Reecovering the door panels

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » September 26th, 2007, 2:01 am

Hey guys. I know I read a thread a couple years ago in which one of the MX-3 gurus recovered the fabric inserts on his door panels but I can't find it now. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Anybody done this? The GS I just bought today needs some serious freshening and it's unlikely that I'll find a parts car anytime soon.

Also the cheeshead from whom I purchased the car tried to paint portions of te dash and console white...hideous. What would be the best product in your opinion to remove the majority of it so I can repaint them black...as god intended?

Thanks for your help.

s1zzl3 · Post by **s1zzl3** » September 26th, 2007, 2:15 am

Also the cheeshead from whom I purchased the car tried to paint portions of te dash and console white...hideous. What would be the best product in your opinion to remove the majority of it so I can repaint them black...as god intended?

i wouldn't suggest removing the paint from the dash
it'll get really messy
if he painted it white you can always just spray paint over it with a matte black plastic/trim paint
i would suggest krylon fusion

Post by **Mooneggs** » September 26th, 2007, 9:17 am

s1zzl3 wrote:i would suggest krylon fusion

I painted my brown dash black with this paint! It's held up for about 2 years now!

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » September 26th, 2007, 12:45 pm

good info on the paint. thanks.

Anyone know about the door panel fabric replacement I was talking about? I know one of you guys did it. I remember reading it.

Thanks.

s1zzl3 · Post by **s1zzl3** » September 26th, 2007, 1:37 pm

no prob
btw white isn't as "hideous" as u might think in an interior if done properly
but i guess everyone has their own tastes
heres a link to jeff abrams site
it should answer all ur questions

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/oldsite/interior/doors.htm

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » September 26th, 2007, 5:55 pm

I have seen nice ones. I only say hideous becasue this one was...is...for the moment. I'm picking it up tonight, it'll be black again by the weekend.

Thanks for the link. Not the one I saw, but helpful.

neutral · Post by **neutral** » September 26th, 2007, 8:01 pm

Barry Clark used to have a door panel recovering how-to on his site
http://www.barrykclark.com/old/doors.htm
but looks like the worksteps and pics are missing now. I need to recover mine one day but everyone who's tried a DIY job on it said it was such a pita that I picked up a spare set for replacement of both entire door panels instead of recovering. Level of difficulty has to do with the compound curves of the inset area on each panel fwiw.

mr1in6billion · Post by **mr1in6billion** » September 26th, 2007, 8:43 pm

Rustoleum makes a textured black which matches the texture and color of our interior. I used it on my center console and it came out perfect (The paint actually goes halfway up the handbrake slot but it's impossible to tell).

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » September 29th, 2007, 7:14 pm

I got some Armour Coat plastic paint. It was the clsest thing I could find. If it doesn't work well I'll try to find some of the rustoleum textured black you're talking about. It looks like it worked really well.

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » September 29th, 2007, 7:20 pm

neutral wrote:Barry Clark used to have a door panel recovering how-to on his site
http://www.barrykclark.com/old/doors.htm
but looks like the worksteps and pics are missing now. I need to recover mine one day but everyone who's tried a DIY job on it said it was such a pita that I picked up a spare set for replacement of both entire door panels instead of recovering. Level of difficulty has to do with the compound curves of the inset area on each panel fwiw.

That is the original post I remember. I recall the issue being maintaining the integrity of the foam. Tearing and whatnot. I will eventually be doing a full restoration of the entire vehicle inside and out, probably with a custom-ish interior color scheme. I'm gonna have to do this eventually. Maybe I'll get a cheap set and do a trial run.

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » September 30th, 2007, 8:43 pm

mr1in6billion wrote:Rustoleum makes a textured black which matches the texture and color of our interior. I used it on my center console and it came out perfect (The paint actually goes halfway up the handbrake slot but it's impossible to tell).

Hey Mr. Billion...what kind of prep did you do cuz I gave it a shot today and it did not go well. Any tips?

Thanks

mr1in6billion · Post by **mr1in6billion** » September 30th, 2007, 9:47 pm

Lightly sand it if you want, then clean it with water or rubbing alcohol, dry with a towel. Light coats and remember to spray past the piece before coming back (if you can see through the coat it's better than putting on too much). Wait at least a few hours between coats, the longer the better. Let it sit a few days before you put it back. I put mine in the same or next day and ended up nicking the paint when I dropped something on it

. After a few days it fully cures and can stand plenty of abuse.

ninja edit: The directions on the can say recoat within 2 hours or after 48. I've found paint gives the best results if you coat it once every 24 hrs (if you aren't in a rush). For this job I did it once every hour (I hated driving without a center console). The can I used is Rust-Oleum - Textured - Fine Textured Finish - Distinctive Durable Coating.

wytbishop · Post by **wytbishop** » October 1st, 2007, 12:18 am

Awesome. I think I was spraying too heavy...

Grasshopper...you must learn patience...you must learn to focus power.

Bling Bling · Post by **Bling Bling** » October 2nd, 2007, 7:21 am

I bought a cow hide from the furniture builder my mom works at for 65 bucks...going to take the door and rear quarter panels to an upholsterer to install for $250 cdn...