The attached .pdf shows how I removed the upholstery panels from the door panels, added vinyl upholstery and reinstalled them. So far so good, I think they will hold up OK but the job is little dicey with opportunities to damage your panels. The .pdf starts off in the details but if you look at the later pictures you can see where the details are relative to the rest of the door panel.
I installed Katzkin on the seats myself. I'm going to Mexico in a few days and plan to post some pictures after I get back. You really should have some experience with automotive upholstery before you install you own leather upholstery. It's quite a job with lots of opportunities to screw things up. If I were to do it over, I would gladly pay a shop $400 to install it. By comparison the door panels are simple.
Super thanks for the pdf! You have some Clazzio self-installers hoping to utilize your Katzkins instructions... hopefully the door panels are more difficult than the covers themselves Mexico, vaya con cuidado.
I bought mine from Metro Restyling on eBay. Service was good and their prices towards the bottom end. There was a couple of places selling "Dinoc" for a for a lot less but is wasn't the real thing so if the price looks too good, it probably is. The color I used was CA-421 which is black. There are several colors and I would strongly recommend getting some samples before committing to buying a batch of it. It has a light sheen to the surface and being black it's hard to get a picture that really shows it right.
Don't have enough to start my own thread, but wanted to contribute some pictures. Sorry if this is taken as a hijacking. My Album
That's it! I'm going to the store today for screws and washers. I already have the replacement material. I'll practice with the back doors.
That's what I did. Things I learnt: 1. Use an X-Acto knife to cut/poke around the standoffs after using the chisel on the plastic rivets. -Have at least 5 spare blades. 2. Use the DAP spray specified in xs650's instructions, the "3M 80" is not even close in comparison. (you will need 2 cans) 3. Use Naphtha to clean the microfiber before you apply glue. 4. When applying the DAP Spray each surface in one direction. Wait until it is almost dry, you should be able to touch the glue without it coming off on your fingers. then Spry a second coat in the cross direction on both surfaces. once again wait until it's almost dry. (Mine dried in about 2 minutes.) Have a helper hold the material and apply the material from the bottom of the arm rest in a smooth up and out direction. 5. this took me 9 - 10 hours to do all 4 doors. Make sure you have beer for when you are done
I did one of the rear doors, I had 3M 90. Hmmmm... need some practice, and a second set of hands would have been nice. But the whole thing took less than an hour. I'll try the other back door tomorrow. I have enough material to do it again. Might enlist the heat gun or the hair dryer, since I'm using a vinyl. But, I will do the naptha tomorrow. Poor lighting makes it look horrible. It's indigo ostrich vinyl, this photo makes it look like a total ricer-kid ride...LOL. But, if I end up not liking it, I can go with black ultrasuede.
You should use the right adhesive. 3M90 is strong enough but grabs too fast. The DAP product some of us have been talking about is much easier to work with. No need for heat gun, extra hands or any magic incantations. I used some 3M90 on my last door panel because I ran out of the good DAP and the 3M90 was nightmare to work with because it grabbed so fast.
I have the 90 because I use it to carpet the subwoofer enclosures. Is it the DAP Wildwood in the red can from the big box stores? I'll grab some tonight. I'm thinking of the heat gun to stretch the inside corner at the sharp curve. The vinyl could use a little persuasion there.
It's the DAP Weldwood high strength spray adhesive. I got it at grainger. It's in a blue can. More pics would be cool. I'm interested in seeing how that color looks with your interior.
You can just lay the vinyl into the curve. It's nearly a flat curve so stretching isn't needed. If you do stretch the vinyl into place, then you will have the residual tension on the vinyl trying to pull the vinyl loose from the inside of the curve. After I did my first door, I started by seating the vinyl into the curve first, then laying the rest of it down. It seemed to work better and left less stress in the vinyl.
no, was at church feeding 100+ kids last night, and scouts tonight. I'll get the DAP adhesive tomorrow evening while the oldest is at guitar lessons. Been busy making subwooofer enclosures. Maybe Friday night I'll get another door done.
