Duetto 1998 black side panel required

Whilst travelling on the A3(M) yesterday returning home from holiday the front nearside black side panel disintegrated and blew off not to be seen again. It appears that the sun has deteriorated the plastic leaving the screws and part of the plastic surrounding it. Autosleeper parts no longer hold these parts described as ABS panels and are unable to get them made.  The van looks a real mess without it. Does anybody know of any company that may make one up or of any breakers yard where I may get a replacement.  (Dont expect there will be many people breaking these.) Your help would be much appreciated. Thanks. Shaun.

No doubt you have the sympathy of everyone who has owned an A-S with one of these panels and who has watched it slowly deteriorate in the sunlight...

The problem is that the panels are vacuum-formed, and the moulds needed to make them are expensive, so they are very costly to make in small numbers. If you find one at a breakers, it will probably be so old that it will be impossible to separate from the van intact (IIRC they are fixed with both screws and double-sided tape).

Thinking laterally, would it be feasible to have a 90% tinted window fitted where the panel was, with appropriate masking panel inside? I confess I have never seen a Duetto with this panel removed, so I have no idea what it looks like underneath - so this may (to you, knowing what is actually under there) be a stupid suggestion!

Thank you for your reply. I expect this is going to be a problem for others in the years ahead as apparently the moulds were destroyed by the original manufacturers.  Underneath mine is a white plastic panel covered in lots of white mastic. I will bear in mind your option of a possible tinted window.  If all else fails I am considering having all the mastic cleared and the white plastic sprayed black. Hopefully it will not come to that. Hoping for a miracle. Thanks again. Shaun.....

shaun.finney wrote:Underneath mine is a white plastic panel

Ah ok, so this panel fills the original Ford window opening? The reason I suggest replacement with window glass is that after-market side glass panels generally aren't very expensive, and they look really good when properly bonded in place - though my knowledge of this is based on VWs, where there may be a bit more competition than with Transits, as more DIYers convert VWs.

Purely out of curiosity it would be interesting to see a photo of the exposed side of the van, if you have one?

Thanks again. Will beare that in mind.

-mojo- wrote:

shaun.finney wrote:Underneath mine is a white plastic panel

Purely out of curiosity it would be interesting to see a photo of the exposed side of the van, if you have one?

I was just about to ask the same too when i saw your post!

It certainly would be interesting if Shaun could upload a photo. I must admit i've never heard of this happening before but can see why. That plastic gets absolutely baking in summer and the colour doesn't exactly help either. 

I'd be tempted to go the route you suggest with a bonded in heavily tinted or even reflective glass panel. The only thing Shaun would need to look at is where his heater control is as mine is toward the rear on the inner panel. If his is there, i imagine it could be moved elsewhere. Definitely worth having a Body Shop look at it.

Thanks for that. Not very computer minded. Never posted a photo before. Will attempt this evening.
The heater control is on the off side in my van so that should not be a problem.  Initially top priority though is to find another panel or someone who can make one.

shaun.finney wrote:Never posted a photo before. Will attempt this evening.

Thanks - here's the guide:

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Looks a bit intimidating at first but it's really useful to do, because the method works on pretty much every other forum once you've set up the (free) Photobucket account.

For some reason I read you original post wrongly and assumed it was the offside panel. I've never really noticed the detail of these panels before, but that one is pretty simple.

If you can live without the ribs (I think I could) then fabricating something out of a sheet of black perspex or, better IMO, pinseal finished ABS should look Ok, I would have thought. Admittedly pinseal finish ABS sheet is stupidly expensive for what you are getting, but I would have thought it shouldn't cost more than £30 for the sheet itself. Having worked with both perspex and ABS sheet myself recently (making internal panels for my van) I can say that the latter is a fair bit easier to cut and drill...

Having said that, I still reckon a blacked out or masked glass panel (or a pair of panels - it's hard to see the detail in your photo) would look better than the original panels ever did. Here's an example of what A-S fitted originally to my last van (although a SWB rather than LWB Transit):

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Perhaps I'm biased, but I think it looks a lot better than their ribbed panels - it makes the whole thing look more integrated, rather than having something extra screwed onto the side...

Thanks for that. It looks good. As it is the end of the season I wont rush into anything at the moment.  Another development is that a friend has offered to make up a template in wood and his son, he says, could make a panel out of fibre glass, (He has his own fibreglassing company). Both are very busy at the moment so it wont be done quickly.  I will report back as and when I get a positive result either way. Thanks again, Shaun.... P.S. Must confess the wife did the photographs.