The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors *Stitching On Door Panels*

I'm getting ready to make new door panels for my 49. I've ask my wife if her sewing machine would go through the leather and foam padding. Anyone have any advice or pics of what you did and the process?

Unless the machine is an older heavy duty model, don’t do it unless you want to buy your wife a new machine.
I’d recommend you take the job to a commercial shop.

Thanks man. That would be for my wife to decide. I won't touch her sewing machine unless I want to suffer the consequences. Looking for some pics of ideas on what to do as well.

My Mother has sewn for over 60 years and anytime over the years I approached her with a similar task she usually says the same as previous post. A standard sewing machine just is not up to the task of sewing through material heavier than cotton type material. Need a heavy duty machine.

Ok. Roger that guys. Anyone have any pics of their door panels? Looking for some ideas.

3/8 bead board with a wood stain. used router on back side for door remote

made some simple arm rests out of oak to match

That looks really well done.

Yeah, pretty cool and innovative.

You can sometimes pick up an old upholstery machine for a few hundred dollars that is up to the task. Just be sure it has a 'walking foot'. I have an old Singer that will stitch about anything that you can fit under the foot and a Thompson 'mini-walker' that is not as robust but will do a credible job. It is well worth the cost to have the ability to build your own interior and a fun skill to learn.

Mark

Some have said a old treadle machine will work for stitching interior seats.

I have a buddy at work that upholsters furniture and he's going to do the work for me. Just need to decide on how thick the backing needs to be.

I've got to many projects going on. Wife and I have plans on going down town this coming weekend to a fabric shop to see what kind of leather we can find for the door panels.

Ok guys I'm back on my door panels since I have a lot of time on my hands due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I bought some 1/8" Hardboard Tempered Panel at Home Depot and got one panel cut. I drilled the holes a little over-sized so the panel would float a little to line it up. Ran into a problem. The panel is hitting the door remote at the handle and the rod causing the panel to buckle a little at the top right and making the door handle not work very well. The spring now will not return the door handle back to it's default position. I checked the thickness of the original black board panel with calipers and it is 5/64". Not much difference in the 1/8" thick panel I have. I tried adding 1/8" washers behind the panel but still to tight. How did you guys remedy this issue???

I'm into this late, but originally those were made from heavy cardboard (3/33" thick) and the door handle and the window handle had a foam rubber washer keeping the panel pushed away slightly. Between the handle and the panel was a durable plastic washer. There was a metal perimeter frame. That washer did produce a bulge, but it wasn't unsightly. That foam rubber is exactly the stuff mousepads were made from and the same thickness. If you can find one of those old mousepads it would be perfect to use. There was also a thin jute fiber piece which mounted over the door handle rod in some years, but it didn't last long and you almost never see one still intact today. It was to keep that rod from rattling (which it will do). You can make one out of 1.5mm thick leather which will outlast you. Cut it about 4 or 5 inches long by about 2 inches wide. Fold it over the rod about 10 inches from the door handle and staple it together a couple of times at the bottom. You probably could use thick naugahyde also. Lacking that heavy cardboard, you can also use Formica counter material (which works well, fits into the frame, can be covered with vinyl if desired and will not shrink nor warp. Good luck.

Yup. Just pulled those off the truck.

I used Formica for my door panels and ceiling. It looks great!

If you want to retain the look of original AD door panels with much greater durability, this is what I did. Purchase a set of the cheap cardboard panels sold everywhere. Then buy vinyl upholstery material (available at Jim Carter) that’s same grain & color as your seat cover. Use spray adhesive (like 3M super 77) to glue the vinyl material over the cardboard wrapping the edges. Then reinstall the trim,- mine required slight spreading in the corners. You end up with a very original looking matching set of door panels and seat cover that is waterproof and long lasting. Mine are 8-10 years old and still look like new.

Thanks for the reply's guys. Lots of different ways to go about this. Got it figured out and working great. I cut a clearance slot for the remote bar to operate. With all screws tightened up (no washers added behind the panel) and the arm rest in place it operates smoothly. The round head where the bar fastens onto the remote is flush with the panel. Once the 1/2" pad and OEM leather (same as my seat leather) are secured to the panel I don't think you'll even notice anything. I'm a Happy Camper ☺

I have my Ford Charcoal material ordered (could not find the OEM leather) but it's taking it's time coming from CA. Don't like gluing the material on the door panels so I bought some 1/4" staples. I wanted to use 1/8" staples but can't be found locally. The 1/4" staples go through the panel so I'll have to figure something out there. Maybe add a shim. I wanted to use 1/4" foam but can't find anything but 1/2" locally. These door panels are fighting me the whole way. I'm hoping the material I ordered is the same color that was pictured.

I had material quilted from a lady on Etsy.

Etsy is where I ordered my material from. Is said ships in 1-2 business days. Guess they can't count.

Got my material in late last night for my door panels from Etsy and unfortunately the material was much much lighter and more grey than black. It is unusable so I'm going to check locally once again to see if I can find what I want. I had already contacted the fellow that was going to do the stitching for me so thought this would all be done by next week. Well....back to square one I guess.

Finished my new door panels today. The material I ordered online did not look like the pic. The material was way to light. Ended up buying some soft black material from Jo-Ann Fabrics local. The wife couldn't get her sewing machine to sew straight so we did do the stitching. Turn out fine.

I have a long arm Phaf brand sewing machine that was made for leather saddle making and upholstery. Don't use a home unit. Most upholstery shops will do it for a small cost. Doc