Making Your Own Interior Panels

 

 TR6 Home

Custom Panels

Crazy Idea

Templates

Panel Sewing

Door Pocket

Kidney Pads

Installation Tips & Techniques Below

Wheel & B Pillar

Door Caps

TR4 Door Pulls

Darn Handles

Window Seals

BristleFlex

Top Bracket

And In Conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Templates and Back Boards

I went to Lowes and bought a few 2x4 "handy panels" that were made out of 1/8" tempered hard board and used them for my first practice set. What I learned was that these panels do not bend............they just crack and break when they try to conform with the curve for the wheel arch panel. Then I discovered that there's different types of hardboard and you want the type that is shiny on one side and rough or cross hatched on the other side. I got a 4/8 sheet at Home Depot and they cut it into 4 2x4 panels for me......no charge for the cuts and a lot easier size to handle.

On one 2x4 sheet I was able to fit one door panel, one wheel arch panel and one passenger side kidney pad. I needed another sheet for the trunk panel and the driver side kidney panel.

I outlined the original panels on to the hard board.

And then I stapled two sheets together so that one cut gave me two panels of what ever piece I needed.
I cut everything out on my band saw and then used a stationary 1" belt sander to smooth out the corners.
This is my completed door template with all the holes transferred from my original door panel. In this picture the template is clamped to a cut door panel, actually 2 stapled together door panels, ready to have all the holes drilled out.
I want to make sure I get perfect hole alignment so I use a forstner drill bit as a punch. It's hard to see but they have a center point on them. The 1/2" bit was used to mark all the door clip locations.
The door and window crank holes were centered using a 1-1/8" bit. Once I had all the holes marked I removed the template and drilled the marked panels on my drill press. I always cut and drill two panels that are stapled together at the same time. That way both panels are pretty much identical.
I think these panels actually ended up being the ones I used as a template. I spent a lot of time test fitting them, sanding the edges a little etc to make sure the templates were as perfect a fit as I could get. By getting the templates right, I had the basis for getting future panels cut and drilled right.

Now that the panels are made, it's time to start sewing...........