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[JoeTheRoofer]

I'm sure this is covered in one of John's videos, but I'm having a couple of issues on the '54 Chevy door panels I'm working on.
I used that black hardboard material (my bad) for the backing rather than ABS, but otherwise stuck to the script as much as my impatient, shortcut taking MO allowed me to. I even used the same clips (fasteners) that John recommended. The first issue is that I put the fasteners 4-5 inches apart, and on the concave part of my door, a few of the clips popped out overnight because of the stress of bending the flat panel to the curved part of the door. So I had to unglue the fabric off the back of the hardboard to drill a few more holes and ease the stress. Does that sound like a good remedy?

Second, I'm nervous about recovering these 3D armrests. They are steel with cotton batting on them right now. It looks like previously they were stitched in three pieces, then glued on. I think I should replace the cotton batting with something else before I try to stitch and glue no fabric to the panels. I'm also afraid of ending up with a wrinkly, lousy looking fit. Any ideas?

[Souper]

I just finished my door panels (1950 Chevy) using ABS. I had a similar problem with the panel popping out due to the concave dip near the leading edge. I decided the best solution was a #6 stainless steel screw and a trim washer. I used only one on each of the front door panels, approx 8 inches from the top and an inch back from the edge. It's proven to be a good solution. I'll try to get a picture up later. The back panels were not an issue.

As for the arm rests, I feel your pain. Mine didn't have the cotton batting. They were originally glued straight to the foam. I tried to replicate the factory sewing and join the vinyl and fabric together, then stretch and glue. That didn't work very well and I started over. Second time around I resewed using my own pattern and had more success. Stick with it, though - mine came out on the acceptable side. It'll be a good daily driver quality. I'll see if I have some pictures of that, too, and post later.

[Souper]

[BigRig]

Use a lot of screws, sometimes its the only way!

[John]

@JoeTheRoofer @Souper Thats some great work you are both doing! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Joe, Yes what you did is a good solution if it is staying for you now. If you used ABS i would have used a heat gun and bent the panel to that shape. You can also do that using steam on the black hard board stuff but I personally dont like getting moisture near that stuff.
For the arm rests I would get rid of the batting and use closed cell foam. Then make a new pattern for your self like we did on the seats course. It should come out nice and the closed cell will give it a better feel and Finnish.