Question - Reassembly of rear center console wood tambour doors?

[Jlaa]

Hi guys, I took apart all the wood in the car in preparation to send them off for refinishing. Disassembly was straightforward but I'm not sure I disassembled the rear tambour door properly.

What I did was to disassemble the head-piece first, and then slid the tambour section out the rear.

I'm not sure if I needed to do that --- it did not occur to me to press down on the head piece to see if I could slid the whole thing out of the center console without disassembling the headpiece.

Further, when I disassembled the headpiece in-situ, a metal spring clip sprang out and I'm not sure what orientation it is supposed to go back --- any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jlaa]

I figured it out. The metal spring clip goes between the plastic and wood and orients like an "M." As well, the head piece can be installed to the tambour before sliding the whole thing back onto the plastic center console. Some teflon lube in channel where the tambour slides helps with reassembly.

 

[Melville]

I did this not too long ago and I also removed the head piece before sliding the wood out. I wasn't able to slide out the wood with the head piece on. I seem to recall there was a plastic barrier in the console tracks that blocked it from removal with the head piece on. Not 100% sure though.

Re: the metal piece, my memory is a little hazy (I was more focused on how good the wood looked after getting it back from Madera) so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I think this is how I did it.

I slid the tambour doors on first and then, with a very short screw driver, attached the plastic and metal piece.

I am pretty sure the metal piece went between the wood and the plastic (not metal below the plastic).

Like you, my metal piece fell out during disassembly so I wasn't 100% sure which way it went. But when I put pieces back together, it seemed like it only really wanted to go one way. Keep in mind that you don't want the metal piece edges poking up above the plastic or it will rub and make it hard to move the wood along the tracks. It's hard to tell for sure from your pics but I think you want to do it like picture 5 (down like "M").

Also of note, when I screwed it back together I was very gentle as I didn't want to apply too much pressure and crack the wood. Mine might be a little too loose now, but I'd rather that than a very expensively refinished piece with fresh cracks.

I also have a question for the experts. Is there something you can do to make the tambour door move more smoothly and easily? I tried to clean the tracks with a q-tip but before and after disassembly, it still requires some oomph to get it to move. Doesn't glide open and closed like the piece between the front seats. Maybe some teflon paste.

 

[Melville]

Looks like you figured it out while i was writing my War and Peace-length response. Congrats! Good to know that the head piece can be installed before sliding it back on. That makes it much easier. I had my phone sitting in the console with the camera on so I could see that I was putting the screw driver in the right place. And looks like we were thinking the same thing with the "M" orientation and also using teflon paste.

 

[Jlaa]

Looks like you figured it out while i was writing my War and Peace-length response. Congrats! Good to know that the head piece can be installed before sliding it back on. That makes it much easier. I had my phone sitting in the console with the camera on so I could see that I was putting the screw driver in the right place. And looks like we were thinking the same thing with the "M" orientation and also using teflon paste.

Yes, I really appreciated your response --- many thanks for typing that up. And HAH! Like you I had to have my phone sitting in the console with the camera on so that I could unscrew the headpiece in-situ. I briefly thought about using my wife's makeup mirror compact but extinguished that thought in about 2 seconds.

Teflon lube works really well in the tracks ---- as well as this (in a syringe) -