The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Door panels

I am wanting to replace the interior door panels on my '51 GMC. Read that the repo cardboard is problematic. As a woodworker I have 1/8"(-) maple plywood in my shop. Any thoughts how that would work with fabric applied?

If it will lay "flat" and you can "fit" it around all the cut outs, it would probably "work". If you have the time and tools to make the maple really fit the door, it might be interesting to just finish the maple. It would probably knock your eyes out!

thomas,

Most likely I do have to tell you this; but, be sure to seal all sides of the plywood with something like marine spar varnish.

Tim

I think I would consider covering a flat piece of metal instead unless you want the look of the wood, uncovered. Metal wont be as thick, wont warp, doesn't need sealed other than a quick coat of paint. Probably easier to mount to the door.

don't know if you saw this thread but it had some good ideas for door panel treatments.

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=000113

If you watch auto upholsterers on TV you see them using 1/8" plywood with foam glued on top, probably luan or something cheap. For the door panels I would use a marine or aviation grade plywood, which simply means they use a waterproof glue to prevent delamination.

I am moving this to interiors, because it fits better there.

Thomas ,
if you have good H/M ply on hand why not try to just cut it nice an put an edge on it, and with a few coats of stain and poly ? ya just might like the WOOD look ?
Tim Bloom
Supervisor
Appalachian Wood products
well there ya go ya now know I am prejudice on coverin up nice wood ....lol

Thomas, I am also a woodworker, I did my door panels with cherry wood. I Used solid wood and planned it down to 1/4 inch or so. If you go to my site at the bottom you can see the door panels. I am in the process of redoing the top panel because I didn't like the top piece.

I like the idea of wood.

I'm planning on using a combination of wood and leather/vinyl on my door panels, covering the whole door ... maybe next year.

Wood is good, but I've found that 1/8" masonite is another backing product to consider. Especially, when you are planning on covering it with fabric or vinyl. It's cheap,easy to cut,readily available at lumber supply stores and its most useful characteristic is that it can be permanently curved for headliners and other non-flat applications.

By wetting the back (rough) side, weight can be progressively applied to the area that needs to be curved and overnight the curve will be permanent. I just place a WET rag over the area to be curved....use a C-clamp with weights to draw the curve into shape. I usually support the area to remain flat on a workbench with some weight to hold it in place and hang the area to form over the edge. The key is to add weight slowly, keep the rag WET, and a 90 degree permanent bend can be achieved.

I usually buy the flimsy, ill-fitting repo healiners/door/kick panels to use as a pattern....add or subtract as they never really totally fit. Using my "adjusted" cardboard repo as a pattern, cut out the masonite, and form the part.

I've added a couple pictures to my webshots, entitled "New Album" that shows a panel being curved. Hope this helps!

Coach-Frank , Nice lookin Hardwood door panels !
I LIKE !

Thanks Tim, I really like working with wood. I have built all the furniture in our home ,including the kitchen cabinets. Cherry is my favorite wood. Need to do cherry bed boards for our 53 next. Where are you located in Pa? We just had our woods logged in November. A company from the Erie area did the logging.

Doesn't Masonite swell when it gets wet?

Alan...nope, most of the stuff you buy today is "tempered masonite".....doesn't swell and will retain any curve you put in it! It has a smooth side and a rough side....the rough side is where you apply the wet rags to facilitate the bending.

I've done several velour covered cab headliners that practically held themselves in place. The key is to make a good pattern out of an old headliner or one of the cheap repos.....it's a whole lot more economical than buying a fiberglass one-piece. I've used velcro sticky strips to hold it in place where decorative trim screws weren't wanted.

Wow! That's great news!

I guess I'll be using masonite to fabricate my door panels ... I was wondering how I was going to handle that bend in the shape of the door.

I'm thinking about making a wood piece that goes straight across the top of the door, from the bottom of the window trim, down about 3 inches, and also wrapping up around the curve of the window trim on the left and right, you know? Then, from that point, down, a combo of wood and leather ... and, finally, at the bottom 10-inches or so of the door, I'll use carpet.

I'm dreaming about my headliner, too. I want to see how much space there is from the top of the windshield to the roof ... if there's enough, I want to build a shelf that goes across the top of the windshield and hang my sunvisors off of that.

I kept wondering how I could secure the front of the headliner ... and then I realized there's the mirror mount in the center, and left and right are the sunvisor mounts! I'm wondering if those three mounts can't be used to secure the headliner over the windshield and then work my way back from that. I hadn't thought of velcro as a secondary and helpful stabilizer to everything else -- good idea!

Alan...I've done a couple headliners that split the roof into 1/3's. A section over driver, one over the passenger and the 3rd about 10" wide right down the middle (front to back). The two semi-permanent side pieces, are braced with a 1/8" flat aluminum strip that runs from the front to the back...instead of side to side. The center section could house map lights, switches, speakers, or the controls to your rocket launcher!!! With this setup, you can access the wiring by just dropping the center....the sides can stay fixed. I did one that the center panel had a red plastic panel with lights above it that you controlled with a rheostat and filled the cab (or not) with a red glow. The possibilities are endless and the masonite is cheap (less than $10. for a 4x8 sheet) so once you get cranking you'll be limited only by your imagination.

That's great ... thanks a lot!

I've thought much about an above-center-console, as well.

Where did you *fix* things to? And how? Any and all details about your ideas and how-to's are appreciated. When I do mine (like all my other projects) I'll have photos and explanations of every step I do.

Coach Frank,
Central Pa. Clearfield County
I did the wifes Kitchen in natural Hickory in 2003 , it just now agin an takin on its super Gold Patina , for me HICKORY is my favorite ... but i guess that is because i go through enough Cherry in a week at the shop that i could build Noah's Ark ....lol
dont matter what with Cherry it will darken with age , even with a clear coat , Heck i have to cover my stock at work with tarps or black plastic to keep the lights in the shop from turnin it color .
i just like the contrast between the super browns to snow white with the black mineral streaks from the bird peck's an such that i love this wood so much .
will be incorporatin it in my truck for alotta things .

Tim, Never used any Hickory, but I agree with the lights and darks and streaks in it. I have seen some great looking Hickory projects. Never seem to have any Hickory available around here. I agree with the light sensivity of cherry. I bought some Walnut off a man that had air dryed the wood for 35 years. Made a pencil post bed out of it. He cut me some boards out of the largest slab of wood I have ever seen. He said it was the first tree that he had milled. It must have been an old growth Walnut tree. Enough rambling on here about wood, send some photos when you incorporate the wood in your truck. Coach Frank

Hey Alan...I sent you a PM through the bolt with some info.

Dave