Door panel plans

[meg4x]

Last summer I covered my existing door panels in black vinyl just to cover up the door since the old vinyl was rather worn out, but I think it looks too plain (and the board is in really bad shape), so I'm planning on remaking my door panels completely, including the board itself. I'm going to use plastic for the panels to prevent moisture from ruining them like the original hardboard ones.

I've made (sort of) a mockup in Photoshop as to what I'm planning on doing.

Before:


After:



I kinda want to keep some of the stock look, but with a red/black theme to it. I'm actually not putting any speakers back into the doors, so the speaker hole will be covered up. Also, on the bottom I plan to put in map pockets I got from a Protege that I've covered in black carpet.

I'm torn between updating the way my original panel looks, or modifying the lines and curves a little to better suit the door handles, etc.

How does it look? I figured I'd get some feedback from the forum first before I start anything

[Bert]

This would be 'photoshop' version I was looking at? Colour scheme looks great but replicating folds and creases to look professional is not going to be easy, at all.

[meg4x]

The black/red one is the photoshopped version. I agree, it's definitely going to be a huge challenge, and I'm still really new to sewing (I'm going to stitch those creases), so I'm just gonna try my best and hope it comes out decently. I've surprised myself before, maybe I will again!

[Prafeston]

Would love to know have detailed photos of how you do the card itself. I've thought about redoing that before as well..using a thicker plywood or something like that. How will you mount it? Will you try to retain the push in clips?

[meg4x]

I haven't made the card yet, but I bought plastic wall paneling at Lowe's (the Home Depot near me doesn't carry them) and using the old card as a pattern, cut it exactly the same, holes and all. I plan on mounting it the same way it is now, with the clips on the inside covered by the vinyl, though I'll probably replace them with new ones since I'm missing several and the ones I have are rather brittle as it is. I'm pretty sure AutoZone has retaining clips that will fit.

So basically, it's going to be the same as stock, but with different materials. When I get to cutting the card out, I can take a few pictures.

[Prafeston]

Cool! Yeah, I'm very interested to see how that turns out. Seems the edges of all our door cards eventually start peeling up because of moisture...and just being old!

[BUSTIVA]

I'm working on my own door panel idea as well...looks good man!

[DriverOne]

Re: Door panel plans

Awesome design! If you sew the vinyl, I would do the triple stitch method. Sew the panels together, keeping 1/4" extra vinyl all the way around. Then sew that flap back to the vinyl face. 1/4" foam behind the vinyl will give the door more of a balanced look. Also, if you've used plastic as a base, I highly suggest using some thin foam adhesive strips to keep the plastic from rattling.

[Twistiva]

meg4x -

Your proposed red/black panel looks SWEET! :thumbs_up:

LOVE the idea of putting carpet on the bottom portion to prevent the dreaded shoe mars/rubs almost everyone has. Smart!

2 questions for you:

1 - How are you going to make/replicate the diagonal grooves? Is that where you're going to fold the vinyl?

2 - Is the weight of the plastic backing you plan on using more than the stock compressed fiber board backing? If so, will the factory number of clips have a hard time holding the extra weight?

My door card vinyl is shot. I've thought a hundred times about making new ones myself. I figured out a way to do the faux stitching but the grooves has got me stumped.

Definitely interested in seeing how it turns out!

[crazyrog17]

My Dad is an upholsterer by trade. You can get thin foam, like 1/8", and cut v-groves in it with an xacto knife. Spray both the foam and the material with glue and let them tack up before you press the material down into the grooves with a non-marring tool.

[MiltonHavoc]

change top half to white or tan and it will be tits. the red/black is sooooo over done anymore.

[meg4x]

Well, I'm no upholsterer, and cutting and gluing for the grooves is probably way beyond my skill level (or patience level for that matter haha). I'm also very new to using a sewing machine, and I tried a few different stitches, but I couldn't get them to look clean and straight, so I just settled with a (somewhat) loose zigzag for all of the lines on the red vinyl on the top and the red stitches on the black vinyl.

As for the cards, I'd say the plastic is about 1.5-2 times heavier than the stock fiber board. I'm hoping that if I just have all my clips instead of 2/3 of them like I do now, it shouldn't have any trouble holding it up. I was also thinking about using thin rubber washers on the clips to help with the vibration, but the adhesive strips sounds like a good idea, so I might do that too.

So far, I have all but the red top section done, which I'm making by gluing 1/4" foam to cardboard, then gluing the vinyl onto the foam. I haven't completely figured out how to attach the red section into the black vinyl yet. Either I'll just fold the vinyl cleanly around the cardboard, then glue the whole thing on top of the black, or cut out a space for it in the black, fit it in, then glue around it to hold it together.

[Twistiva]

My Dad is an upholsterer by trade. You can get thin foam, like 1/8", and cut v-groves in it with an xacto knife. Spray both the foam and the material with glue and let them tack up before you press the material down into the grooves with a non-marring tool.

Is that how your dad gets grooves into new upholstery???

If I'm not mistaken, I think the Filipono guy who makes/sells Festy door cards uses electrical heat applied to some sort of a metal template (?) to create the smooth grooves in the door cards???...

[bravekozak]

You want the same thing I want. Black door panels.
I have red stitched black leather seats, and would want to incorporate some matching Tiburon door panel inserts into my cards.

[jawbraeka]

looking good there, My theme is also red and black (quietly bites lip) but i think i'll be able to come up with a different design. my mate is also the son of an upholsterer (according to him, he knows how to do it too) so i'll have a chat to him about themes and layouts.