very cool, I love seeing low-buck tech from pros, you know they're all about the cars and not about the bucks at that point Thanks a bunch for sharing, very nice work! Wish my no-sew panels turned out that good!
I'm having a tough time finding the c-channel, or to be more specific, I'm having a tough time finding C-channel with a lip that will hold a screw. Where do you find that kind? Maybe I am picturing it wrong in my head, but I was thinking the channel was like a track and you can just slide it onto the head of the screws. I think I'm going to try making these panels for my 66 Impala this coming weekend. Also, I have another question. The panel you built had perfectly square edges. My car's door panels have an incline on the edges. Will the pleats work in this instance since I will have to cut it at an angle?
I tried this tutorial this weekend. There are two things I did differently. 1. I changed the pleat orientation, just mainly to make sure I cut a straight line and got the sizes the same each time. 2. I tried finding aluminum c channel, I live in a small town and no one sells it locally. On the internet I could find the 24 feet I needed (two, three foot long strips per door x 4). At lowes, 8 feet were around $10, but they would only ship it freight for $150.00. Amazon had 3 foot pieces, but charged shipping on each one for a total of around $100.00. There was a place that would cut to size, but with cut fees to reduce shipping, it wound up around $100.00. I gave up and bought some of the flexible chrome/rubber trim that you can pick up in an autoparts store. My pictures aren't perfect, I took them with my cell phone, at night. It doesn't take photos that great to begin with. My digital camera's flash is broken, and I was too impatient to wait until daylight. One pic shows a dirty off-white looking original door panel that I took out of my car. The other photo shows the new black one I made. I still have to put the armrest back on it and cut the door handle and window handle holes. Thanks for the great tutorial, I would have never thought it would be so simple. The white one is from a back door, the black one is one I redid from a front door.
Another good material for the backing panel, completely waterproof, is shower stall enclosure panels. It's made of ABS plastic, flexible to wrap around behind the seats in a roadster, following the curve of the body opening. I've seen some low buck jobs that just used this plastic without the upholstery over it. You can find it @ most any building supply like Home Depot or Lowe's. If you want a specific color they can order it for you. Dave Dave
The classics never die. I wonder if Shawn (aka Skipstitch) knows how much he's missed here on the HAMB. I know he's busy with life, but I feel forsaken. Top notch guy, he is.
Some c channel can be found on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-6063...81477&sr=1-2&keywords=aluminum+c+channel+1/2" or a bing shopping search found: http://www.bing.com/shopping/search...vt=buy+aluminum+c+channel+1/2"&FORM=HURE#x0y0 I went with: http://www.autozone.com/autozone/ac...im-molding/_/N-25l0?itemIdentifier=869846_0_0_ They had different widths in the store. I chose half inch because the tutorial said 1/2" c channel. It was about $12.00 for 18 feet.
Just what I need. I'm gonna do the door panels but think I'll leave the seats to someone that knows what their doing.
This has been great reading all of these blogs! I wish i had saw this a few months back. i've been havin a hell of a time trying to figure out WHAT i'm goin to do with my front door panels since i have a coupe on my '54 Chevy two-ten DOES ANYONE HAVE SOME PICTURES THEY COULD POST or EMAIL TO SHOW THEIR CAR OFF...even better..if they are off a car similiar to the year of my car?
Skipstitch, Good Thread !!! I actually got into upholstery work in the mid 70's. By the time the 80,s rolled in I had cut back to HotRod's and Classic's only. I used the Au-Ve-Co # 808 clips along with luan paneling. For those who worry about getting the paneling wet, spray them with DupliColor Spray Bed Liner. The product dries to the same finish as rattle can flat black and waterproofs the panel. Once Again....... Good Post, You have helped many people........ Jeff
The vinyl is stretched to cover the backing, but not glued right? So then the clips slide in but there is no glue to interfere right? Gary's the best website for pre-pleated material?
Wow... guess I've been gone for too long! Cool to see this one still floating around... As for the C-Chrome, apparently it was "top secret" when I was in business!!! Miami Rubber still carries it. 6 foot lengths for $9.53 each. You can find it here: http://www.miamicorp.com/default.aspx?page=item detail&itemcode=CS1903
what did you do for the ends Skipstitch? That stuff looks so similar to the hinge on my Diamond T hood, haha. Thanks so much for the link!
I would trim the sides off 1/8" and then would fold the top down and polish the end. It's really soft aluminum and works perfect!
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