HOW TO: Reupholster door panels and glove box

[OdessaS13]

This is a write-up of how to change the stock tweed fabric on the door panels and the glove box...WITH pictures! Enjoy, the whole process took about 2-3 hours with no prior practice or experience but you do need to have patience for this to come out right. It was done on an s13

Difficulty: 2/5 (it would be a 1 but if you mess up while gluing its all bad) :smash:

Tools/ Supplies:
- Fabric (
- Goo Gone $4
- Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac permanent advesive- $9 4oz bottle
(i used half a bottle for 2 doors, did not use any glue for glove box)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0636.jpg
- Screw driver
- Chisel
- Brush (preferably one that wont have the hairs come out)
- Razor
- Scissors (not dull crappy ones)

__________________________________________________ ______________
DOOR PANELS

1. Start by removing the window switches from both doors and the trim that goes around the door handle, BE CAREFULL WITH THE TRIM IF YOU PULL TOO HARD IT WILL BREAK, use chisel to pop it out, its held by two clips

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0627.jpg

2. On the passenger side door the handle is removed by removing the top screw, twisting the handle to the left and pulling up

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0633.jpg

3. Once everything is off start by pulling of the tweed, This is a little tricky because iof you pull to hard the vinyl that is under it will start to separate from the door, PULL IT VERY SLOWLY. when you finish both doors remove any previous glue that is left behind from the old tweed, if you pull slowly there shouldnt be any left but just in case. Use the GOO GONE ( CAREFULL NOT TO GET IT ON THE PLASTIC AROUND THE VINYL IT WILL LEAVE WHITE FILM TAHT IS A BITCH TO REMOVE)
*DO NOT THROW AWAY THE TWEED- it will be used as a template for the new door fabric

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0634.jpg

It Should look like this after the tweed has been removed
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0631.jpg

4. Overlay the new fabric over the old tweed and cut the necessary holes (i.e. for the window switch/pocket, door release handle, passenger side handle) LEAVE ABOUT 1/4" EXTRA fabric because you can always cut it later but its a bitch to cover up mistakes ALSO LEAVE ABOUT 3/4" INCHES EXTRA ON THE OUTER EDGES SO YOU CAN TUCK IT IN LATER WITHOUT HAVING GAPS

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0638.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0650.jpg

5. DO NOT START GLUEING YET.
Overlay the new fabrix over the door panels and premeasure if everything cut out correctly. IF everything checks out ok then great because this is the hardest part- Because the old fabric is premolded for the curved edges and your new fabric is not you have to overlay the new fabric over the old one.
fold it at the bottom left corner and cut about 1 inch diagonally. This is so when you start glueing the new fabric you wont have ripples but a more snug fit around the edges (look at picture, hope it helps a little)

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0645.jpg

6. Ok the fun part...If your vynil has been cleaned start applying the glue straight from the bottle to the door panel( :nono: DO NOT APPLY TO MUCH GLUE, IT WILL GO THROUGH THE FABRIC AND YOU WILL HAVE GLUE STAINS.) Next take the brush and smear the glue to make an even coatabout 1/16" thick.
* This has to be done pretty fast because the glue dries within 1-minutes.
I did a quater of a panel at a time.


7. After the glue has been applied (to the door panel) start putting on the the fabric - hopefully everything has been pre-measured because you have one (1) chance at this, if you fuck up then i gurantee you will spend about 30 minutes scaripng off the new glue, remaking a new fabric cover, and even then it might not stick as well)

8. Once fabrix is on let it adhere to the glue for about 5 minutes ( dlue dries fast) Then using a chisel tuck in the outer edges, make it a neat as possible.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0660.jpg
this is what happens when you cut to much, no biggie everything else came out fine

Take your time with this, you want it to look good and not a half-assed job, you also want this to last you, poor gluing = pealing = redoing the whole job= headache :smash:

Take a break----> clean up the mess---> proceed to glove box
__________________________________________________ ____________

GLOVE BOX

Glove box is a lot easier, no glueing required however you can use glue if you like. i did not use it because i didn't know how well it would react to the yellow foam left behind from the old tweed. plus less glue= less mess= less shit to worry about

1. Start by removing the glove box, it is held by two screws ( look at picture)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0662.jpg

2. Once glove box is out you need to remove the cover, held on by 9 screws.
once you remove them the cover should come right off.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0661.jpg

3. a) remove staples that hold the fabric and slowly strat pealing of the old tweed, carefull not to break or snap the lid.
b) there is a little plastic trim around the keyhole that you need to remove, carefull it is fragile and might break with to much pressure.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0664.jpg

4. Once old tweed is off you can remove the yellow crap left behind or not, you choice, i left it and just put the new fabric over it. you dont need to use glue because the new fabric edges will be held by pressure around the lid and screws.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0665.jpg

5. the handle is the tricky part, look at the picture to see were to make the cuts, you dont remove any fabrix because it will be tucked in unde rthe handle. For the keyhole make a small hole in the fabric and put the keyhole trim piece in, the lock will go in through the other side. You will have some fabric missing once you tuck it in unde rthe handle, use extra fabric to cover it up, (use the glue)

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0671.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0674.jpg

6. use tape to hold the fabric around the edges wile you put on the second half of the glovebox, squish the fabric in between the two pieces and screw the back together

7. Screw the glove box back in and enjoy

The end Result, there are some flaws but im satisfied
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0678.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0677.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a283/VqNissan415/IMG_0679.jpg

Anyways my bad about makin this hella long but i didnt want to half ass this.
Peace,
Mike

[breakindrifts]

Nice write up, I was just about to do mine today. Then, I realized I had already thrown away the stock tweed away since I had removed it earlier. Now I have to wait till I have time to measure everything. Oh yeah and 3M makes a spray adhesive, which is probably easier to use than the bottle. :)

[OdessaS13]

3M 77? i dont think it sticks very well to vynil. i was going to use it but glue in spary can + inside of car = dont even wunna mess with that lol. If anyone has any question about any step just post and ill try to answer them.

[PARAD0X]

i used elmers glue spray adhesive on the glovebox when i recovered mine in leather. worked fine on the foamy stuff

[FaLKoN240]

I think it looks pretty clean just without the tweed crap. :D

[HyperTek]

thats pretty nice..
i dyed my stock skin black and glued em back on a few years back.. *note, dont have that white interior anymore,,... I used to be a ricer*
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/streetphase/DSC00519.jpg

[OdessaS13]

yeah i was trying to find the same color/ texture fabric as the seats but they had either black or just light gray that didnt really match anything so i went with black. I thought about just leaving it vynil but disliked the gaps that it left after the tweed was off.

HyperTek- what seats are those s14? if they are i never seen that pattern, how many patterns did the s14 seats come in? btw very clean interior

btw i forgot to mention in write up..cost of fabric was 16$ a yard, for the two door panels + glove box i used 5/8 yard (22 long and they give the whole length of the roll) = $11 fabric, $8 glue, $4 goo gone= total for project $23+ 3 hours of my life- priceless,

- some things money cant buy for everything else there's zilvia :boink:

[Tenchuu]

good write up. i'd say toss it in the archives

[HyperTek]

jdm base model s14 i believe

[MakotoS13]

your pics dont work, like this?
http://makotoseven.com/240/level2/black2.jpg
http://makotoseven.com/240/level2/black3.jpg
http://makotoseven.com/240/level2/black1.jpg

[wootwoot]

I'm sick of you bastards with nice interiors

[420sx]

sports cars dont need carpet. :D

[ph34r]

i thought that too untill i started burning my leg and melting the bottoms of shoes from the exhaust heat.

[OdessaS13]

Makoto- how did you put it on without making the cuts for the caved in sides? did you take the cloth of an s14 and glue it on ur panels, looks sweet
(and my pics do work, at least from my pc)

I might be redoing mine in the future if i fgure out how to either custom mold it w/ the same material or another alternative to do it without the cuts, but before that, i need to do my timing chain :bite:
peace

[ThatGuy]

Using quality vinyl gives it a more stock appearance then carpeting. IMO.
It's not perfect, but it's sexy.
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4692/glovebox8ob.jpg

Didn't do the doors. They looked fine with just removing the tweed and cleaning them up.

[TUnity2]

nice writeup.

[theicecreamdan]

+ for the vg man

[phrozen]

u should read my old post from like a year back...

[Yoshi]

your pics dont work, like this?
http://makotoseven.com/240/level2/black1.jpg

Holy Schnikes! Your poor e-brake! LOL :D
Time to re-adjust that cable ;)

vqnissan415- sweet write-up! Dunno how i missed it earlier :(

[OdessaS13]

+ for the vg man

vQ dammit :) i got an account like way before i got a 240 but after i got a maxima (vq engine ya know, ahh the smoothness of a v6)

[MakotoS13]

okay, look, if you use thick material it makes it much easier. i had some leftover spearkbox carpet so i used that and it came out great.

1- take the panels OFF the doors for god's sake

2- use spray adhesive from vatozone or whereever. its MADE for this sort of thing and works well.

3- cut the material like a centimeter bigger than you need so you can tuck it in the edges of the door filler thingy. work it into the holes applying more adhesive where necessary. this is the tedious part so using a thin object (plastic paint scrapper) does the job well.

4- do NOT cut anyholes until all material is seated properly on whatever you're sticking it to

5- put it all together and enjoy your non ghettofied doors.

6- if you screw it up don't be a faggot ricer and settle, redo it till its right.

[ThatGuy]

Makoto you did a good job on your interior, and VQ you made a nice write-up, but I have to say it. CARPET IS FOR THE FLOOR! Just got to a fabric store and get some vinyl like I did. It was cheap and it gives a much nicer appearance. The application process is exactly the same.

[MakotoS13]

dude, i garuntee my stuff looks and feels much better than vinyl.

[rps13_fastback]

great writeup!

however, it doesn't look 100% clean.. i'm sure because it was your 1st time. great attempt though!

[OdessaS13]

It was my first time, but i did about 1-2 weeks research on best material/ glue to use. The whole point of this writeup was for people to just get an idea of how the whole process should be done. Of course someone will find a better way to do it and hopefully post it up.
peace,
Mike

PS i will probly be redoing it sometime in the furture the way Makoto suggested and use some sort of thicker material (i.e box carpeting, not the ghetto ass ugly shit tho) and experiment with the spray adhesive instead of the bottle one

[MakotoS13]

it was my first time too but i've always been kinda crafty.

[blackflag_Rms13]

My tweed has been removed for a while now. I may have to take some initiative and reupholster them. Im thinking black suede. Mmmm....

[PARAD0X]

i redid mine is black vinyl came out very very clean,. i'll put some pics up tonite