door cards

[lightbulb8817]

I'm attempting to make door cards. Straps are coming from this guy:

Custom Leather RS Panel Door Pulls and Check Straps

I picked up some see-through material from home depot... don't remember what type it is exactly ($27 per sheet). Possibly plexiglass. The see-through material takes alot of the guess work out of drilling the holes.

I cracked the first mock up when trying to drill a 1/2-inch hole. Will try again...

Questions:

1) I plan on getting black leather to cover it. What type of glue should i use?

2) I'm using a dremel with a "router" apparatus and bit. It seems to chip away pretty aggressively and wasn't easy to control. Any advice on how to I can cut the card cleaner? Or just more patience..?

3) I have some left over dynomat and foam material. I don't won't want to add excessive weight, but if i can reduce the noise significantly with a little bit of sound deadening, i would like to do that. should i put the dynomat material on the sheet metal and the foam on the back of the door card? any advice on this?

[lightbulb8817]

Here i am tracing out the new door card using the old one



I cracked the plastic when trying to drill a 1/2-inch hole for the window crank. I tried to cut out the cracked part by making a bigger hole using my dremel. First panel has been a learning curve so far. I plan on redoing it with better/cleaner cuts.



Here is the leather will be used for the door handles and door pulles. I picked red because it's easy to see. I get people asking me how to open the door way too often.



I also ordered black leather door straps. The drivers side needed xtensive welding to repair the door stop, so i gave up on that approach. I chose black to make it less obvious. Plus, this will save a few grams of weight.

[javadog]

Don't use plastic. It's the wrong material for that application. Throw that in the dumpster.

You need something that can accept staples. I'd suggest just buying some replacements already made. You can buy them from Pelican. They come cut the right size, with all of the holes already punched in the correct locations.

If you must make your own, start with the same material that Porsche used.

You'll want a thin layer of foam under the leather. I'd have an upholstery shop cover them, if I were you. The cost is insignificant for panels that small and they'll do a better job.

JR

[universeman]

I have a brand new pair of Appbiz door cards that I ordered extra (I thought I was ordering two cards, ordered two pairs.) They are awesome - precut, waterproof material (water-resistant at least) and ready to go. Was going to put them FS in the classifieds but lightbulb 8817, you can PM if you want them and I'll sell them for cost (~$90 for the pair)

[lightbulb8817]

Sent pm! Thanks so much!

[groovydude]

I used 1/16" hardboard from Home Depot. It's the same material as the original, but a tad thicker. Staples do work so you don't have to glue and ruin your leather. You can paint the interior surface for extra moisture protection, it's cheap, and it drills and cuts easily with a jigsaw. It wasn't hard to trace an exact match for size. I also used some closed cell foam that I found on eBay, it's also a tad thicker than the original open cell but is much nicer and probably quieter. The only catch is that since your panels end up a tad thicker, the clips don't protrude quit enough for solid attachment, so grind down the inner surface around the clip holes a bit before you put them in. And the metal things that line the window switch holes also need some tlc to deal with the thicker panel.

[lightbulb8817]

i ended up buying the door cards off universeman this community is a great and i truly appreciate it!

i need to find foam and leather/vinyl now as i wait. i also read that the typical staples are too long, so I have to figure that out. lastly, i need to find some speaker covers to use. any suggestions? i prefer black, grill non-fancy speaker cover.

once the door cards arrive, i'll be sure to post updates.

[universeman]

lightbulb8817, the door cards I sent you have the foam already bonded to them, and it's great so you don't need to worry about foam.

1/4" staples are the shortest I can find, and they work everywhere except along the leading edge where you can (barely) see the tips as they push through the vinyl. An idea would be to add a layer of something on the backside of the board to staple through (some of your plastic maybe? Or a thick strip like the black beading trim along the back edge) so that it takes up some of the depth of the staple and doesn't allow it through. Or you could tape/glue that section only.

I used some Hertz grill covers that I bought at a local sound shop for $10, they are a little more blingy than I like but are all black and simple.

[universeman]

My grill covers look like this: HERTZ ECX 690 Original Box Packaging and Speaker Grill Covers ONLY NO SPEAKERS

[puddy]

I'm also wanting to make my own door cards, possibly covered in Alcantara. Why do we have to use staples? Is that because they're easiest to use? Why not use contact cement on the backside of the card to glue the vinyl or alcantara etc to the door card?

Also has any one use PVC or sintra for the card? Its a material i have plenty of at work and it won't warp if it gets wet. Its probably a little lighter than hardboard and can get it in 2mm or 3mm thicknesses. Just curious if there is a reason why one wouldn't use this material, perhaps its the ease of access to hardboard?

[dad911]

Originally Posted by lightbulb8817

I picked up some see-through material from home depot... don't remember what type it is exactly ($27 per sheet). Possibly plexiglass. The see-through material takes alot of the guess work out of drilling the holes.

I cracked the first mock up when trying to drill a 1/2-inch hole. Will try again...

It cracked because you used 'Acrylic'. Acrylic will crack easily, leaving shards and is dangerous in any impact situation. For machinable clear plastic, you have to use 'Polycarbonate' (Lexan is a brand name).

I used 1/8" plywood on my rs panels, still good 15 years later. Didn't use staples, used contact cement spray on the back side.

[lightbulb8817]

good thing i'm not too far along with my door cards... i found some pretty bad leaks today during the heavy rain

[lightbulb8817]

all done!

[universeman]

Originally Posted by lightbulb8817

all done!

Looks awesome! Did you end up getting replacement door cards from Appbiz for the ones I sent you?

[lightbulb8817]

I ended up just buying the completed door card from App Biz and selling the ones I got from you. Just wanted to get this project done.

Cutting the speaker hole, installing the handle hardware, putting in door stay reinforcement, shaving the replacement leather straps to fit, cutting the plastic moisture barrier and gluing it etc. was a lot more work than I thought it would be. First side probably took 3-4 hours, second side took 2-3 hrs.