Refurbished Door Panels

[Dragonspirit12]

not really the right forum for this but how do the Bose speakers sound? from what I read the Bose systems for cars are designed around the acoustics of the particular car they are installed in so I am curious how the transplant sounds.

[mbarnhart]

Hello- The vinyl on my 2004 Beetle is just starting to bubble up along the armrest areas on the door. Any suggestions on how to stop it from getting worse at this point? I was wondering if it is possible to take and Exacto knife to make a small opening in those areas and just squeeze in some contact cement Apply some pressure to fix it back down and that will stop the bubbling from getting worse? Any thoughts on this?

[Oldbugman]

Originally Posted by Dragonspirit12

not really the right forum for this but how do the Bose speakers sound? from what I read the Bose systems for cars are designed around the acoustics of the particular car they are installed in so I am curious how the transplant sounds.

Been awhile since I've visited the forum but to answer your question they sound awesome, of course the acoustic design of any bug is probsbly better than most vehicles. something about the overall interior deminsions seems to have some bearing on that.

[Bug Pimpin]

Hey all, just wanted pump some life back into this thread again!
I wanna get this process going and I'm glad I found this thread because unfortunately I have fallen victim to the ungliness of the door panel deterioration also.
I was wondering what you guys that have succeeded did w/ those black/oval pieces behind the inside door handles? Right now mine are sticky as heck and what ever that black stuff is, it gets on your hands every time you try to open the doors. This sux but after seeing the success of others its motivated me to give it a try.

oldbugman you said a few months ago that you'd post some updated pics of your panel restoration...any update on that? Thanks.

[middknight1]

i would definitely like to see some updated pics or pics from others that have done something similar to this. i have panels that are in need of some heavy TLC and this gives me tons of help.

[jrgreene1968]

ive been working on my door cards..just got through with paint..turned out good. As for the vinyl..well i tried, but i suck at vinyl i guess, i finally broke down and carried the pieces to an upolstery shop today. The hardest part so far was getting the black rubber stuff off the cards...and have found that brake fluid worked the best

[elmer fudd]

do the bose speakers covers separate from the speaker or is it one piece.

I work at a mazda/vw dealer and I love how that looks but I dont want to change my speakers. I I could get just the covers I might order some new.

[Oldbugman]

Originally Posted by elmer fudd

do the bose speakers covers separate from the speaker or is it one piece.

I work at a mazda/vw dealer and I love how that looks but I dont want to change my speakers. I I could get just the covers I might order some new.

Actually those are the stock VW speaker covers. All I did was paint the grilles black. Then tape off the grille area and door panel to where all that was exposed was the outer ring of the speaker grille and painted it with SEM Titanium spray bomb. The Bose emblems came off of a Mazda 3 that was going to the crusher, just took the emblems off the speakers grilles, and figured out where the would look the best on the VW grille and stuck them on. The emblems have studs on the back and all you need to do is press them into the exisiting speaker grille holes wherever you like.

[elmer fudd]

Originally Posted by Oldbugman

Actually those are the stock VW speaker covers. All I did was paint the grilles black. Then tape off the grille area and door panel to where all that was exposed was the outer ring of the speaker grille and painted it with SEM Titanium spray bomb. The Bose emblems came off of a Mazda 3 that was going to the crusher, just took the emblems off the speakers grilles, and figured out where the would look the best on the VW grille and stuck them on. The emblems have studs on the back and all you need to do is press them into the exisiting speaker grille holes wherever you like.

well they look awesome!

[Oldbugman]

Originally Posted by Bug Pimpin

Hey all, just wanted pump some life back into this thread again!
I wanna get this process going and I'm glad I found this thread because unfortunately I have fallen victim to the ungliness of the door panel deterioration also.
I was wondering what you guys that have succeeded did w/ those black/oval pieces behind the inside door handles? Right now mine are sticky as heck and what ever that black stuff is, it gets on your hands every time you try to open the doors. This sux but after seeing the success of others its motivated me to give it a try.

oldbugman you said a few months ago that you'd post some updated pics of your panel restoration...any update on that? Thanks.

No updated pictures to show, but will say that it appears that the vinyl is still trying to lift. I now have a different vinyl I will be trying. Not sure exactly how vinyl is rated in the industry but I believe they go by some sort of weight classifaction. I have no idea as to what I originally used was nor do I have any idea as to what this new vinyl is. All I know is the new vinyl is about half the thickkness of what i used and forms alot easier than what I used.I had also used a piece of this earlier as a test a found it worked quite well, think the glue I was using was why it lifted. I am hopeful it will work without lifting. I will be getting back to this project soon, been pre occupied searching for parts for my %^ the past few months, it's in the BS now so it's back to the NB repairs now.

[darnell]

Originally Posted by Oldbugman

No updated pictures to show, but will say that it appears that the vinyl is still trying to lift. I now have a different vinyl I will be trying. Not sure exactly how vinyl is rated in the industry but I believe they go by some sort of weight classifaction. I have no idea as to what I originally used was nor do I have any idea as to what this new vinyl is. All I know is the new vinyl is about half the thickkness of what i used and forms alot easier than what I used.I had also used a piece of this earlier as a test a found it worked quite well, think the glue I was using was why it lifted. I am hopeful it will work without lifting. I will be getting back to this project soon, been pre occupied searching for parts for my %^ the past few months, it's in the BS now so it's back to the NB repairs now.

Is the vinyl holding now? What adhesive did you use with the new vinyl? My doors are in trouble too.

[archiebug]

What do you guys do to your cars in the states!!!

I've never ever seen a UK car with interior trim panels looking as bad as any of these! Perhaps its because all of ours are cloth not Vinyl maybe?

[Shamrockez]

Originally Posted by archiebug

What do you guys do to your cars in the states!!!

I've never ever seen a UK car with interior trim panels looking as bad as any of these! Perhaps its because all of ours are cloth not Vinyl maybe?

Robbie's are vinyl and still look new:


It's probably due to that funny yellow round thing up in the sky that our American friends see significantly more than we do!

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by Shamrockez

It's probably due to that funny yellow round thing up in the sky that our American friends see significantly more than we do!

I think you could be right

[bluehair]

If you have a food saver, just put it in a large bag and suck out the air, then seal. After a day or so when the glue has dried then remove from the bag.

[pyro]

i ripped mine apart and painted them with Plastidip.

Awesome stuff

Retrimmed the inserts with Alcantera.. and leather pockets instead of the mesh

Had to ditch anything beige...

Did ALL of the interior panels to....

From this..



To this

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by pyro

i ripped mine apart and painted them with Plastidip.

Awesome stuff

Retrimmed the inserts with Alcantera.. and leather pockets instead of the mesh

Had to ditch anything beige...

Did ALL of the interior panels to....

From this..



To this

Man that plasti-dip looks great! I take it it's available in spray form- I've only seen the can version, where you dip tool handles in it.

Going over to your thread to see if you have this posted- don't want to hijack this thread

[pyro]

nah havent posted it before. Been laying low... cracking on with stuff

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by pyro

nah havent posted it before. Been laying low... cracking on with stuff

One quick off topic thing. What kind of head unit is that- Looks great

[marvins_dad]

Pyro - where did you get your Alcantera? Did you get it online...also, how hard was it to work with and what contact cement/spray did you end up using. I was looking into that stuff, but the range of colors was lesser than the ultrasuede...but I'm not sure of thickness of either type of synthetic suede.

Ditto on the head unit...is that a Cameleon?