I'm restoring a set of GTA door panels, but I'm having a tough time figuring out what to do with the carpeted section.

I'd like to find a fabric that's very similar to the OEM fabric, in that it's like carpet, but very thin. Then I could wrap it around a thin piece of aluminum and wind up with a good looking install. If I do that with regular carpet, it'll be too thick.

Option B is to just cut the carpet to size and glue it into place. My concern here is that the cut edges look a bit amaturish. Does anybody here have any ideas for what I can do to the edges of the carpet to give it a more professional look? I'm thinking about trying to sew a vinyl edge around them, but I'm not sure how good that would work. Does anybody have a suggestion?

Attached is a pic of the door panel components just setting in place to get a rough idea.

For those who are wondering, this is also what the Plastikote 408 Charcoal Gray Vinyl color looks like. This door panel used to be red, but the arm rest is the stock gray.

 

The fabric if I am not mistaken is the same material that are on the seats. At least it is on the panels in my GTA.

 

That is just what I was thinking as well,think more in the direction of fabric than carpet.

 

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The fabric on the door panels is the same as the seat upholstery. However, seeing that you have leather seats(4thgen, basically GTA seats), I'm not sure what the panel material was for GTAs with leather seats. My guess is that they probably got color-coordinating Pallex cloth on the door panels instead of leather.

The cloth would provide more of an accent and would "soften" the look of the door panel. Also, if leather was on the door panel, that might make the vinyl look a bit cheap... or like paint. But that's just a guess.

Using the perforated leather on the door panels to match the inserts of the seats would probably look good. At least the leather would have a texture that's different than the vinyl on the door panels.

 

As for finding factory fabrics, try www.larrydennis.com I found it through a websearch recently, but I haven't tried contacting them yet for information or samples.

 

What about the replacement carpet they sell at PepBoys? It's pretty thin but seems pretty durable.

I like the idea of using a thin piece of aluminum or maybe some midweight? cardboard...

Sewing the vinyl edge... Make sure you use a sewing machine!!

Post the results of whatever you decide to do... I'm starting to tackle the idea of redoing my door panels too!

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. It never occurred to me that the material was the same as the seats. My GTA came with leather seats, so I never made the connection. FYI, GTAs with leather still used the same fabric on the door panels as all the others.

 

I'm pretty sure that most GTA's didn't use Pallex, they used a similar cloth called Metrix or Matrix. The pattern is less like a diamond pattern and more like a jagged horizontal line. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

 

the edges are going to be the tough part (to make look good). i never figured out a way to make it look nice enough.

is the existing fabric section torn up? if not maybe consider using some RIT dye... black would work well.

i was going to go that route, but then i happened on some with nice fabric area and replaced the whole panel again...

my first try i cut out the fabric and used black headliner material and stuck it under the vinyl edges... which looked 'OK', but you could definately see the edges of the vinyl and they also lifted up after a little while.

good luck!

 

I redid mine in leather