TECH: Re-covering cloth doorpanels... CHEAP.

[Kojack]

Okay, been wanting to write something up since I saw Revhead's tech on door panels. This is a lot of the same information, just a little extended and leans more towards those of you thinking of using cloth instead of vinyl.

My panels were pretty tore up as well, as the water leaking over the years and the fact cats love to claw shit up. I picked up about the same stuff Revhead did, 1/8th board and cut to size, marking everything as I went. I hit up Orchard Supply for mine, and it was about 7 bucks a sheet. Lay down your new board, and trace around with the old board, making sure to press down on all the corners if you've got a warped board like I did. After marking everything, I used a jigsaw and sliced out out easy. A dremal tool worked the best for me to get the holes for the handles and crank, using a drill bit on it and guiding it along to make the holes.

If you're going for vinyl, like it's been said, use the stuff with the thin mesh backing and not the felt. It's far more of a bitch to handle and doesn't want to stick down. If you're going for cloth, find something with a relative thickness and durability. I got some very nice stuff from a fabric store, but surprisingly when I was looking for another fabric for the two tone Wal-Mart of all places had something nice I used there for only 2 bucks. Shop around. One thing I thought about as well after this all was getting some clear plastic covering and gluing that to the door panel first. My panel was warped from water, and if your door leaks I'd recogmend doing this first, it will extend the life if your panels. Here's what I had to deal with first...

[Kojack]

After laying everything down, take careful measurements and overcut. Nothing sucks more then going through all the trouble of cutting the material and you're too short. Mine was simple... as I was going for a two tone, all I had to do was run one seam across the middle, and that was it. I used some extra chrome I had around as trim to cover up the seam, looked nice.

Next, I laid down my padding for the door on to the new panel. I used some stuff I found down at Wal-Mart as well that's used for quilting for about 10 bucks. I like how it came out, only it's a little uneven at the bottom. If I was to do it again, I'd go for something more of a soft foam to make sure it's even all around, but the padding I used looks pretty good. I belive I used a 1/2 thickness of padding. I used 3M General Trim Adhesive, and it worked pretty good. I shot that over the panel, then laid down the padding and let that dry for about 15 minutes. After that, I placed down my material for the door on the floor, nice and flat, and placed the panel on top. I gave the edges a tug all around, making sure it was all flat and leveled out, before shooting the sides with the adhesive and laying the edges over. Make sure the edges are slitted so it doesn't bunch up the corners. Don't pull, just gentle bend it over and press down. Give it about a half hour before touching it.

[Kojack]

My panel is off my '49, and it had a door handle as well. This was easy too. I just took it off as well, undid a few screws and slowly took it apart. A lot of handles are done this way, one solid plastic peice for the base, and a soft rubber like materal under the padding. I took it apart, tugged the old fabric gently off the rubber and laid it on top of my new fabric. I used a charcol pencil and drew my edge, and cut it. After shooting the rubber, I pressed the cloth over it and rubbed it down into the grip. Make sure it's smoothed out, as it's easy to get bubbles on vinyl and fabric on the handles. After a few minutes though of drying, I had it all back together.

[Kojack]

Once everything was dry, I punched the holes in the fabric gently with a razor, slicing in crosses... that should be about all you need to get things through. I popped it on, and wah-la! There you go. I'll be doing something like Revhead was showing in his post, using aluminium trim along the bottom to hold it down and make things look less bland below... I had trouble with those door clips as well. All together, I think I've got 40 bucks maybe for all four doors. Not too bad! You'll be surprised... if you've got a 30's to early 50's car, door panels are not a lot of work to get looking nice again at all.

Hey, it may not run yet, but for Wal-Mart fabric and spray paint, at least I've got the interior looking alright!

[Petejoe]

Great stuff ! Thanks for sharing. [ QUOTE ]
Revhead's tech on door panels

[/ QUOTE ] where's this at?? I missed it.

[WildWilly68]

Great tech kojak! See this is what I love about this place, guys willing to share their knowledge on how to do things yourself. Looks damn good to me...so when are you doing the seats? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Kojack]

Here's Revhead's old tech post, Pete...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=508633&Forum=U BB1&Words="door%20panels"&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=a llposts&Main=508633&Search=true#Post508633 (http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=508633&Forum=U BB1&Words=)

And for the seats... that might take a little longer on that one. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif But I actually do plan to try and make my own seat covers and see what happens!

[fatluckys]

Hey! Not bad at all. So, do you want a job? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[52Chief]

Did you spray adhesive on the padding before putting on the fabric? (So it sticks together?)

[Kojack]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey! Not bad at all. So, do you want a job? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey, as long as it's not working at Wal-Mart. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As for 52's question, only in four small spots around the padding. When I took my old panels apart, they wern't stuck together, so I didn't. I don't think it would hurt at all if you did a small, light spray around... might be a good idea, actually. Though, not too heavy, as then you'll have to fight it more to align the panel with the material when you put them together.

[burger]

Kojack,

Strong work.



Ed

[Cadillacin Marcus]

not too shabby!! cool....... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

[Kojack]

Figured I'd bop this up for Tech-week, if anyone missed it, or had anything to add to it.

[millerkustoms]

killer job Kojack, whenever you guys are ready to do the drivetrain swap i will be there to help out too.

-Jeremy