heres me and the old lady's attempt at doign some uphosltery work, making the door inserts for the pontiac. Bought some vinyl, 1/2 foam, and some cheap backing fabric, and figured some shit out. This was the result.
Looks like you're savin' yourself some money AND keepin' the little lady ivolved with your project. Looks like a win-win situation...
it actually looks a little better that it does in those pics, I had to brighten them ALOT to be able to see the pleats. They just looked like black squares.
Thats really great job, after you finish panels get a used vaporizer at a second hand store or steamer, Role windows up a let hot steam warm up car then roll into sun, shrinkage will get rid of some or most wrinkles. You can apply directly if hand held just dont get to close and burn or streatch vinly. ps excuse spelling
any other ways besides a vaporizer to tighten it up? Theres already a how to in the techo-o-matic section I think, I know it was on the old Hamb anyways. I used a littl ebit of it of reference, but I didn't understand alot of it, so we just kind of figured things out as we went. The old lady was suprised at how straight she got the things. Now she's all thinking about how to incorporate patterns and stuff along with the tuck and roll. I may have started something.
Heat 'n' stretch... Get yourself a cheapo heat gun- you can try a hair dryer but they don't really get hot enough (from my experience.) It's not a miracle cure for all the wrinkles, but it'll be a lot easier for wrapping the corners, etc. If you have any questions feel free to contact me and I'll try to help.
well, that one is already staple and glued and shit, so to hell with it, it looks %1000 percent better than the blue corduroy bullshit someone had put in the car. Maybe we can try out the hairdryer for the other 3, if that don't work I'll just make sure to use a heat gun next time around. Making that pleated stuff wrap around the corners and stuff good without it being bulky on the back is a pain in the ass. I just stapled it down and cut off the stuff that was sticking up. Then used the hot glue gun for extra insurance of it staying put.
Oh yeah, I forgot- practice with the heat gun on a vinyl scrap, it burns kinda easy. When it heats up enough it'll get floppy and stretchy- a little more heat and you'll burn it.
wow dude you are kickin ass on that car ......i did mine a while back and soon found out how much better at painting i was than upholstery..haha....it turned out good and people really dig it and want to know where i got it done. but man it was alot harder than i thought it was gonna be .it also took about 4 times as long as i thought too..i will send ya pics since i dont know how to post em .....yeah i know,,,,,,, you should be very proud of yourself. and thats rad you chick is helpin ya...mine does when i ask her to but i am really just too stubourn[sp?] to ask for help.......i have mucho respect for guys who can do really nice interior......
Looks good! Did you cut the foam into strips for the tuck and roll? That should help tighten up the vinyl on the pleats if you didn't. As for wrapping around the edges, trim the foam back to the backing so you are only wrapping the vinyl, not the foam to get rid of the bulk. When using a heat gun, heat the vinyl from the backside if you can get at it to avoid melting the grain. It's a little late for that one panel now, but for a real pro look try to make the two outside pleats the same width as each other. I find it looks better to make them a bit bigger than the rest rather than smaller. There are a million "trade secrets" in auto trim that you might never know unless someone told you and I probably just pissed off a few trimmers by giving up a few of them. Oh well, keep at it, it looks like you have a good start. Bill
Here's another trade secret, draw pattern on backing or fiber board using chalk for pleats, mark the centerline boulder. Use high strength adhesive 3M usally runs $8 to $10 dollars a can, spray both sides of material heavy and wait til it gets very takey. Normally about 15 to 30 minutes start at center pre-drawn mark and pull tight always working from center. I also use 1/4 inch thick high density foam, pre-cut lines to foam. Sew pleats to foam and sew some thick thread at refernce center pleat to use for pulls. Next drill small holes in fiber or backing board on center reference line. Pull thread thru and tie knots this helps to center pattern as you pull materials toward sides. This helps the material from sliding from your refernce point.
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