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Ive tried all that with the panels on your 2.3 SL Steve. they are hardboard type composite - steamed them - ironed them - buggered the dining room carpet in the process Left them to dry out with heavy weights to keep them flat - all looked good so put them back on and over a period of time went back to the old warped shape.
Best solution was to get rid - and there you are Steve - it now your prob!!

Thanks for that fred! Mate!
looks like screws then! I cant leave them the way they are as they stick out that far i can only get 1 person in the back......

Might try and find some more panels

Off the top of my head - in the days when I built model aircraft we used to have certain parts which we needed to reinforce but keep very light - one trick was to superglue carbon fibre rods into things. A good RC model shop will stock carbon fibre rods of varying thicknesses. It sticks well with superglue and it might help keep panels straight once you've steamed them and got them flat again.

You may need to route out a groove in the hardboard panel to make them sit flush where it lies flush with the metalwork.

I'm considering rebuilding my Sportshatch rear quarter panels (the long HC estate ones with Magnum-style tops) using a sheet of aluminium instead of the hardboard used originally, which will effectively remove any problem with it keeping the shape along the top edge. It's quite a regular curve though, some might be more difficult to do.

My only concern is whether the cold alloy will generate condensation that might cause more problems. Maybe some kind of fibreglass is the answer.

I was just about to suggest GRP when I read your reply, Mike. 2 or 3 layers of GRP on the inside of the whole panel should keep it straight.

OK, thought I had better finally update this, in case anyone is interested!

After a lot of umming and ahhhing, I decided to bite the bullet and screw the trims down, to sort out the gap between the card panel and the bottom of the side windows. I used stainless steel screws in screw cups, and pleased to say 3 screws on each panel brought them down into line and didnt look all that out of place either. RESULT.

The issue I had then was the condition of the cards themselves. One had a hairline split, and the other a slight tear from pulling the rear seat out once. Both were pretty minor, but had been bugging me for some time.

I ended up getting 2 meters of Vinide rexine in British Racing Green from a place called Martrim in Sandbach. It was the closest I could find in terms of colour match and embossed pattern. I set about removing, cleaning the cards up and of course covering them in the new vinyl. This is not a particularly easy task, the new vinyl does not take well to dips and curves, I can only surmise that when they were first "made" by Vauxhall, they were vacuum formed, as the original vinyl is certainly more plasticy, and stretched into place.

The only real loss is that the original cards were two tone, and now they are all one colour. I actually prefer it this way, but would lose points with the purists! After a lot of spread glue and manipulation, I finally got them done and back in the car, see attached picture. They are not perfect, but I am happy with the outcome.

All told, it cost me around £70, a lot of work, and all to solve a few things that no sane passer by would even notice Still, that's all part of the fun, isn't it.....?? Apologies for the quality of the pic, the light was going by the time I got finished...

EDIT: She is also 48yrs old today!

Well done Chris - looks good - a good tidy job

Nice one chris, i think i will be going down the 3 screw route with mine! Just cant think of any other way, my hc sl rear cards stick out around an inch from the panel!
steve

A quality job!

(And if you were so inclined you could always paint the screw heads to match the vinyl colour)