? Does he have the stock speakers? Any tricks he might want to through out to me and Bubble?

I was up at the shop on Saturday (trying to make the DC Auto show.... NOT) and I could clearly see the problems with the gaps and the handle protruding from the face of the panel. Now maybe they broke it sometime between then and now... possible, but I have no way of knowing. I am in FL, therefore can’t check, and the guy there seems like a good hardworking guy. I mean there are other problems we’re facing with the interior & stereo, but those can be dealt with at a later date. I can’t go anywhere with the doors as they are now.

As for the fitment you got, I have a bad feeling these doors were from a crappy or old mold and were therefore misshapen. I know when doing this type of work the molds’ tolerances get worse and worse for each successive production run. I am assuming I got a bad batch, but Toby's were as bad if not worse then the ones I got (I naively thought the CF panels might be a bit better quality but I was obviously wrong, in my case at least).

Bubble

iTrader: (50)

take some pix of it too bambam.

Sly_Z

iTrader: (18)

I know you wouldn't make a suggestion like that, no explanation needed If it helps out any he had the MBQ COMP/AXIAL SPEAKERS. Are the door panels on the convertables the same as the coupes? I'm sure they are.

You would think that if it's from the same mold as the original the fitment would be the same. On the other hand there's always room for errors, and you could have recieved a bad set.

You've done alot to your car since the picture we took up at AAM Hopefully you'll be in town this spring for the EVO meet

BamBam

iTrader: (4)

I was only curious as Chaser Aero says the stock speakers are a definite no-no. I have Focal's myself Yep, done a lot of work and am not done yet. Still have a new built engine to drop in the next few months, bolt-in roll bar, harness, and probably finish it up with a new driveshaftshop level 5 axle and 1:5 Nismo/ Cusco LSD to take the rwhp I will be pumping out at that point.
As for the meet, Damn, I hope we have one, not sure about the EVO meet, but I am sure we will catch up sometime soon (before the Tail of the Dragon).

Bubble, any particular pics you are looking for? I can take lots of them, but downsizing them for the 127kb requirement on this site is causing me a pain as I don't have any licensed software to do it.

PumpedVA

iTrader: (25)

Brent now take this for somebody that lived the same -pain as you bro. TELL THEM TO STOP WORKING ON THOSE PANAL NOW!!! the time in labor your paying could be money spend on somebody making costom panals that will be a prefect fit.

why keep paying labor for something that WILL NEVER FIT RIGHT anyway. steve at vertex had the same problem and I payed labor fees for days and its still came out with a bad fitment.

start looking for the BEST fiberglass guy around call him take your car along with the OEM panals so he can use those as a mold not those junk *** GT factory panals and let them to there work. I know each panal will be about 500+ but its a drop in the bucket to what you have invested now.

and they could mold your door speakers and that way there not suck behind some mesh ****! Hell starting from a mold they can do just about anything like add a raised Z logo on them

Sly_Z

iTrader: (18)

Did you meet up with Mike today?

PumpedVA

iTrader: (25)

update?