Rear door panels

[BigBoo]

Hello all,

New owner and my first post!

I've recently taken charge of a beautiful Dark blue Amazon 122s Sedan.

The interior is in need of some TLC so I've ordered new seat covers, door cards and rear panel covers. The rear panel covers arrived yesterday so I was up at the crack of dawn getting set to fit them, but I have a problem!. The original cover is stretched and secured from behind using a really small staple (2mm leg), the staples in my gun have a 10mm leg!! the surface board is only about 3mm thick so obviously 10mm is completely out of the question.

I've looked and looked but cannot find staples small enough anywhere! Can anyone help me locate such staples or perhaps offer an alternative method of stretching and securing the replacement cover. (I tried double sided but it was hopeless)

[Rustinmotion]

Originally Posted by BigBoo

Hello all,

New owner and my first post!

I've recently taken charge of a beautiful Dark blue Amazon 122s Sedan.

The interior is in need of some TLC so I've ordered new seat covers, door cards and rear panel covers. The rear panel covers arrived yesterday so I was up at the crack of dawn getting set to fit them, but I have a problem!. The original cover is stretched and secured from behind using a really small staple (2mm leg), the staples in my gun have a 10mm leg!! the surface board is only about 3mm thick so obviously 10mm is completely out of the question.

I've looked and looked but cannot find staples small enough anywhere! Can anyone help me locate such staples or perhaps offer an alternative method of stretching and securing the replacement cover. (I tried double sided but it was hopeless)

Uk company Martrim sell 4 mm trimming staples £10 for a box of 20,000

[Bob Meadows]

I'm not that familiar with Amazon door cards but can comment on my 70 year old Riley:~
The cover material is glued down at the rear, the correct adhesive used is obtained from one of many classic car trimmers: Woolies- Segal & Coverdale are three.

Staples are also used here to hold back the fabric whilst the glue dries- from memory approximately 4mm.... 2mm do seem to be unobtainable but it may be worth contacting a classic car trimming company for advice.

You could use foldback clips as an initial means of clamping whilst gluing.
Would a deeper staple used on the panel edge be seen??
If the panel cover is padded you may be able to use a slightly longer fixing.
Good luck.
Bob.

[mike gilbert]

Uk company Martrim sell 4 mm trimming staples £10 for a box of 20,000

That's a good shout as I've had the same problems doing P1800 door cards and could never find the right staples. Glue is OK but leaves no room for adjustment once its dried.

[Derek UK]

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/catego...=4mm%20staples

[blueosprey90]

I'm not sure of your specific needs or your limitations but perhaps consider this option/suggestion.

I did my PV444 kickplates with the pressboard pieces from VP Autoparts and my door cards with thin (probably 1/8") ABS plastic that I cut to shape and drilled for the door card holders. In both cases I put some self sticking 1/8" foam soundproofing material on the interior surface. Before applying the soundproofing insulation, on the door cards, I carefully test fit the panel to the door first to make sure my door car holder clips matched up with the receiving holes on the door frame. Once satisfied, I placed the clips in the cards and then added the soundproofing over the inside.

Now, how to attach the vinyl material? On the kick panels, I used 3-M High Strength 90 spray adhesive in two steps. First I laid the vinyl fabric face down and sprayed both the back side of the vinyl fabric and the front side of the "insulated" panel with the 3-M adhesive, then laid those two surfaces together, being careful to turn it over and smooth out any wrinkles. When I was satisfied everything was dry (24 hours), I fitted the corners and did the same thing to the back side, using those black paper binder clamps you find in any office as temporary holders. I face screwed the kick panels to the sheet metal with about 6 discrete grommet backed screws with the expectation that the pressure would keep everything in place.

Basically the same for the door cards, but I was afraid that the 3-M spray adhesive would not stick so well directly to the ABS plastic. So for the back side of the door cards, I used brushed on Weldwood contact cement, applied to both surfaces and then held in place again with the paper binder clamps as a temporary holder until everything set up.

Everything has held up very nicely after maybe 3 years.

Can't find any photos other than this photo of kick panels prior to installation.

[BigBoo]

Many thanks indeed for all the feedback guys I really appreciate it.

I think I'm going to take the glue route, I've found some pretty heavy duty plastic clamps that hopefully will be man enough to hold the vinyl whilst drying.

Point taken on the matter of not being able to re-position and confess I'm slightly nervous about that but I guess I can always carefully peel the vinyl off and start again.

Some fun and games on the way I think!

[Derek UK]

Beware that the clamps will likely make marks on the visible side of the vinyl. They may not come out afterwards. Some large area pads under the clamps may stop that.

[BigBoo]

Originally Posted by Derek UK

Beware that the clamps will likely make marks on the visible side of the vinyl. They may not come out afterwards. Some large area pads under the clamps may stop that.

Many thanks for the heads up Derek I hadn't thought about that!
Flippin eck, this is starting to become a bit of a challenge! Perhaps a strip of 3mm hardboard placed along the edge on the visible side and then seat the clamp feet on top of it. Wish me luck!

[fishyboy]

Here are some 3mm upholstery staples - https://mytoolkit.co.uk/products/71-...olstery-fabric

Phil