Our subject '01 Trans Am was purchased new in September of that model year, and has just over 17,000 miles on its odometer. Since the car has spent a majority of its life in a garage and under a soft cover, its interior hasn't been subjected to any long-term sunlight exposure, and remains in like-new condition. Before the door panels in this T/A look like that of...
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then our "crack" photo likely conjures up a caption laden with obscenities. If this sight looks familiar, then you probably own a Fourth-Gen Firebird and have, at some point, shared a similar sentiment. For those left wondering what we're discussing, you're looking at a typical door panel crack that plagues a huge portion of Fourth-Gen Firebirds populating today's roads. If you own such a car and haven't yet seen this, consider buying a lottery ticket, because luck may be on your side!
It seems that any Fourth-Gen Firebird is susceptible to this ailment, no matter how little it's driven or the level of care it receives, and there doesn't appear to be a specific pattern among the affected cars. Though the cracks tend to occur in the same location on each door panel-roughly 8 inches inward from the rear-they start small on some and can gradually lengthen over time. On others, a gaping crack happens in an instant when shutting the door, or even while sitting overnight.
Our Fourth-Gen Firebird had no apparent door panel issues, so preventing these cracks wasn't a major concern-that is, until this past spring, when we noticed pronounced depressions developing along the upper edges of both door panels. It was at that point we knew that immediate corrective action was required, or ours would become another statistic. Follow along as we modify its interior and prescribe a remedy to prevent the spreading of the Firebird door-panel-crack pandemic.
...this one, we decided to take action. | 
Visit any Web forum where late-model Firebird owners frequent, and you'll find the topic of door panel cracking among the most popular items discussed. Until this past spring, our Trans Am showed no signs of the typical door panel cracking that these cars seem so susceptible to. Once we detected this odd buckling, it became clear that stress was the culprit, and that it wouldn't take long for cracks to form. We immediately set out to determine the cause and find a permanent solution. | 
An external inspection of the area revealed little insight, so we removed the driver-side door panel to explore further. The removal process is fairly straightforward. After carefully prying upward on the trim panel that houses the power-windows, power-mirrors and power-lock controls, we disconnected the power leads. |
Then we removed the screws that secure the trim pieces surrounding the inside door handle and exterior side mirror, followed by the four screws that secure the door panel to the frame. | 
Once the door panel was loose, we simply lifted it a couple of inches and gently pulled it away from the door. We disconnected the small speaker wire before moving the door panel too far away from the doorframe. A quick inspection of the door revealed that there wasn't anything directly beneath the panel to cause the buckling, so we focused our attention on the panel itself. | 
With the door panel on the bench, we thoroughly inspected the affected area from every angle, and that's when we noticed the probable cause. The window felt is adhered to a piece of strap steel, which is stapled onto the plastic door panel. It appears that if the door panel was at all flexed while the window felt was stapled into place during the assembly process, it could leave the panel somewhat twisted. A combination of the plastic door panel reacting to temperature changes and any pressure that the window exerted on the stationary felt strip in various positions was likely to further abnormally flex the panel, causing a stress crack to form at the weakest point. You can see the telltale signs of such a crack forming just to the right of the staple. |
Using a pair of large wire cutters and a small flat-blade screwdriver, we started at the rear of the panel and carefully worked forward, removing as many consecutive staples as was required to relieve stress. Ours required removing just three staples, but your panel could require more-it depends on how many each panel received during assembly, and how twisted it might be. Once the staples were removed, the door panel breathed a sigh of relief and conformed to its intended shape. | 
We considered a variety of ways to refasten the loose portion of the window felt onto the door panel, and ultimately decided on small hardware. We carefully enlarged, with a 1/8-inch drill bit, one of the two holes left in both pieces by each staple. (Depending upon the initial misalignment, you might find that drilling a new hole in the door panel is required.) | 
A trip to our local hardware store netted us a handful of No. 4-40 machine screws in 7/8-inch length with matching washers and nuts, all for less than $1. We inserted a machine screw into each of the three holes, applied a dab of thread-lock, and tightened each nut until it was finger tight. |
Once the thread-lock was dry, we used a cut-off disc to trim the screws so each was flush with its nut in an attempt to maintain maximum clearance. We later found that No. 4-40 machine screws in 1/2-inch length would have worked suitably. | 
If you catch the crack during its beginning stages, a healthy dab of two-part epoxy should prevent it from spreading further. There are a number of methods for repairing major cracks, but the best solution may be to replace the entire door panel, which can be a costly endeavor. We suggest that you closely inspect any replacement panels for signs of stress, and remove any staples that appear to be the cause or cracking could reoccur. | 
With the modifications complete and the door panel reinstalled, we immediately noticed how much the plastic panel had relaxed and that the pronounced depression had vanished. After repeating the same procedure on the passenger-side door panel and finding the same amount of stress relief, we're convinced that we've found a permanent solution to an ongoing problem that has plagued a large number of Fourth-Gen Firebirds. We also found, on the Web forums, other hobbyists who've similarly modified their door panels and have reported that existing cracking has been contained to a minimum. |