homemade leather door cards

anyone attemped this? I was thinking a good way of doing this would be using a vacuum press just after glueing the leather onto the doorcard. I really want to try this but there are a couple of problems. Dont know where to get the leather from and I dont know where to get them vacuum pressed.

So anyone ever done anything like this and is it possible without a vacuum press?

 

not realy a guide but oi was sent this when i was inquiring bout retrimming door cards
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3869061

 

cheers will have to check it at home, cant see the pics at work. Just think the vacuum press overnight would make sure its stuck down nicely to all contours.

 

It would look good if each flat edge had a different piece with some nice stiching joining them all together.

 

you any good with a needle and thread?

 

Vacuum press isn't needed. Get some contact adhesive and follow glueing instructions. A bit of heat helps to stretch it. (Or is that vinyl??). Sometimes trimmers cut and stitch sections where material wont stretch into.

 

ok so I guess i could try without the vacuum press but where to get the leather from and at what price? anyone ever bought just leather. I tried searching on the net but didnt get much. I guess I could phone up a couple of trimmers and see if they are willing to sell the leather.

 

the cards wont go in one piece , thats why the factory ones are sewn panels so it all fits nice

tbh i cant see you doing them that great , and leather aint exactly cheap

 

just managed to dig out an old contact. He advised me not to try it myself as it is not that easy and Ill end up wasting the hide that will cost me around 150 oh well thats the end of that I guess. I didnt realise that the leather would cost so much but he said its mostly due to the fact that most of it comes from Europe and the euro is strong at the mo.

 

get some used vw ones for a bit more...dye kit will make em like new and any colour you want

 

can you go from dark to light with a dye kit i.e from black to grey?

 

yep any colour you like

take a look on www.furnitureclinic.co.uk , lots of examples and how to's

 

the vortex site is for vinyl only, if you want leather, you're going to have to make the cards up in panels.


nice find pigbladder, makes those nackered seats you find on ebay all the more enticing now.

 

anyone got experience of using the dye? especially to do a complete colour change. Just wondering if it is easy to apply and if you notice any marks or uneveness in the colour.

 

ive used it , and know some others that have , works exactly as advertised and is easy to use

just make sure you prep it well

ive got some pics of what can be restored , no colour change pics tho, let me if youve not seen em beofre

 

Apparently its just like having new leather and basically follows a similar process to how leather is coloured

 

basically my dilemma is that Ive bought a set of grey mk2 leather without door cards. I havnt collected the seats yet so not 100% sure if I want to keep them. If I do decide to keep them maybe it would be far more sensible if I just got some vinyl for the doorcards. I will get another set though because the interior in my car at the moment is absolutely mint and really dont want to sell it.

 

I wanted to try retrimming with black cloth, still might. Picked up a set of spare door cards, and intially tried to use that fabric spray paint dye (waste of time) which took 3 cans, costing about 18 delivered, to give one card a decent coat. I'll probably go to a local fabric shop and pick some cheap black cloth up, see how I get on. Is a heat gun essential for retrimming the door cards?

 

i think I will go for the vinyl option can get it for around 13 a metre.
or 5m for 25 from ebay.

 

hey g60,
are you getting the seats from petersfield? looked at these too but my corrado seats are more comfortable and could never go back to standard. looking to try the vinyl option on mine soon so will let you know how i get on. the method shown on vortex is pretty straight forward and comprehensive, heating the vinly and compressing into the shape of the card first and letting it cool before adhesive stage. have worked with this stuff before and its pretty forgiving but that was on slightly less contoured surfaces. pick a good contact adhesive too, many people dont use 3m cus it doesnt last. there are dedicated adhesives for vinyl so ask when you buy the cloth.

wcrado, the heat gun is only for vinly. dont use it on anything else as it will only $%^ it up