How to make door panels

[oldman3]

Now that all the is over with I can finish up the panel build. It's late tonight, so I will bring you up to date tomorrow...Jim

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Possmguts

Glad to see you're back at it... dont over do it. Those arm rests look nice, cant wait to see how you go about covering them.

Thank you, glad to be back, and I'm watching myself close. Arm rest coming up tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Didn't look like much needed to be removed Jim. Were you able to test fit before securing the panel back together? Great detail!

Hey Doug, correct it wasn't much, but you could feel and hear the leather against the metal. I would guess about 3/32", panel is 1/8" and I took away about half or a little more. No couldn't check, but I felt it was enough...Jim

[oldman3]

Now we will get back to the rest of the panel build.

Pic 1 Covering the passenger arm rest.

Pic 2 Relief cuts for arm pull area.

Pic 3 Here it is installed (will go into more detail on the drivers side, didn't take pics on this one, wanted to make sure it turned out first).

Pic 4 Entire panel on the car.

Pic 5 Here is the panel and showing the rest of the interior. The curve design of the panel is close to the curve of the center console.

[oldman3]

More details on how to cover the arm rest.

Pic 1 Glue applied to leather and the arm rest. Don't have a pic, but you have to stretch the leather tight across the face of the armrest, then across the top and bottom. Keep all flat as possible.

Pic 2 Here I've pulled everything tight into the area, made relief cuts in the material, now apply glue and pull and shape around the corner.

Pic 3 Here is how it should look

Pic 4 Everything stapled down.

Pic 5 Finished edge.

[oldman3]

Pic 1 Back to the front of arm rest. Here I've pulled most of the leather into shape, and only have the point to finish. I've cut relief cuts in leather to help me pull all the wrinkles out.

Pic 2 Her it's been pulled and stapled down, it's not perfect, but not bad for an at home job. Pro's use steamers to get this out, I don't have one so I do the best I can.

Pic 3 The finish edge.

Pic 4 Cutting relief's for arm pull

Pic 5 glued down.

[oldman3]

Have to stop here for now, need to get stuff done, will try and finish posting tonight...Jim

[oldman3]

Back to finish up

Pic 1 With the metal pull in place

Pic 2 This is the screws I used to attach the arm rest to the panel.

Pic 3 Front of arm on the panel

Pic 4 Rear of arm on the panel, again not perfect, but not bad.

Pic 5 Finished panel.

[oldman3]

Pic 1 My son Mark (reaper71) was nice and cut my grass this day, which allowed me to work in the shop all day on the panels.

Pic 2 Got the passenger kick panel laid out and cut, ready for foam and leather.

Your up to date now, so I'll show more, when I get back to the shop...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Jim,
The door panel looks spectacular!

Did you make a pattern for the door arm rest material or just eye ball and cut to fit? Also, do you have a favorite place for material purchasing?

Good for Mark on cutting the grass. Looks like red bud trees are blooming and the yard looks really good. If dry enough I need to cut grass and maybe spray drives today too.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Doug

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Jim,
The door panel looks spectacular!

Did you make a pattern for the door arm rest material or just eye ball and cut to fit? Also, do you have a favorite place for material purchasing?

Good for Mark on cutting the grass. Looks like red bud trees are blooming and the yard looks really good. If dry enough I need to cut grass and maybe spray drives today too.

Thanks for sharing the knowledge!
Doug

Doug, thanks for the compliment. No pattern for the arm rest, like you said just eye ball it. I don't do much interior work, so no favorite place, just look for the best price on the inter-net, etc.. Ed (owner) brought me his material to match what he had. Red buds looked really good this year....Jim

[quadzero]

If I didn't want to make door panels before, I sure do now. Thanks for the great info and inspiration. Your panel is amazing and totally professional. Thanks for sharing this.

[Greenlee]

Nice work!

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by quadzero

If I didn't want to make door panels before, I sure do now. Thanks for the great info and inspiration. Your panel is amazing and totally professional. Thanks for sharing this.

Originally Posted by Greenlee

Nice work!

Thanks guys, glad to share. Should finish up in a day or two, if nothing get's in the way ...Jim

[oldman3]

OK troops, an update and finish to this panel work. Dates on pics tell when I did the work.

These three pics are of the metal door pulls and speaker covers that I painted to match the interior. Local paint store mixed up paint and put in a spray can for me.

[oldman3]

The next four pics are of the finished passenger kick panel. This was put together the same as the large panel.

[oldman3]

The next two pics are of the panel installed in the car.

[oldman3]

I also got the drivers side kick panel ready, applied glue to both the leather, and the foam.

[oldman3]

Decided I should show how I do my corners, if I hadn't already.

1st pic Bothe the pieces coming to the corner are cut on a 45 degree, and stapled down.

2nd pic Here I've trimmed the piece down to this thin strip.

3rd pic Pulled tight and stapled in place. Should be fairly flat and not bulky.

[oldman3]

1st pic The finished back side.

2nd pic The finished front side and ready to install.

[oldman3]

These two pics are of Ed's car, ready to go back home.

Hope you enjoyed this little panel build, sorry it took so long, but you know that story.

Till something comes along again...Jim

[Advanced Design]

Again, great tutorial Jim! Nice work on the detail insets of the kick panel lining up with the door panel. Looks really good.

Thank you for sharing.

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

Again, great tutorial Jim! Nice work on the detail insets of the kick panel lining up with the door panel. Looks really good.

Thank you for sharing.

Thanks Doug, appreciate you checking in out...Jim

[Low68]

Thanks for taking the time to document that for us. I will be doing my own interior on my truck and appreciate the tips! The results are fantastic looking!

[aggie91]

Jim

Panels look great! Thanks for sharing this with all of us. This is the kind of thing I would like to see in an Interior Forum once we get enough support.

Thanks again!

[oldman3]

Originally Posted by aggie91

Jim

Panels look great! Thanks for sharing this with all of us. This is the kind of thing I would like to see in an Interior Forum once we get enough support.

Thanks again!

Thank you Karl, for trying to get the Interior Forum started. I for one hope it happens....Jim