Wood for door panels

Was going to build me some door panels for my daily but wasnt sure what kind of wood to use. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You can use masonite, or hardboard, from home depot.

Thanks man.

i just had a sheet of thin plywood laying around I used.. probably cheaper than masonite

I was thinking of this also. Does anyone have pics?

Yeah I used masonite when I built mine

Yeah, the VW guys use masonite board too.

any how tos on homemade door panels?

I used 1/8" Hardboard in 2'x4' sheets. If you want to put a design in them you will need 4 sheets in total for 2 door panels. Here is a quick how to on the 3/4 factory mazda panels (the ones that don't wrap all the way to the window):

1. Strip your old panels until its just the factory hardboard
2. Put the factory panel on top of one of your new blank 2x4 hardboard sheets and trace the outline of the panel, clips, arm rest holes, window crank, door opener.
3. Now remove the factory panel and clamp another new blank 2x4 panel to the underside of the panel you just traced.
4. Use a jig saw and cut out the panel (since you have clamped the 2 pieces together you are doing both the right and left side at the same time). Use a drill to do the clips, window crank, etc.
5. Now you should have 2 new door panels the same as your factory one.
6. if you want a design simply draw out what you want on one of the blank panels you have left (remember your grab handle, window crank, etc placement when you are doing your design). Once you have the design, again clamp the other new 2x4 panel on the underside and cut both at once (your designs will now both be exactly the same).
7. Use wood glue and glue the design onto your new panel. Let dry overnight.
8. Once dry, use 80,100, 120 grit sandpaper and give the whole panel a good scuff. Round the edges of the panel and your design which will look better when it is covered.
9. Once done give the panel a wipe, get your material out and cut it to roughly the size of the panel with about 2" oversized.
10. Use spray glue (available at home depot - recommend the 3M), spray the panel in small amounts (this part really depends on your design in how you go about covering it) and work the fabric over the panel and design keeping your material nice and flat and straight, working it into the creased of the design. Once the face is done, stretch it around the edges and glue it to the backside.

***You can always delete the factory grab handle and replace it with an aftermarket one, add build-outs or go crazy and do some fiberglass on them.

And that's it. Haven't made a set in years but in total they should take approx 4 hours for a basic set. I will try and find a pic to add.

Don't know if that is working as I am at work and it blocks half the pictures. If its not you can just image search "1987 mazda tweed door panels" and you will see the build parts of it. When I look at the link they are mostly from this site so they must be somewhere on here.