There has been a lot of questions posted about what material to use for door panels. The first and most important step no matter what you use is to install a moisture barrier to your door or the backside of your panel before installing. The older cars seals are not as efficient as newer cars. Water runs down the glass and inside door skin right on the back of any exposed panel. A heavy plastic glued to your door skin or the back of your panel will add years to it's life. This can be found ant any hardware store, usually used for paint drop cloths. With that said on to the products available. Panel board: This is the original black pressed board found in cars since the 1920's. Not my first choice anymore. At around 20 bucks for a sheet 39"x50" it can be more costly than other products. Masonite: A good workable product. At around 8 to 12 bucks a 4'x8' sheet it goes a long way for your buck. May be harder to staple in if you don't have a good stapler. Luan: A flexible light weight wood product. Easy to cut, glue and staple. Priced comparable to Masonite. 1/8" Fir plywood: Used for cabinet facing. A much stronger product than Luan, smoother finish and cuts with much cleaner edges. Comes in 5'x5' sheets. At around $35 a sheet it is much higher than Luan and Masonite. This is one of my favorite choices. PVC plastic: I know it by Komatex. Comes in colors and can be found at many sign shops. 1/8" runs around $50 to $60 a 4'x8' sheet. Very versatile, can be heat shaped and moulded to unusual shapes. PVC is softer than ABS and prone to breakage in colder weather or when stapled. ABS: Probably the strongest product available. A little harder to shape than PVC but will take a lot more abuse. At $60 to $80 dollars a 4'x8' sheet it is probably the most costly. This is an excellent product for roadsters or high moisture areas. There are many good posts using panel board and Masonite or Luan so I will focus on the plastic. Cutting ABS can be difficult if you try to use saws which heat up and melt the plastic together, however it is very easy to do with a little practice and a carpet knife. Just score the plastic where you want to cut it and bend. It will break clean off. Just like doing Sheetrock, well kinda. As you can see even curves can be cut with ease. The plastics can also be heat formed quite well. Curved panel can be made with ease! This last photo shows using PVC which is white, ABS, the black under roll bars and Masonite on rear deck shelf. I hope I have showed the possibilities of using plastic on your next interior. if you would like to see more you can visit my web site and see our current projects as they are being upholstered. Thanks, Roy. http://roykeithclassics.com/Current_Project.html
Wow...I have been using the ABS on my last few projects and delivering them to my upholsterer....I wish I had seen this last year. Your work is amazing, thanks for the info.
We used the white PVC on a buddies '31 last summer. Found 4x8 sheets at a local graphics/sign shop. After a little trial and error we got the hang of cutting and bending and did most of the interior before it went to the upholstery shop. It made his interior a lot cheaper, and gave us the ability to shape the panels the way he wanted them. Looks like Roy has it down pat...great post...
masonite, luan and fir plywood I'm assuming available at any home depot or lowes? who sells the abs plastic, also the sign shops? today I was looking at sheets of plexiglass at lowes, any thoughts on those? the 1/4" stuff was pretty pricey at about $40 per door but if I remember correctly one sheet of 1/8 would do 4 doors for less then $30.
Masonite can also be formed. Wet the rough side, and bend to shape. When it dries it will hold the shape. Rich
A great way to cut plastic is with a laminate knife (i.e. Formica), particularly the thicker stuff up to about 3/32". Works great for clear plastic too, like plexi or Lexan. Make a stiff pattern for your cut, and draw the knife down the pattern multiple times until you're through.
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