1984 gmc truck

Hey guys i am wanting to make some carpeted panels for the bottom section of my door panels.

This is just the lower section of the door panel that is actually separate from the panel itself.

I have some auto carpet and i am just wondering what kind of wood or substrate i should use to mount my carpet to?

MDF wood..

what they use for speaker boxes?

, use 1/4" MDF, make your template, cut em out and add your carpet

I used some 1/4 in stuff i found out in your RV shop.

I think it turned out good.

I got the carpet for free and the wood all i had to buy was the 3m spray glue.

wheres the pics mang

Ok here is a pic of what i have done so far.

First my truck was TORE THE HELL UP

I changed the dash pad from brown to black with SEM paint. I changed the door panels from nasty faded tan to black. I painted the underside of my dash a cream color to match the bottom paint of my truck.

I want to change everything over to black on the interior eventually because thats what i like.

I need LOTS of things for this truck i am just fixing easy stuff as of now.

One of these days its going to look the way i want it to

Anyways the carpet on the bottom is what i did today, I also cut some carpet and covered the kick panels.

I want to get my seat recovered black and then try and change the color of my carpet with one of those spray can jobs that says it will work. my carpet is new i wish i would have ordered black. When i ordered it i wasnt planning on going all black though.

that looks good,

I did something similar on my 96 s 10, I changed the door panels to the 98 style, changed out the dash from a tan to a grey The wifey about when she walked out in the garage and saw the old dash sitting on the garage floor, and all the mess of wiring in the truck

DIY interior

Thats a satin paint i used. in the pics it looks glossy for some reason

My door panels still look like crap

They will work for a short term fix though. I fully plan on getting some repro ones when i can.

I had to go ahead and paint them black to see if i was going to like the all black scheme like i thought i would. now that i know i like it i will just replace the panels in the future.

they were sooo fvcked up from uv rays it wasnt funny. i sanded the shvit out of them.

The doorpanels look good, all they need is some speakers to fill that empty in the front.

I use fiber board for the lower carpeted sections, but those look great too.

As for the carpet, splurge a little, spend 100 bucks and put in black carpet...
You won't be happy with the dye in time....

If you need any help..... HOLA!!!!

I build things differently. Layers can get real thick real fast when doing doors, kicks and sails, so I try to keep it thin. I prefer using 1/8" luan (subflooring). Then you can foam it and cover it and it won't get too bulky. You can also sew through it to sew carpet right to the panels, too.

I've had good results with luan also, it's a bit hard on the needles though.

The 1/8th in. black fibre board works very well, it's alot more flexible than luan and not so aggressive to sew through.
More pricey though....

I use the water-resistant board (black and brown, depending on supplier) if it's a restoration, or for some special reason. My main gripes with it: warps if it gets wet/damp; tears around the frog clips too easily. The panel board holds it's holes better. And yeah, the cardboard is expensivvvve, comparatively. What I really like to use for the main substrate is panelling. I can find it sometimes on closeout at my lumber yard for about $5 a sheet. Makes for a nice markup.

Just got a completely done over 55 Chevy two-door in today. It's been at a shop locally for the mechanical/body work. The guy is a genius with the metal and it looks great. It's completely empty inside. Hoping to have it all together sometime in August.

Can't wait to see it.
I like your work......

You mentioned your door panels themselves being in bad shape. Are you wanting to stay closer to stock, or go custom with them? THere's a company called CoverLay that makes plastic caps that go over dashes and door panels. They make covers for the full size door a panels that look pretty nice. You glue them down to the existing door panel, paint to match.

I've used them on a couple Lincoln and Caddy dashes and a caddy door panel. The glue just goes around the perimeter to allow for expansion and contracting. I don't know the exact price, but I think most of them are around $100/panel.