Rewrapping Door Panel fabric sections?

[AirmanSkee]

Yeah I have worked with it some before. Rewrapped the headliner in a 89 F Body with T Tops... that was a tricky one haha

 

[TylerZ281500]

Yeah I have worked with it some before. Rewrapped the headliner in a 89 F Body with T Tops... that was a tricky one haha

i agree the foam on my old 85 was so deteriorated nothing would stick to it. now they make abs plastic ones.

 

[sewlow]

Little late to the show. Haven't been around much lately. Looks like these guys have you going in the right direction.
My method for covering this kinda stuff is slightly different in one way. I DO NOT glue the new material to the face of the panel. I only glue the material to the back side, where the material is wrapped over.
I prefer not to go over top of the old material. That creates bulk around the edges, possibly causing fitment probs between the panel insert & the D/P itself. The old material can also be looser than the new material, & that can create lumps & bumps under the new material. You can do that if you want, but to me it's a short-cut, leaning towards a 'Chester's Used Car Lot, Laundromat & Pinball Emporium' special.
To do a 'nice' job (one that won't come back!) I would strip the old material off down to the basic panel, then glue 1/2" foam to that, leaving it about a 1/2" bigger around the edges. This extra will give you a nice finished edge, once the new material is wrapped on. Then, lay the panel, foam side down, on top of the face down material. The material does not have to be cut to shape at this time. As long as you have a couple of inches or more, around the panel you'll be good. Make sure that the new material is laying nice & flat, with no wrinkles.
Now, place the panel (with the new foam on it) face down on the material, (if the new material has a pattern in it, make sure that it's square to the panel at this time) and spray glue the panel back & the extra material hanging out.
Once the glue has dried to 'tacky', start at one of the long ends, & simply compress the foam by pushing down on the panel, & wrap the new material around, but only stick it to the panel about the width of a thumb. Do the same at the exact opposite other end. Do not stretch or pull the new material. Once the foam de-compresses, that will provide enough tension on the material to fill it out, while maintaining a nice 'touch' when the panel is finished.
Now do the center top & bottom of the panel the same way. This will leave you with 4 quadrants. Using the same compression method, glue the straight sections down, except for those 2 that are next to the inside curve. (the part that drops down)
Do not do the outside corners yet.
For that inside curve, cut several 'kerfs' straight into the material at 90* to the panel, keeping the cuts about 1/4" away from the panel. Those will look like pieces of a pie. Once again, compress the material by pushing down on the panel, & stick the kerfs to the panel. The 2 straight edges leading away from the inside corner can now be stuck down too. Don't forget to keep compressing the foam as you do this.
Now, all you should have left to do are the corners.
Starting at the center of the corner, compress the foam, wrap the material around & only stick it down in a very small spot. I like to use something narrow to do this. The side of a flat screwdriver, or a needle works. You'll end up with 2 pieces of bulky wrinkles on either side of where it was just stuck. Divide those in half, & repeat the same procedure with the needle/screwdriver. Now you have 4 wrinkles. Divide those in half again & repeat. What you are trying to do is to eliminate any creases in the material that will show up around the edges as little points. Before moving to the next part, hit all the glued parts with a roller. You can use a wallpaper roller (cheap) or even a rolling pin for baking. (Cheaper yet, if the wifey has one! Shhh! I won't say anything!)
Don't worry about the extra bulk on the backside between where the material has been stuck down with the needle/screwdriver. Once the corners have been done, you can cut those wrinkles of extra material off with a razor knife so that the material is flat with no bulk on the back side. Hit 'em with the roller first, to get them nice & glued down. You can now trim off any excess material, all the way around, leaving about 1" of the material on the panel.
For the handle opening, the procedure is almost the same as the inside corner procedure. Almost.
Cut an 'X' from corner to corner in the fabric, to about 3/8" in from the panel opening. On the ends of each of the 'X' cuts, cut a kerf on each side, 90* to the opening, keeping the cuts the same 3/8" away from the opening. Using your thumb from the face side, push the fabric around & under, gluing it down in the corners. Do all 4, then do the straight parts, using the compression trick.
I think I got it all...
If I've confused you in any way, or you have some 'Q's', post 'em up, & I'll try again!
Good luck!

 

[AirmanSkee]

i agree the foam on my old 85 was so deteriorated nothing would stick to it. now they make abs plastic ones.

On that one we just made a template out of some thin board, almost paneling stuff, and wrapped it, Kept it thin, we could form it witht the curve of the roof, and all that foam crap wasnt falling and getting holes poked in it.

Little late to the show. Haven't been around much lately. Looks like these guys have you going in the right direction.
My method for covering this kinda stuff is slightly different in one way. I DO NOT glue the new material to the face of the panel. I only glue the material to the back side, where the material is wrapped over.
I prefer not to go over top of the old material. That creates bulk around the edges, possibly causing fitment probs between the panel insert & the D/P itself. The old material can also be looser than the new material, & that can create lumps & bumps under the new material. You can do that if you want, but to me it's a short-cut, leaning towards a 'Chester's Used Car Lot, Laundromat & Pinball Emporium' special.
To do a 'nice' job (one that won't come back!) I would strip the old material off down to the basic panel, then glue 1/2" foam to that, leaving it about a 1/2" bigger around the edges. This extra will give you a nice finished edge, once the new material is wrapped on. Then, lay the panel, foam side down, on top of the face down material. The material does not have to be cut to shape at this time. As long as you have a couple of inches or more, around the panel you'll be good. Make sure that the new material is laying nice & flat, with no wrinkles.
Now, place the panel (with the new foam on it) face down on the material, (if the new material has a pattern in it, make sure that it's square to the panel at this time) and spray glue the panel back & the extra material hanging out.
Once the glue has dried to 'tacky', start at one of the long ends, & simply compress the foam by pushing down on the panel, & wrap the new material around, but only stick it to the panel about the width of a thumb. Do the same at the exact opposite other end. Do not stretch or pull the new material. Once the foam de-compresses, that will provide enough tension on the material to fill it out, while maintaining a nice 'touch' when the panel is finished.
Now do the center top & bottom of the panel the same way. This will leave you with 4 quadrants. Using the same compression method, glue the straight sections down, except for those 2 that are next to the inside curve. (the part that drops down)
Do not do the outside corners yet.
For that inside curve, cut several 'kerfs' straight into the material at 90* to the panel, keeping the cuts about 1/4" away from the panel. Those will look like pieces of a pie. Once again, compress the material by pushing down on the panel, & stick the kerfs to the panel. The 2 straight edges leading away from the inside corner can now be stuck down too. Don't forget to keep compressing the foam as you do this.
Now, all you should have left to do are the corners.
Starting at the center of the corner, compress the foam, wrap the material around & only stick it down in a very small spot. I like to use something narrow to do this. The side of a flat screwdriver, or a needle works. You'll end up with 2 pieces of bulky wrinkles on either side of where it was just stuck. Divide those in half, & repeat the same procedure with the needle/screwdriver. Now you have 4 wrinkles. Divide those in half again & repeat. What you are trying to do is to eliminate any creases in the material that will show up around the edges as little points.
Don't worry about the extra bulk on the backside between where the material has been stuck down with the needle/screwdriver. Once the corners have been done, you can cut those wrinkles of extra material off with a razor knife so that the material is flat with no bulk on the back side.
For the handle opening, the procedure is almost the same as the inside corner procedure. Almost.
Cut an 'X' from corner to corner in the fabric, to about 3/8" in from the panel opening. On the ends of each of the 'X' cuts, cut a kerf on each side, 90* to the opening, keeping the cuts the same 3/8" away from the opening. Using your thumb from the face side, push the fabric around & under, gluing it down in the corners. Do all 4, then do the straight parts, using the compression trick.
I think I got it all...
If I've confused you in any way, or you have some 'Q's', post 'em up, & I'll try again!
Good luck!

Holy Novel Batman!!! haha I figured you'd be the guy to step in. I remember you saying something about upholstery before.

I am almost positive I know how you are saying to so it. Its almost like how I did my panels before, but with a tack stapler instead. My main concern is going to be getting that inside corner and inside the handle opening done right. Which isnt going to be too bad of a spot, since the bezel will cover that up nicely.

My only question is what exactly is a "kerf" haha

 

[sewlow]

Holy Novel Batman!!! haha I figured you'd be the guy to step in. I remember you saying something about upholstery before.

I am almost positive I know how you are saying to so it. Its almost like how I did my panels before, but with a tack stapler instead. My main concern is going to be getting that inside corner and inside the handle opening done right. Which isnt going to be too bad of a spot, since the bezel will cover that up nicely.

My only question is what exactly is a "kerf" haha

Lol! Yea, another novel! 2 large espresso's, & 3 smokes, & I've got a good buzz going! Haven't posted much in awhile. Just started punching keys, spewing the info running rampant through my brain! It's that whole AME/instructor training, attention to detail thing!

'Kerf'. Think of how a pie is cut. (I was waiting for that 'Q'! Lol!)

 

[TylerZ281500]

kerf is kinda like when material is going around a corner and bulges up a kerf will relieve that excess material..........i think im on track there

 

[AirmanSkee]

Okay, You just cut the angle out so that the fabric can be curved without bunching up on an inside curve or being to tight on an outside curve? I think thats just a fancy scmancy word for that, right? haha I understood the rest of it, so Im sure thats what it means.

And trust me, I know how it is to just start typing and not stop til you dump every thing you know into that box. Thanks for the help though. Have you done the interiors of these trucks?

 

[sewlow]

Yup!^^^ I like to do inside corner cuts first, before wrapping, & outside corners after wrapping.
So what do you think, Tyler? Anything you can add? Anything I missed?

 

[AirmanSkee]

Is there any certain fabric you'd recommend? I havent decided if I wanna go with vinyl or not, since the rest of my truck is staying fabric (headliner, OHC, etc).

 

[sewlow]

Posted this pic before. My '98's interior. To be redone. Soon as I find a new shop/house, I'll be doing a build thread.

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