Reupholstering Interior Panels

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Superb Machan Superb !!!

Edited April 25, 2014 by Sampath Gunasekera

[Komisiripala]

Dude that is unbelievable!!

[Rumesh88]

Wow! Excellent piece of DIY job Davy. This really shows what one can do with minimum of resources but a bit of enthusiasm and elbow grease.

[similarnames]

That is real quality work man..!! I think you have lot of patience to do all the hardwork to achieve brilliant results !

Edited April 26, 2014 by similarnames

[Davy]

Most impressive!

DAMN !!!

This may be the most useful diy thread so far!

The quality of work is just amazing! This is what autolanka is all about!

Superb Machan Superb !!!

Dude that is unbelievable!!

Wow! Excellent piece of DIY job Davy. This really shows what one can do with minimum of resources but a bit of enthusiasm and elbow grease.

That is real quality work man..!! I think you have lot of patience to do all the hardwork to achieve brilliant results !

Thank you for your feedback guys! Makes me want to post more threads like this. Really!

[trinity]

Now only seeing the update... That's freaking amazing piece of work there man.. Couldn't have done it any better. Very useful thread and as watchman said, this is what autolanka is all about..Bravo!

[Davy]

Now only seeing the update... That's freaking amazing piece of work there man.. Couldn't have done it any better. Very useful thread and as watchman said, this is what autolanka is all about..Bravo!

Hehe! Thanks bro. Was wondering if you hadn't seen this yet.

Completed the final door today. So this completes my DIY job upholstering job on the door trims. I need to get the steering wheel wrapped too and I'm evaluating my options these days. I'm not that good with needles and thread, so I might have to go through it on a trial and error basis.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Davy

[trinity]

Hehe! Thanks bro. Was wondering if you hadn't seen this yet.

Completed the final door today. So this completes my DIY job upholstering job on the door trims. I need to get the steering wheel wrapped too and I'm evaluating my options these days. I'm not that good with needles and thread, so I might have to go through it on a trial and error basis.

Was bit busy last couple of days.. Couldn't come online. About the steering wrap, I'm sure you could master it in few tries given the fact that you are really good in these types of things. But it's a very tricky one I believe. Remember Komi tried it on one of his cars but cannot recall which one. Edited April 27, 2014 by trinity

[iRage]

Why not get an old/junked steering wheel for next to nothing and do some practice runs ?

[Davy]

Was bit busy last couple of days.. Couldn't come online. About the steering wrap, I'm sure you could master it in few tries given the fact that you are really good in these types of things. But it's a very tricky one I believe. Remember Komi tried it on one of his cars but cannot recall which one.

I think it was the Teg. I think he did some touch-up work on a wrap that was coming apart. Maybe I can can get him to do the stitching for me.

Why not get an old/junked steering wheel for next to nothing and do some practice runs ?

Good idea actually. The thing is, a thin hem should be stitched to keep things tidy and I think that requires a sewing machine the can handle leather/rexine. I already tried folding and heating up a thin hem kind of margin but it tends to unfold. Thanks for the idea! Will let you know how it goes.

[LashNeo]

Nice work Davy,

I'm living in a world where some people think that i'm crazy to spend quality time on a nice weekend morning washing waxing and fully detailing my car simply for my enjoyment. Sometimes I feel whether I'm overdoing anything or am I the odd one.

In such a world, you are just an inspiration for guys like us to explore more.

Edited April 28, 2014 by LashNeo

[maheshw]

super job !!! no words...

[VVTi]

Dude, leave your day job and start this pro!

[Davy]

Nice work Davy,

I'm living in a world where some people think that i'm crazy to spend quality time on a nice weekend morning washing waxing and fully detailing my car simply for my enjoyment. Sometimes I feel whether I'm overdoing anything or am I the odd one.

In such a world, you are just an inspiration for guys like us to explore more.

Thanks LashNeo. And believe me, you're not crazy. As a matter of fact, I don't think doing something out of love for a car can be called that.

super job !!! no words...

Thanks mate!

Dude, leave your day job and start this pro!

I'm flattered man. Thank you!

[iRage]

Nice work Davy,

I'm living in a world where some people think that i'm crazy to spend quality time on a nice weekend morning washing waxing and fully detailing my car simply for my enjoyment. Sometimes I feel whether I'm overdoing anything or am I the odd one.

In such a world, you are just an inspiration for guys like us to explore more.

Sorry to go OT but just waxing right ? Polishing is usually abrasive and doing it on a weekly basis is eventually going to give you a car with no paint on it . Also becareful as some waxes are abrasive.

Well atleast we know what Davy's retirement job would be

[Komisiripala]

Was the Teg. Permanent suture materials are really strong and if it's a one off job I'll get you some. Comes with a curved needle so slicing thru leather (or skin in my case) is a like a hot knife thru butter

[Ripper]

Great Job Davy!

I've been dragging my feet to do my door cards to drop in bigger speakers.

This has given me the confidence to take it on.

super stuff!

[Davy]

Was the Teg. Permanent suture materials are really strong and if it's a one off job I'll get you some. Comes with a curved needle so slicing thru leather (or skin in my case) is a like a hot knife thru butter

Missed replying to your post yesterday. I dug up your job on the Teg and reminded myself of how nicely done that was. Mine will definitely be a one off job, but I haven't really got my plan for this in place yet. You'll be the first to know if I'm going ahead. Thanks Komi.

Great Job Davy!

I've been dragging my feet to do my door cards to drop in bigger speakers.

This has given me the confidence to take it on.

super stuff!

Thanks Ripper. I'm pretty sure this will be just a walk in the park for you.

[thilinak]

Excellent writeup , Unbelievable work.

[Davy]

Continuing this thread 'cause this is somewhat related.

This was an experiment I did a while back on my car's door pulls because they were all burnt up and looking filthy. The handles were this way from the day I bought the car and I was meaning to restore them or get a new set of handles altogether, but I thought of trying out the restoration first. Why I called this an experiment is because I wanted to wait a while and see if this really worked. It's been a few months now and it seemed to be holding up well.

This is what I started with:

The original colour of the door handle is gray (there's a little patch still left in the above photo as you can see). The area intact seems to have been in the shade and survived being sun burnt.

Anyway, this is what I needed:

1. Sharp blade

2. 800 grit and 1200 grit water sandpaper

3. Plastic primer spray can

4. Paint to match the door handle (spray can)

Note: Plastidip would have been the ideal choice, I couldn't find plastidip spray cans (matching the colour), so I had to opt for this.

I took both door handles off the car and gave them a good scrub using a sharp blade. It's important to highlight that the plastic does not have a texture, it's just smooth plastic - otherwise I would have lost the texture while doing this. The surface was so brittle that what's scraped away was like a fine dust. After cleaning them, they looked like this (the gray underneath has surfaced):

Here's the primer and paint:

Took one door handle with me to match the colour and I found a colour that matches the plastic colour very closely.

Washed the part well to get rid of dust and grime. Then applied two coats of plastic primer. After the primer has dried up fully (I left it for a day), I sanded it well using the 800 grit paper and then moving onto the 1200 grit paper. Since I found some fine scratches here and there, I applied two coats of primer again and repeated the sanding process.

This is the part after sanding it down totally. Super smooth and no more scratches.

Left it for a couple of days more until the primer fully dried up (not necessary), and then moved on to the colour. Applied two coats of colour carefully, without letting it drip.

Really satisfied with the end result. No more faded door handles!

This can be done on most plastic trims and it's pretty easy.

[Hoonigan]

Something that most would just say "F*** it" and buy a replacement but this is far more satisfying by the looks of it. No drips, no scratches and an even paint, you're turning pro Davy

[MAS]

Looks really nice. Well done sir.

[Watchman]

Very nice!

I have question about the plastic primer. These probably dont flex a lot, but one thing I have noticed when spray painting is that when the plastic flexes the pain cracks.. And with the primer being a more solid substance, could it crack, or do 'plastic primers' behave differently?

[Davy]

Very nice!

I have question about the plastic primer. These probably dont flex a lot, but one thing I have noticed when spray painting is that when the plastic flexes the pain cracks.. And with the primer being a more solid substance, could it crack, or do 'plastic primers' behave differently?

Thanks!

The significance of plastic primer according to my knowledge is that it has properties that allow it to bond well to the plastic to prevent the paint being peeled off. Some delicate plastics need to be primed with this type of primer to prevent the plastic being warped by the thinner/other chemicals in the paint.

I am not entirely sure if plastic primers have the capability to flex though. They do paint car bumpers and stuff after using plastic primer, so I believe they have some degree of flexibility.

[Mean Green z28]

you could also use Krylon Fusion paints designed for plastics. they absorb into the plastic and are flexible. ive used it on a dashboard and it worked perfect. j