My Door panels

May 6, 2006

Ok, that cleared up some questions about carrera and alante...I didnt know what they were.

im not doint the sub box..its getting painted. just the door panels are getting the vinyl (basically cuz im really sick of sanding right now) and that they will see high traffic. (arm rest, windows, locks etc..) so painting them would look crappy in time.

I dont know wether to agree or not on the "small area at a time" yet cause I dont know any better...but I see your points. the pre-glued vinyl COULD double over onto the face by accident and cause a hell of a mess if not ruin.

the wisper vinyl (just removed the backing) is rather thin without...and quite stretchy. as I learn more I will form an opinion on materials though. my test peice "super stretched" and covered a pretty demanding area. as a newbie, I was impressed.

while stripping the backing...the face got dirty. some old bondo dust. no scratches, just dirty...is this cleanable? naturally I dont want to fade or discolor it...ill leave it dirty and worry bout cleaning once its wrapped.

May 6, 2006

you can clean the face of the vinyl with oops (wallyworld)

if you do it in parts it will show a glue line underneath because the vinyl is so thin

allante is a great stretchable vinyl, and my favorite for this stuff

...untill I found the MEK

Allante has more stretch on the fatory edge's bias though

if you over stretch it may distort depending on the grain

yes I stapled in the back

sewingmang............this technique always ruffles the feathers of sewing guys

disagree all you want.....

but this is not a conventional technique

I am confident enough to finish a $54,000 install this way

and have showed it to several upholstery pros

if you let the adhesive dry and heat it it will not seperate even on a 150 degree roof

I could not make it seperate without the foam staying on the piece,

and the vinyl skin pulling off in chunks

if you dont let it dry completely, or skip the heat gun it will eventually pull loose

especially in a recessed contour

I developed this technique after 21 years of Custom fabrication

after you have actually peeled the backing off and applied it to a contoured panel properly,

I would welcome your comments, but until then you are only speculating

and shooting down a revolutionary new technique, that I have freely shared with everyone

try it before you knock it, or stick to the old methods :eyebrows

May 6, 2006

if you will stretch the vinyl face in a frame, or staple stretched to a table

you can drop the piece on it, flip it, and work down the contours with a soft cloth

that way it wont fold over or stick where you dont want it

you only get one shot, don't rush it :eyebrows

May 7, 2006

one piece...one shot.

Z, I cant thank you enough for all the help.

May 7, 2006

May 7, 2006

wow ....that looks great DV :beer

fine job brothermang :beer

May 8, 2006

Dang that looks nice.

ZOLAR -- Thanks for not thrashing me too much. Like you said, I'm just going by my past experience, and I always put my faith in sewing. But, trust me brother, you had me curious when you first mentioned MEK, and seeing how these panels are coming out, wowsers. This is totally cool stuff that would accent our sewn pieces like crazy (and speed some things up = faster turnaround = more projects through = cashola. lolol).

My employee in the Taylorville shop first found the forum on here and said there were actually other people talking upholstery. I'm glad I came in.

I could see this being the way to handle dash problems that come in, or armrests, along with the custom and full build stuff.

Any surface, though, probably has to be completely and totally smoothed out, right?? Just like painting a surface, being that thin is going to transmit any imperfection.

I'm going to test some panels this week and see how it works on some of our stuff (I can see doing some trick things in the 68 Dodge Dart I'm building to advertise the shop).

Now here's a question to see if you've dealt with it: When we recover an armrest for instance (we do a lot of caddy sedan armrests where they split out). I hate the Coverlays that are solid plastic, and we'll cover with the full vinyl (backing still on). If we didn't sew, we wouldn't be able to take out all the stretch marks. With this process, have you been able to make the thinned material stick down or stretch over padded items? I'm thinking we strip the old cover, lay on a 1/4" layer of new foam, and then with the stripped vinyl go over it and cover. Wouldn't that let the vinyl stretch more like factory but still keep the padded feel?

I'm still not totally sold on glued on, sculpted panels.....but you're swaying me. :bingo

tint_detective · May 8, 2006

Lookin good DV! :bingo

Told ya Z had the trick for that stuff. :lol

May 8, 2006

Dang that looks nice.
ZOLAR -- Thanks for not thrashing me too much. Like you said, I'm just going by my past experience, and I always put my faith in sewing. But, trust me brother, you had me curious when you first mentioned MEK, and seeing how these panels are coming out, wowsers. This is totally cool stuff that would accent our sewn pieces like crazy (and speed some things up = faster turnaround = more projects through = cashola. lolol).

My employee in the Taylorville shop first found the forum on here and said there were actually other people talking upholstery. I'm glad I came in.

I could see this being the way to handle dash problems that come in, or armrests, along with the custom and full build stuff.

Any surface, though, probably has to be completely and totally smoothed out, right?? Just like painting a surface, being that thin is going to transmit any imperfection.

I'm going to test some panels this week and see how it works on some of our stuff (I can see doing some trick things in the 68 Dodge Dart I'm building to advertise the shop).

Now here's a question to see if you've dealt with it: When we recover an armrest for instance (we do a lot of caddy sedan armrests where they split out). I hate the Coverlays that are solid plastic, and we'll cover with the full vinyl (backing still on). If we didn't sew, we wouldn't be able to take out all the stretch marks. With this process, have you been able to make the thinned material stick down or stretch over padded items? I'm thinking we strip the old cover, lay on a 1/4" layer of new foam, and then with the stripped vinyl go over it and cover. Wouldn't that let the vinyl stretch more like factory but still keep the padded feel?

I'm still not totally sold on glued on, sculpted panels.....but you're swaying me.

[*]396463

You are right...it has to be very smooth or it will show even the smallest imperfections

I have had great results with a piece of 1/2" mdf with foam over it and wrap the whole piece in skinned vinyl, it makes for soft armrests. I only use the foam on the top though, if it is glued to a substrate like foam or carpet, the stretch is than at the mercy of the material underneath.

you will like this technique for many applications, and it is a great contrast for soft sewn panels.

dashes , consoles, and speaker enclosures like this technique

I just wish it would work for seats :lol

happy trimmin' :beer

May 8, 2006

Well if I may comment. a trick was passed onto me some time ago that I want to share. you may or may not know this yet. I frequent alot custom tuner car shows (which involve ALOT of fiberglass work) and some of these "pros" havent gotten this yet.

ALOT and I mean ALOT of sanding can be avoided by spraying on a material called "Silk Sand"

After building the piece, one coat of the "pink Bondo" sanded to shape w/ 40 grit, then skim coat w/ "gold bondo" and sand to shape with 80grit. My peices are virtually flawless and I never go past 100 grit. For the dash, console and Sub box I brought it to 100 grit, then sprayed "slick sand". it filled ALL scratched and "self leveled". it is a rather THICK material w/ hardener. like a liquid body putty if you will.

amazing stuff...expensive though, but worth it for project that require sanding alot.