Technical Making door panels, how much allowance for foam?

I picked up some 1/8" PVC foam board to experiment with. I have used the chipboard and ABS etc. They all have their pros and cons.

Just wondering how much room y'all leave for material wrap on the overall panel? I figured if I wrapped the foam over the edge, 1/4" would probably be enough. Thoughts?

I am trying to do better on my fit and finish. The roadster was a cluster and it shows. It's ok though, it was my first one. They can only get better from here on out.

Thanks,

Root

 

Rough up where the adhesive goes.I’ve done many panels but never had much luck with that small amount of overlap unless short staples could be used….a lot of them.

 

Depending on how tight you pull around the edge. A 1/4 can be good or a bit less.

 

I guess I should rephrase. I plan on having the panel overlap say 2". I am just trying to decide how much undersize I should cut the panel vs the original. If I make it the same size, it would be too big if I wrap the foam. If that makes sense....

I just didn't know if there was a standard that a lot of shops use.

 

Is it even necessary to fold the foam over the edge? It would maybe make for a tighter fit if the foam was cut even with the edge.

 

That's a good question. I have literally just started doing my own upholstery.

 

I'm just guessing. I am more of a rookie than you are but have been working out in my head how I am going to do this. I still have to refer to the manual to thread my machine. lol

 

If you can remove the foam from the overlap, you can get it to lay down better. Make sure your edges are smooth and rounded so you don't get stress points in the upholstery. I have tried to use staples and just can't get the material tight; I use plenty of adhesive and sometimes tape (NOT duct tape, it fails miserably) to keep the edges down.

 

when i did the door panels on my 39 i did not roll the foam on the edges. I glued 1/8 inc foam to the Eucaboard panel I made, foam cut larger that the board by a few inches, glued down with DAP landau top adhesieve from a gallon can applied by a purple harbor freight spray gun. once the glue set up, the foam was trimmed at the edge of the board with a razor blade, and all edges where rounded over with some sand paper to soften the edge. The the white diamond tuck material was glued directly over the foam and 1 to 2 inches was left at the edges to wrap over the edges and glue to the back. worked great.

 

Not a pro, but sure have messed up a bunch of door panels in my time. LOL!
From my experience, if you are gluing the foam to the board, cut the foam at the edge of the board, but if the foam is "floating", wrap it around the edge.

When you wrap the foam around the edge, it makes the edges of the panel thicker, and tends to hold the panel away from the door frame. That makes it easier to catch the edge of the panel and that makes it curial outward, making matters even worse.

Starting to sound like an echo chamber here... Some are saying it better then others. Late to the party as usual.

 

I trim the foam to fit the panel, no over lap.

 

^^^ This ^^^

 

I over lapped my under dash AC panel which is the last one I did with 1/4” foam. I was able to pull the vinyl down to 1/16” plus the vinyl thickness.
Panel board and the black 1/8” cardboard I’ve used in the past had rounded edges and never cut thru the vinyl when stopping the foam at the edge. Not sure on the vinyl you may be using. Headliner vinyl will stretch a lot.

 

Thanks guys. This is all new to me. Trying to make it look as professional as possible. I don’t want folks saying “You do your own upholstery?” It shows….

 

Roothawg, the expanded pvs foam board does not hold staples very well. Be sure to glue your 2" overlap down. It does hold glue very well. The staples will help hold it while it cures but is not a reliable standalone attachment.

 

If your foam is part of your cover, it's kind of hard to keep the foam from having to wrap. Really hard for me to explain what I'm trying to say lol. But if you use sew foam in your door panel cover, like to make pleats, it's sewn to the fabric. You can center it all up, mark it and cut the foam back. But generally speaking, don't wrap the foam, it makes the door panel too thick.

 

Why not bend a piece of the foam with the material you will use around the door card and measure it?

 

I would cut the foam to the edge only because it seems easier to me.
I don't really know if I'm right or not.

 

We generally end up sewing 1/2" scrim foam to the material, since we generally do hidden seamed pleats. I think I may start making my pleats longer and giving myself a "foam free" area to wrap. If that makes sense.

 

Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.

 

When we can, we use 1/4" foam on the doors, not always possible though. That picture i posted is 1/4" foam

 

I like my pleats puffy, like me.

 

Oh... It would be helpful to send a photo of what you want your door panels to look like when they are done. All the info above is about sewn-in pleats and panels which tend to be flatter than the traditional "tuck and roll" of days past. If you want "puffy" rolls you'll need to s***ch them THEN STUFF THEM INDIVIDUALLY with foam. This is an entirely different technique.

 

I understand.
Here is a pic of my last door panel. Not sure why it keeps rotating the pic.

 

Is this what you want to achieve, or is it not "puffy" enough?

The answer to your original question is to make the door panels fit properly when you are cutting and fitting the boards, then NOT PAD the edges. If you attempt to pull the padded material around the edge you'll end up with boards that no longer fit tightly to the doors. You see this mistake often in hot rods and customs built in the '50s and '60s. It didn't look good then either.

 

I think the 1/4" foam is too flat. It has a place, but the 1/2" just looks better in my opinion.
I think the answer to my question is make the panel the same size as the original and keep the foam short.
Thanks guys. I am going to lay out some panels over the weekend.