THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS from COMPLETE NOOBS.

I searched Honda-tech for reupholstering door panels and came up with "buy another set." My Dad and I decided that we might as well try to reupholster my faded and cracking door panels instead of forking out the cash for newer ones that will most likely be ruined in a few years anyways. This is the first time either of us have done a project like this and any feedback would be appreciated.

Here's how my door panels currently look:





Here's what we did and the tools you will probably need.
Tools/items:
Razor Blades
Scissors
Wire Brush
Paint Thinner
Sanding Block
Vinyl (I chose Lexus Black)
3M Spray Adhesive super 99?
Bulldog Adhesion Promoter (probably optional I'm using it for respraying my interior)
Heat Gun

The Project:
1. Start by removing door Panels
See Crxforum's FAQ https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-crx-ef-civic-1988-1991-3/faq-how-remove-crx-door-panel-56k-problem-735810/

2. Take Door Panels Apart
See Wes Van's Page http://www.performanceforum.com/wesv...ors/doors.html

** We used a junkyard panel we picked up for like $5.**

3. Remove old Vinyl and Foam

Just peel off the old Vinyl and a lot of the old foam and glue will come off with it.

Remove the remaining glue and foam using a wire brush and paint thinner.

*something else might be more effective here but we were afraid of messing up the plastic*



4. Use old door panel vinyl as a template for new vinyl *leaving an inch or so of excess material*

I used a white cloth pencil to sketch the outline

Then I cut it out using some really sharp scissors



5. Clean door panel plastic with paint thinner/prepaint and coat plastic with adhesion promoter



Spray both side with at least two coats of 3m spray adhesive





6. Place pieces together after letting them sit for at least 5 minutes but less than 30.

Start from the inside out using the sanding block to push bubbles out and mold to the door shape.



Use the heatgun to heat the vinyl up around the corners. Then stretch and pull hard so as to not leave creases in the corners.

7. Cut X's in the door handle and defroster locations.

Spray glue on the back of the panel and onto the cut vinyl.



Push vinyl through the holes. *dont worry about this part much because it's going to be covered.

8. Cut slits like starbursts into the corner areas hanging over the back and trim the excess material.



Spray glue on the back and overhanging vinyl and then pull hard to ensure that there are no air bubbles.

9. It should turn out looking a lot like this. We considered it extremely good for our first try.



Here it is overlayed over my current panel.



We will be working on the other panels (The Bottoms) in the upcoming week. Any advice from the pro interior guys would be awesome.

Oh yea we are also planning on gluing the Crx logo and felt back onto the door panel.

 

I like this

 

Nice job. I just started doing the same thing on my crx and was looking for some info on it. I found a company that sells vinyl with the sticky back already on it; do you think that would work instead of the spray adhesive? Looking forward to seeing you do the bottom half, that should be a challenge with the curves and all.

 

looks nice i would like to see a pic when you get the crx logo back in when you get it done, i have ben looking for a mint set of 88si panels and i might try this out, good write up

 

It might. Do you have a link to the material? One of the problems we are worried about is the fact that a lot of the custom headliners people have fall off due to excessive heat loosening the glue on them.

My Dad did find some stretch vinyl fabric that the domestic guys are using on their door panels and we plan on trying that when we pick up some.

Yea we're a little worried about the crx logo looking good. We are going to have to cut it out perfectly so there is no edge.

 

nice

 

nice job.
keep in mind the problem with headliners is the higher heat they face with the sun beating down on the roof of the car. There is special adhesives for use on headliners. Do some research when you recover yours and you wont have any problems come summer.

 

NICE JOB!!!

 

Yea I'm using the 3m super 90 headliner spray to do the panels. I thought even using that they still were having problems with their liners.

 

[QUOTE=michael O;42873116]It might. Do you have a link to the material? One of the problems we are worried about is the fact that a lot of the custom headliners people have fall off due to excessive heat loosening the glue on them.

sorry I just called the company and they said the sticky part in on the front, they use it for snowmobile seats.

 

Good job.

 

Very nice! Looks good

 

Intense! You know what this means???
If you can do a How-To for the bottom panels, power windows would be much easier and cleaner looking.
Get on it!
And, where can you buy this vinyl? Is it a close match to stock?

 

I just picked up this sheet of vinyl from Joann fabrics. I'm not sure where my dad is planning on picking up the stretch vinyl... Any fabric store should sell vinyl and the auto upholstery shops will sometimes sell/let you buy their stuff.

This is not a close match for the stock top portions. With my car I would need more a Grey color as seen in the top pictures.

The bottom portion is going to be extremely hard. The upholstery shops wont even do them without cutting the vinyl in two and running a seam or two down the middle. We are planning on trying to heat and stretch it on there once we get the new vinyl.

In the meantime I'm going to be attempting to use a vinyl repair kit to fix the three cuts in the bottom portion of the door panel.

 

did you ever get around to putting the crx logo back in the panels? i'm about to start on the the same thing

 

you can come across quite a few set of panels with the top parts trashed and the bottom parts fine. i just stole the bottoms from another set stead of trying to redo them.

 

No I'm kinda scared to cut them out. I think I need my mom to sew some sort of seam or something on the edge after I cut them. I'm also thinking about redoing the tops in leather instead of this vinyl.

 

Just some advice, be sure to use adhesion promoter on all plastic surfaces prior to glue. Do a few nice coats of it, and if you really wanna make sure it will stick, sand it after the promoter dries with a 600-800 grit paper, nothin crazy, just enough to give it a good biting surface. I highly recommend using the landau top glue, which is what most trim shops use, and applying it with a cheap paint spray gun. You can use a nice gun, but its a pain to clean afterwards. With the cheap gun, so long as you have an inch worth in it it will always be good. Most trim shops will sell you some glue if you have a container to put it into, just talk to the right person.

As for putting the cloth CRX back over the panel, good luck. It will never adhere to the vinyl, maybe for a lil bit, but not permanently. Probably best to make a panel that you can nut and bolt on and have it a lil smaller so the material can wrap around it, if you follow what i'm sayin.

I'll also say, I'm not an interior specialist, but doing custom cars, I know a few things. PM me if you have any other questions. BTW, nice job on the panels.

 

i think honda gules the crx logo to the vinyl, so there has to be something that will work for doing this

 

very nice, thanks for the info may be trying this in the future.

 

They don't glue the logo to the vinyl. they melt (sonic weld) the fabric to the vinyl, probably with a big press before the vinyl is on the door panel. Not something you can easily realistically do in your garage.

I attached an old photo of my EG hatch door panel. I did these a few years ago with carbon fiber vinyl and red suede. Used adhesion promoter over the factory vinyl and the landau glue. Worked like a charm.

Also a photo of my EF hatch. did the red suede headliner, adhesion promoted and glued to the vinyl, and did the carbon fiber vinyl over the a/b/c pillars. With the right stuff, things stay put.

 

that carbon fiber vinyl is sick!!! were did you get that from?

 

DuBois/Lite Fabrics. They are one of the better known suppliers here in the chicagoland area.

http://www.duboisfabrics.com/ is the web

http://www.duboisfabrics.com/category_s/184.htm is the CF Vinyl.

 

This thread is really helping my out right now. I am making door panels from scratch. Hard!

 

thank you for those links