Making Custom Door Panels

To begin consider what you want the final results of your custom door panels to look like.

Making custom door panels.

I started with the rolls pleated material. However with a little instruction and a broad selection of car interior upholstery parts the task is made easier than you might. Do it yourselfers can build their own panels with a few power tools and glue. Car door panels can be expensive depending on the vehicle make and model.

To custom make door panels that are strong enough for everyday use and or abuse use fiberglass mat to reinforce the high stress areas like the door pull or armrest for instance cut the fiberglass mat into several small pieces and overlap them when applying to the door panel surface for added strength. My door panels use a piece of stainless trim that i wanted to use to separate the smooth vinyl from the rolls pleats. How to build custom interior door panels. Tech exterior accessories and trim videos.

Do you want to use the original design of the door panel and simply create a smooth as glass paint able panel. Remove as much tape as you can by hand then scrape and sand the rest of the tape and epoxy off. Do you want to add components to the door panel like tvs speakers audio components or 3 d sculptures. Building a show quality interior to match the rest of your build can be a daunting task.

Very important that this line is accurate on all 4 pieces. For most classic car restorers sewing together upholstery is an unlearned skill. When removing the old panels be sure to remove all staples and hang on to the clips. Rip plane and sand enough 1 2 square wood to make the stops front and back for 1 8 safety glass or plastic.

Nail one side of the stops in leaving a 3 16 reveal lay the glass or plastic in and install the other stops. Building new panels also gives you the option of using higher quality materials. But using some readily available components you can achieve professional looking results. I marked the line where it needed to be on the panel itself.

Lightly sand the whole door. First apply a little resin where the. Most factory cardboard panels have long since rotted away or are warped beyond. By speedway tech team.