Suede door panel accents
- Thread starter Narco
- Start date
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http://printable-coupons.blogspot.com/2005/12/jo-ann-coupons.html
another 40% off coupon for joanns. i bought 2 yards for $16 bucks after coupon...not bad. its black microsuede. im doing the back doors now so ill be good at it by the time i do the fronts
another 40% off coupon for joanns. i bought 2 yards for $16 bucks after coupon...not bad. its black microsuede. im doing the back doors now so ill be good at it by the time i do the fronts
NJ04HOE
Supporting Member
i finished this job last week but have been out of town. LOVE it. painted the speaker grills w/ krylon fusion matte black paint. the wife spilled a bottle of nyquil (dont ask) on the front passenger lower area but i got most of it cleaned off.
in looking at it as a whole it looks great. if you get up close and scrutinize it you can see some small imperfections.
WHAT I LEARNED
door panel removal is a PITA if you didnt bother to research how to do it correctly. i broke both rear panels b/c i didnt realize there was a screw in the center of it in front of the arm rest. i didnt really affect anything but i certainly dont like breaking shit if i can avoid it. on the passenger side front door i thought id need to remove the window switch panel before taking the panel off. mistake #2. you dont. i broke the upper screw mount that holds this down. again, i turned out not to be a big deal but i hate ******* things up. by the time i got to the driver door i was a pro! lol when i fisnished the project i ended up with 3 more screw that i started with...how the hell did that happen? lol oh well, no rattles and everything is tight so i guess its all good for now.
i recommend starting with the rear doors on panel removal and suede work. this way you'll be familiar with how to really do this shit before getting to the fronts.
spray the shit out of the door panel AND the back of the suede. i only sprayed the door panel. you really need to get near the edges good too b/c this is where it will peel off from 1st.
leave yourself enough to tuck in to the cracks. my biggest mistake was rushing the whole project. in my haste i never traced a template for the panels i was covering. i simply cut a section large enough to cover it, tucked it in as well as i could and then traced my razor blade through the cracks to cut it off. by doing this i didnt leave as much suede crammed into the cracks as others did. its that tension that keeps it in place. there are some spots on the carpeted areas that have no suede tucked in, it was cut (albeit accidentally) perfect to the size of the panel which is not what you want.
i didnt spend a ton of time taping the panels off. just the main areas and i used a small piece of cardboard to block any overspray. any glue that got on a part not intended for it easily wiped off with alcohol if done soon afterward.
i bought 2 yars of fabric...this was way more that i needed and i did 4 doors and the door handle inserts.
^ this brings me to the door handle inserts. i covered the rear door handle insets in suede. you cant tuck this like you do the other parts. i tried trimming off all excess suede to have an exact fit and it didnt work so well. this being my 1st time im not happy at all w/ how they turned out. im sure if i had more time to do it again i could do a much better job. the shape and contour of them make it difficult to do. for the fronts i ended up spraying them with the same paint as the speaker grills and they came out looking GREAT. i def recommend saving yourself the headache and just paint them. ill be stripping and cleaning off the rears and painting them sometime this week.
again, all in all i love this mod. the wife even complimented it saying that it def looks like something that could have came from the factory like that. i dont want to overdue it but i still got lots of suede left. i might try covering the triangle pieces behind the side mirrors and see how that looks.
i have no doubt that ill have to go back and fix something at some point, especially when this GA heat comes back this spring. im also going to try to find the home of those 3 screws sometime soon. when i do im going to take pics and post a "how to" on the door panel removal. i dont know why gm insists on using 4 different methods/sizes of screws to hold 1 panel on. it really should be universal.
in looking at it as a whole it looks great. if you get up close and scrutinize it you can see some small imperfections.
WHAT I LEARNED
door panel removal is a PITA if you didnt bother to research how to do it correctly. i broke both rear panels b/c i didnt realize there was a screw in the center of it in front of the arm rest. i didnt really affect anything but i certainly dont like breaking shit if i can avoid it. on the passenger side front door i thought id need to remove the window switch panel before taking the panel off. mistake #2. you dont. i broke the upper screw mount that holds this down. again, i turned out not to be a big deal but i hate ******* things up. by the time i got to the driver door i was a pro! lol when i fisnished the project i ended up with 3 more screw that i started with...how the hell did that happen? lol oh well, no rattles and everything is tight so i guess its all good for now.
i recommend starting with the rear doors on panel removal and suede work. this way you'll be familiar with how to really do this shit before getting to the fronts.
spray the shit out of the door panel AND the back of the suede. i only sprayed the door panel. you really need to get near the edges good too b/c this is where it will peel off from 1st.
leave yourself enough to tuck in to the cracks. my biggest mistake was rushing the whole project. in my haste i never traced a template for the panels i was covering. i simply cut a section large enough to cover it, tucked it in as well as i could and then traced my razor blade through the cracks to cut it off. by doing this i didnt leave as much suede crammed into the cracks as others did. its that tension that keeps it in place. there are some spots on the carpeted areas that have no suede tucked in, it was cut (albeit accidentally) perfect to the size of the panel which is not what you want.
i didnt spend a ton of time taping the panels off. just the main areas and i used a small piece of cardboard to block any overspray. any glue that got on a part not intended for it easily wiped off with alcohol if done soon afterward.
i bought 2 yars of fabric...this was way more that i needed and i did 4 doors and the door handle inserts.
^ this brings me to the door handle inserts. i covered the rear door handle insets in suede. you cant tuck this like you do the other parts. i tried trimming off all excess suede to have an exact fit and it didnt work so well. this being my 1st time im not happy at all w/ how they turned out. im sure if i had more time to do it again i could do a much better job. the shape and contour of them make it difficult to do. for the fronts i ended up spraying them with the same paint as the speaker grills and they came out looking GREAT. i def recommend saving yourself the headache and just paint them. ill be stripping and cleaning off the rears and painting them sometime this week.
again, all in all i love this mod. the wife even complimented it saying that it def looks like something that could have came from the factory like that. i dont want to overdue it but i still got lots of suede left. i might try covering the triangle pieces behind the side mirrors and see how that looks.
i have no doubt that ill have to go back and fix something at some point, especially when this GA heat comes back this spring. im also going to try to find the home of those 3 screws sometime soon. when i do im going to take pics and post a "how to" on the door panel removal. i dont know why gm insists on using 4 different methods/sizes of screws to hold 1 panel on. it really should be universal.
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