[Rizza]

Im attempting to recover my door cards in my VW GTI. Im having troubles with them since they have a concave curve in them.

I'll post a pictures of the inserts so you can see what i mean.


I'm using a faux suede material, and got it 90% done but couldnt seem to get the concave curves.... I would get one and then the other end would end up with wrinkles. So i pulled the fabric off to start again.

Any guys got any tips??

 

[mrkaydro]

Use a good quality contact cement, spray the pannel and the back of your fabric. And to speed up cure time heat the cement with a heat gun (blow dryer works too). start at one end and work slowly to the otherend, be sure to be carefull not to pull the fabric to tight. dont try to bond the two before the cement is tacky or you will just make a mess.

 

[czechm8]

I would spray the deepest sections first with contact cement. Once you get the deepest concave areas laid and smoothed out, fold the fabric back and spray the outer sides and work your way out from the lowest parts and the trim the excess.

 

[radioflyer97]

depending on the backing of your material, hot-melt hotglue will actually work well on some fabrics. Start with a line down the center of the deepest part. Once that sets, add a line on either side.

Using hot melt will allow you time to press the glue flat so there's no "veins" on the surface of the finish.

 

[[email protected]]

might need some heat-formable material to do those

 

[simplicityinsound]

i personally prefer not to ever wrap very concave curves. I have done it hwere the most concave part i built another piece to physically push down on the concave portion to keep pressure on the material, but in general, i try to avoid it as much as possible.

reason being, even if you use good cement, and do it right, over time, parts will start to lift due to the constant pressure on the material.

i have never seen a piece, with a very concave shape, wrapped in material, that has not had some lifting over time, and to me, lifting really bothers me

 

[Rizza]

Giving up...

It is with great sadness that, i say, "Yeah, i think i'm going to toss in the towel, on this one, and pay to have the door cards wrapped. "

I'm thinking that between my material and my technique, i will never get the look i want. :bash: I have gone through 4 attempts at two different panels, one of which i though was easy, and just end up not liking the wrapping. Thats the other thing everyone of these panesl, is more than a wrap and tuck. They are more like a wrap, and curve here, bend there, and then tuck, if that makes sense.

Last time i got close, but had some nasty wrinkles in two spots i just could not work out. It bothers me to give up, but right now, i have so much else to work on, that my time is better spent doing the fabrication, and installation work.

And since i was only doing this because i had my interior out while working on the stereo, and thought i could match a few panels to my system install, it is not too late to buy some extra fabric from the upholstery and use that same material for my amp rack, and sub box baffle.

So i'm hoping since i have removed the trim panels, taken the door cards off already, and just need them covered that it shouldn't be too bad.

I'm still going to try the A/B/C pillars, and headliner myself though. They dont look as hard. Since they are more a wrap and tuck behind kind of panels.


So anybody in NJ want a wrap these for me?


Brian