Interesting idea I hadn't thought of for crusty old door panels

[Skunksmash]

Down south the sun destroys our interiors as many of you know. My door panels on my 87 silverado are pretty much toast. I have looked and looked but been unable to find any that were correctly embossed for the silverado. No one makes them new, yet. And used its hit and miss. But this guy seems to have a good idea. Simply recover your old ones in Vinyl. Vinyl that has the correct texture, of course. Which it seems he did. What are your thoughts on the idea?

These days they have UV resistant vinyl that will probably hold up a lot better than that seemingly lousy factory plastic. Can you see any problems with going this route? I'd cover the whole door panel, of course. He was just experimenting it says.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVY-SILVER...5272ba&vxp=mtr

[Skunksmash]

Really? No one has ever recovered door panels? I thought surely someone around here has.

[silvereagle07]

Doesn't look that bad. But I would like to see the entire thing covered. The part he is showing is flat. I wonder how hard it would be to cover the bends and creases of the panels.

[Skunksmash]

If the vinyl wasn't too thick for this application and you made relief cuts on the back, probably not too hard. Just gotta use contact cement to make sure it sticks. My problem is, I still need to get new door panels cause the blasted sun has warped the tops of them into oblivion. But with this idea, I can at least be able to FIND some new panels that are correctly embossed. Cause they don't have to be perfect and I can just cover them in vinyl.

[jimbonice]

I like the idea of just doing the the upper part of the door, in a complimentary colour. It might look alright.
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[cory d]

i used rustoleum bedliner in a can. just sanded the whole thing down then did 2 coats. it adds the texture back and its pretty dang tough

[Billy81]

I sanded mine down and sprayed them with some textured Krylon paint for plastics it came out okay but the paint makes my arm itch..lol

[Skunksmash]

Originally Posted by cory d

i used rustoleum bedliner in a can. just sanded the whole thing down then did 2 coats. it adds the texture back and its pretty dang tough

Originally Posted by Billy81

I sanded mine down and sprayed them with some textured Krylon paint for plastics it came out okay but the paint makes my arm itch..lol

Do either of yall got any pics of the end result? I'd love to see some. Gotta figure out something to do on mine.

[cory d]

it loses the shine but doesnt get chalky or anyhting. this was all sanded smooth. you can see how it adds texture back.

[68Timber]

The rattle can bedliner adds texture, SEM paint works well over it to give it the correct factory color. I did not do the armrest on this truck, just the door panel:

[76stepside01]

I re-covered mine. Looks pretty good

[Skunksmash]

Was it difficult to get it to stick down in all the curves and contours? That's my only concern with recovering, as one member mentioned. I'm thinking contact cement for maximum adhesion. What adhesive do you use?

[jitteryguy]

Originally Posted by 76stepside01

I re-covered mine. Looks pretty good

now these look good.

[panhead671]

76 stepside...that is sweet...plz give us details and more pics...Ima wantin to try that!

[76stepside01]

Thanks guys. I used contact cement for glue, we tried some other stuff that was made for upholstery but the cement stuck better. We had to cut around the part below the arm rest because it was to difficult to get the material to bend around all the corners, you can see this in the photo. Sorry guys I don't think I have any more pictures but ill try to find some.

[Skunksmash]

Well it looks very nice, and I think you've convinced me to go that route. The SEM paint way is a good way, but I'm not confident that I can get the same results as other people have. All my paint jobs are hit and miss. More often than not, they don't turn out very well. Its only seldom that I get it perfect. And you have to use adhesion promoter, and you have to start with a very good panel that is merely faded and not half destroyed.

With your vinyl recover, they panel can be chewed up and spit out by a great white shark as long as the top isn't wavy.

[bark]

Hey, I'm in Canada too, maybe I will swing by and take a look... lol

what kinda vynal did you use? I assume it must stretch alot. I think my guy can get a 6 way stretch....

Good idea, gonna have to look into it some more

Originally Posted by 76stepside01

Thanks guys. I used contact cement for glue, we tried some other stuff that was made for upholstery but the cement stuck better. We had to cut around the part below the arm rest because it was to difficult to get the material to bend around all the corners, you can see this in the photo. Sorry guys I don't think I have any more pictures but ill try to find some.

[oldgreygoat]

I have seen them done in tweed fabric before. they look pretty nice.

[silvereagle07]

Looks nice 76stepside01. Do you have any pics with it assembled with trim?