Anyone have some advice on how to go about recovering door tops, etc. W/ alcantara?

[UrQuattro]

Hey all

so I recently purchased a large piece of alcantara. I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with my interior for a long time, and I thought I had figured it out when I found the pieces I needed to switch the trim color in my 81 sc targa from brown to burgandy. Last year on here I purchased a fairly recently re-covered dashboard in very good shape that is burgandy leather. I then set out trying to find compatible kneepads, door top pieces, door pulls and door pocket tops in burgandy. I had no idea, though, that the color was very rare and that because of the dash style change I mid 85, I would have to find parts from an 84 or early 85.

I did find someone who had ALL of the parts that I needed, and since he was turning his car into a track car, he figured that I could send him the few pieces that he needed in trade for all of the burgandy trim.

I just started trying to install the pieces, and ive hit a somewhat major roadblock.

It must have happened during shipping, but it seems that the door top (at least the drivers side - I haven't gotten to the passenger door yet) is warped in some way, and while it will attach, it does not sit flush with the door and leaves a large gap both on top where it is supposed to cover the inner window trim, as well as underneath, where it doesn't seem to line up with The top of the door pull ( there is a sizeable gap thatis about 1/2" in size).

I tried doublechecking the top that I removed from the car to make sure I wasn't doing something wrong, but that one attaches perfectly...no need to put pressure on it or anything.

I'm very worried about trying to reshape the top as I don't want the vinyl to crack on it and completely ruin it.

So, barring a solution to that situation, I have another option that I hadn't realized that I would have. The alcantara matches up perfectly, color-wise, with the stock trim color on the b pillar where the door closes, as well as the tone of the door panels. Right now it comes close to the stock carpet, but I'm changing the carpet color to linen, and I already have purchased the sliverknit carpet kit for the car in that color. I got it on clearance from pelican.

I also just got a factory sport seat for the passenger side, and it turned out to be linen in color. That is why I'm so disappointed about the burgandy, as I think the linen would look really nice against the burgandy trim and dash, and the tan/champagne door panels, rear panels, and miscellaneous trim. Oh, and the driver's seat is a sparco milano 2 on beige alcantara, so I'm fighting different colors. Ultimately I'll get a different passenger seat, to math my drivers seat, but in the meantime I don't want this to look horrible.

So, the door tops that i've been using for a while are cork, as I bought a cork interior in order to have the door pockets, which were missing in my car. They got damaged during the time that my dad owned the car, and he didn't care for it well, so I'm trying to find a way to make this car beautiful again like it deserves to be.

But now I have the correct colored door pockets, but only cork door tops that fit. That's where the alcantara comes in. As I stated above, the color of the alcantara marches the accents and major interior color pallette of the stock pieces. So... I think I want to try covering the cork door tops, rear panel tops, and the black abs dash-cap that is in the car now with the alcantara. Also I'd cover the kneepads as well.

I think that it would end up looking really nice. And I really have a longstanding fondness for alcantara for various reasons.

So, I don't have any experience covering anything with fabric, and I'm not quite sure of the best way to do it.

My first guess is to use some construction paper or something like it to make a template of the door tops by wrapping it around them, and then cutting out the fabric using the template, make sure that the fit is right, glue the surface of the alcantara to the piece I'm covering, an wrap it over on to the non-visible sides where I will staple it in place just in case the glue ever gives up.

With the dash cover, I'd probably have to make two templates, but the principle would he the same.

So, I guess. Am I on the right track with that? Do you all think I'm out of my mind for trying to make so many changes to the interior? Do you think that linen (a grey-beige) would not work at all with the tan of the alcantara? Do you think it would look good and unique (obviously not factory, heh, but I want the interior of my car to have a high quality nice, attractive feel and look to it again. )

anyway. This got a lot longer than I thought.

Please let me know your thoughts. And please don't be TOO harsh if you think i've lost it.

Thanks in advance for any and all input.

Michael

[Kroggers]

Here you go Michael, here is my thread from this winter when I did a complete Alcantara interior on my car - My winter project - new interior.

Alcantara does not stretch in the same way as vinyl or leather, so for most things that have curves or creases, you will have to cut and stitch the sections together. For the top of the doors, I had to do it in three parts that were stitched together.

Everything is fitted using contact adhesive - A lot of interior bits have at one point or other been treated by "make it look clean and shiny" stuff which contains silicone - this is really bad when it comes to trying to glue the Alcantara to the part, and close to impossible to clean off properly. I ended up having to remove the top layer of fabric from all the interior parts that I was going to cover to ensure that all the silicone was removed...

[chris 964]

Michael, I just retrimed mine in both leather and Alcantera.

Depends on the 'gauge' of Alcantara you have, over here in Europe there's at least three thickness's. Go for the thin one it'll have more give in it.

For the door tops, pop the trim out for the door lock and mirrors, clean the outside with something like Meths , same on the inside.

Lots of new Stanley Blades, you'll get through them!

Lay out the Alcantara, place the door top on it face down, roll the Alcantera over it, use pegs or tape to hold it in place and chalk mark. Cut it out and dry fit, trim it so you have about 1" overlap on the inside.

Now the trick is to only use Glue on the inside only. Start on the top edge, use a spray Evo(see pic) on both the material and the door top. Leave it for a min, then bond it so you have a smooth edge, if its wrong rip it off, use thinners on the glue and a toothbrush. Try again. Once you've got the top done and its set use the same method for the bottom, but this time you need to pull/stretch the material, fold it over and press it down. Same technique on the ends, however these are a little more tricky, you need to fold the material over dry, cut and trim then bond.

Here's mine, centre console also in Alcanara ..

chris

[R K T]

Recently did mine too....Actually one of the easiest diy projects in a long time, just take your time. I did not use any staples just contact cement after removing the old vinyl.

[UrQuattro]

Rkt,

did you remove the vinyl from the door tops as well? Because to me it seems fairly impossible to do that, unless there is a trick I don't know.

And to Kris and Kroggers, thank you for the info on how you guys went about this.

I don't know what gauge alcantara I have, my guesstimate is that it is maybe a couple to three mm thick. There is a LITTLE stretch in it diagonally, but that just seems like it wouldn't help much.

Fortunately I have a LOT of it. I think the dimensions I was told were 3 yards by 57" or something of that sort.

I haven't tried anything yet, I just got up a little bit ago (west coast).

I'm gonna try some dry attempts today and see if I can make any progress. It's just that I ave never worked with fabric of any kind before, so this is all going to be completely new to me. I'm sure it will work out in the end.

If anyone else has ANY input, please feel free to chime in. The more feedback the better.

One of my bigger concerns is the color pallette that I am dealing with: the carpet, passenger seat, door pockets will be Linen - which is actually the color, from what I can tell, of kris's seats and door panels/pockets (if you look at the door in the light and then the other door in the shade on the driver's side in the pic, you can see how the color shifts in the light) as well as his seats.

Then there is the contrasting color of the champagne tan - which is the color of the stock interior, esp the various pieces of vinyl around the car as trim, and is the color of the alcantara.

The odd man out is the one thing that I can't change, ironically. And that's the sparco seat, which is covered beautifully in beige alcantara.

So... Effectively linen and champagne... It just might work, but I dunno.

Michael

[chris 964]

The way to form/stretch leather and suede it to steam it, try it on a sample see if you get movement stretched over the end caps of the door tops.

Correct- mine is Linen, the doors cards I made up and they're covered in half a cow! the rest has been reconditioned and colored to match.

I left the vinyl on mine because it provides better cushioning as the Alcantera I used was thin

[R K T]

I removed the old vinyl, that's it laying in my first pic. It came off pretty easy with a little tug here and there. I didn't stretch it because I thought that would just add tension to the fabric. It kinda reminded me of wrapping a xmas present. The glue was the key. I did not glue the whole piece at once, instead I brushed on a couple of inches on the door piece, not the Alcantara, smoothing the material down as I went. A little glue goes a long way. Got it at Home Depot.
I don't think you can screw it up since you have lots of Al to work with. That's the fun of diy!

[Kroggers]

I am no expert here, and got some help in selecting the material and some of the stitching work. All I will say is to make sure you get Alcantara or material that is rated for automotive and marine use, or it will fade in the sun really fast and will not stand up to the abuse it will get in the car for very long.

The stuff I got was rated for marine use, and was very tightly woven and rather thick - I did not want it to go a bad brow due to the UV threw the windows within half a year!

[UrQuattro]

The alcantara I got I bought from someone who does auto upholstery and this is leftover material that he wasn't going to use. I got it from someone on here and he sold it to me for automotive use. But thank you for the heads up... I didn't know that there were different types.

Again, thank you everyone for helping me. And keep it coming. The more ideas I get, the more I understand the process and the more confident I'll be.

Thank you thank you!

Michael