Diy no sew upholstery thread

[rspears]

One thing that I am very thankful for is the advice on glue that my local interior guy gave me when I was getting ready to start working on panels, etc. I mentioned 3M General Trim Adhesive to him, and he told me that I needed a stronger glue, and even offered to sell it to me from his bulk supply. I took in a 1 gallon jug, and he filled it with glue, and then showed me his old siphon spray gun hanging by the work table. It has glue in it 24/7, and very seldom plugs - if it does it's a simple matter to blow it out with a blast of air, and back in business. To do the inside panels and trunk I used 2.5 gallons of this stuff at $26/gallon, and I figure I would have dropped at least $350 had I used rattle cans.
Weldwood Glue.gif

[rumrumm]

Good idea. I went through a lot of cans of 3M adhesive, Superglue, and contact cement.

[Retired]

I've been out of touch for a bit, since I started this thread. I've done a bit more work on the Studebaker. I'll post some pictures soon. Lots of good info being passed around.

[country girl]

Sweet job! You just made my day my friend. Can't wait to show the Hubby this thread! Thank you!

[The Bat]

I've been out of touch for a bit, since I started this thread. I've done a bit more work on the Studebaker. I'll post some pictures soon. Lots of good info being passed around.

I love this info,very handy stuff,I combined it with my home done sewing on a few projects so far and got real nice efects.
Looking forward to updates. Thanks

My tech was here;
HOME MADE rod seats and panels

[firebird77clone]

I am probably going to do custom panels in my 73 charger, as the interior was completely stripped when I got it.

One thing I have noticed is that panel clips are a pain, and delicate to boot. No one seems to use screws to attach panels. Seems to me, not only easier, but if nice chrome bezel washers were used, would look pretty nice.

[rumrumm]

I would build your panels and attach them with these clips if you don't want to use the plastic ones.

[daveS53]

I've been searching for articles on how to make your own door panels and came across a couple of videos from Hagan street rods. They show how to use their products to make really professional looking panels, with no sewing. They also use no padding on the panels. Note how they use wire clips to attach the panels and avoid the clips showing through by laminating a second layer onto the base, after installing the clips.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsDDFvs9t8k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsKmAMiDnQ0

I've also learned that 1/8" ABS sheet is now a popular material for making upholstery panels. It's heat formable and totally water proof.

Nothing on my car turns out to be simple and the door panels are no exception. Thin flat panels won't work, because I have thick 3/8" bolt heads at the door hinges to go over, plus another eight 1/4" bolt heads for the window channels and power window brackets. The inside door skins are also not flat - they have numerous reinforcing ribs that make high and low areas. It won't be easy to go over all the bolt heads and not leave gaps at the edges of the panels.

The thickness of the panels must also be kept to a minimum due to restricted working spacing. If the panels are very thick they'll hit the seats and the doors won't close. The racing seats don't have much give to them, along the sides, by the door panels.

Here's a picture that I took some time ago. About the only difference is the diagonal brace. It's been removed. Removing the braces and doubling the thickness of the fiberglass where the hinges mount has actually made the doors stiffer.

[firebird77clone]

First thought I had, is cut holes in the backing ( let's assume 1/8" abs) so the bolt heads poke through. Then start with say, 1/2" foam to make your designs, lay the cloth. Put the 'high spots' over the bolt heads, then you can gouge out the foam a little if the bolt heads need more clearance.

[daveS53]

1/2" foam is probably the thickest that might work. It would be easy to put some up against the cardboard templates I've made to see how it works. The 3/8" bolt heads are .220 inch thick, plus a .06 thick flat washer, for a total of .280". I can also make the bolt heads a little thinner, if necessary.

I thought about trying some 1/4" ABS, but then I might have to use thinner foam and have problems with clips showing.

[Matthyj]

Dave, don't give up I have the same inside doors, here is a pic of what I did on mine, if I remember correctly my 1/4" (laminated together to form the pleats) are 1/2" thick and I blocked my hinge strap out an additional 1/8" but recessed the screws that go in the strap by countersinking as my door interiors are almost exactly like yours but the hinge strap is on the inside of the panel complicating it even more, So I then cut out the panels to go around the straps and contact glued 20 gauge aluminum on top to bridge the gap before adding my 1/8" layer of foam, I covered the holes for all the bolts the same way, hard to explain but not terribly difficult. The pic I am sending, there is nothing sewn you see except the binding on the carpet I did the entire interior myself (armrest I built out of fiberglass). Do yourself a favor and order the Sid Chavers video's on streetrod upholstery, you could borrow mine but they are borrowed out to everyone right now as I have 3 people waiting to view them, they aren't cheap but worth every penny, reselling them afterwards would be easy but I would never sell mine! I have a whole collection of upholstery books and his videos beat them all combined, I viewed the Hagan videos also, you'll save $$ I think if you watch the Chavers videos and have way more possibilities as he goes over all fasteners too as well as glue etc. Why the door insides have all the ribs, curves and extra BS is beyond me, I guess so we have to learn what we're doing! Keep at it! Matthyj




IMG_5047.jpg

[daveS53]

I'll order the DVDs before doing much more. I'm sure they're each worth $40. It's easy to spend more than that on materials that don't work properly. A 4'x8' sheet of 1/4" ABS costs around $125 and 1/8" about half that. It's basically proportional to the volume of plastic you're buying. I need about 3 sheets for the whole job.

Here's a link to the website.

Sid Chavers Co. - Auto Interior Artist - About Sid Chavers

One of my recent thoughts is to use 1/8" ABS as a base, so it would be easier to heat shape it to fit the curvature of the door skin, then apply foam in two 1/4" layers. The first layer would have the same clearance holes for all the bolt heads, as the base, but the second would not, so you'd get a smooth layer to apply fabric to, plus plenty of clearance space for the bolt heads.

[daveS53]

I've copied some pictures from another build of the Oze hard-top model, to show one solution to the raised reinforcing rib issue.

This picture shows the pair of raised ribs that make sort of an L shape. The lowest rib on my door protrudes 1/4" more that than the lower edge, where the door panel will stop, only about 2 inches lower. The upper part of the rib is only about an inch below the "swoop" formed into the door panel.



This picture shows a nicely made, but too thick (IMO) door panel. It just doesn't look right when the panel protrudes beyond the "swoop" that's just above it. To avoid that, the panel must be kept very thin and held tight to the ribs.



This more like it:

https://youtu.be/7C7OTkW69Ps?t=146

[Scooting]

Change your bolts over to button head bolts. They are rounded and do not stick up near as far as standard bolts.
Also don't use those clips, use metal Chrysler ones. They have a flat heat and will not show like the wire ones, plus stronger. (ebay)

[daveS53]

Change your bolts over to button head bolts. They are rounded and do not stick up near as far as standard bolts.
Also don't use those clips, use metal Chrysler ones. They have a flat heat and will not show like the wire ones, plus stronger. (ebay)

Thanks for the tip on the clips. As long as at least some foam padding is used, the clips shown would be an improvement over some of the wire types. If no padding is used, the Hagan method of applying a second layer of panel material would still be needed.

12 Pcs 79 on Chrysler Dodge Plymouth Door Panel Retainer Clips | eBay

As for the button heads, they aren't as much of an improvement as you might think. The 3/8-16 hinge bolts would have a head height that's only .035 inch thinner than hex head. I still might get some of these high torque button heads. Every bit helps.

McMaster-Carr