Interactive Custom Door Panels

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 06:35 PM

I sanded the trim panel with a 3-M SandBlaster 180 grit sanding pad. They make the job a lot easier than trying it with regular sand paper. Sand the trim panel until you are satisified with it. Wipe it down good with a tac cloth and get ready to paint!

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 06:37 PM

HEre are the paints that I used. Auto Primer, Hammered Light Blue and a clear! I really like the results I get with the HAmmered paints and they come in a variety of colors.

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 07:00 PM

Spray the inside of the window and handle openings first followed by the edges and finally the top surface. When you do it this way you can see the spots you miss better. Here is a pic of the primered trim panel.

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 07:49 PM

I put a desk lamp right over the painted piece to help the drying process along. This lamp has a high intensity bulb that throws off the heat.

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 07:53 PM

This is really different paint. I love the effect and it seems that no one else has discovered it yet......so keep it under your hat! All your friends will be asking how you did that!

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 11:26 PM

Once the trim panel has dried (about 48 hours unless you use a lamp) give it two or three coats of clear about 10 min apart and let it dry again for at least 24 hours (unless you use the lamp.) The pic below is our door panel with two of the three parts complete. It is really starting to take shape now. I wish I had a slightly blue-er vinyl to install but this was a budget project so I'm gonna have to live with it! But when I do the speaker pods I'm going to paint them so I won't have to live with the silver vinyl on the lower portion on the door for long. Anyway here is what we have so far.

rhenry01 · 03-24-2002, 11:29 PM

I like it! Now it's on to putting the vinyl on the upper panel and we will be done with the non-poded door panel.

***fetuss10*** · 03-24-2002, 11:44 PM

amn dude did u know hwo to do that or just figure it out on your own?

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 12:00 AM

I learned most of this stuff from disassembling the door panels of my other trucks. When I pulled the door panel off of this truck I had no idea what I would find. I knew that I would destroy the retainers so I just went out and bought them so that I could put the door back together if I decided to do nothing. If you notice, there is no "before" shot of the door panel because I didn't know I was going to do anything to it until I had it off and apart. I looked at the construction and decided that I could do something nice with it. Speaker pods are a different story, I've been installing stereos for about 20 years and I learned a lot of tricks over the years. Everything I have done so far has been one-off custom work but the next set of pods I do I want to make a jig so that I can get reproducable results. If I can get a jig that is easy enough to use and I can get the material costs down I'll do door pods to sell to other S-10ers. I know that some of those Q-forms can cost $200... that is ridiculous. And the guys that want something really custom can follow my steps and do their own doors and hopefully come up with something even more exciting that I can copy! It's a two way street.

***fetuss10*** · 03-25-2002, 12:20 AM

right on thanks man I may find myself using this thread

kbirdjr · 03-25-2002, 01:05 AM

Great looking project. I am in the middle of the same thing. I have the inserts cut out ( I used 1/4" MDF ) and eleminated the vent but I cut a hole in the front (where the map pocket was) and droped in a 6.5" speaker. I had to get out the grinder to enlarge the square opening behind the door panel. I am real pleased with the results so far, they look good and sound great but I am anxious to see how your speaker pods work out since you have years of exp. doing that kind of stuff, maybe I'll find something that'll work even better than what I did.

BTW I have a set of Audioforms that do about the same thing but take up some leg room. If you wawt a pic for ideas for the speaker pods they are in the swap meet section or I'll e-mail 'em to ya.

DimebagDarrell · 03-25-2002, 01:11 AM

yeah i redid mine, put a 7" and 2" tweeter in the doors, i just redid the front of my truck this last weekend and then am puttin my new air dam on this weekend, so ill provide pics of the inside too

Hadley Hellhound · 03-25-2002, 04:54 AM

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 09:09 AM

kbird: Send the pics....always looking for new ideas.

Hadley: Are you following along with the thread or had you already started your project?

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 01:00 PM

Cut some foam to fit the upper panel. It should cover the original foam and not extend past it.

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 01:01 PM

Use the old fabric as a template and leave an inch to work with!

SpencemanMMA · 03-25-2002, 01:03 PM

Hey, I finished my lower door pannel project last weekend. I modified the pannels to house my 6x9s and covered it over with an automotive kind of fabric. I also embossed a bowtie design kinda thing in it....kinda hard to explain what it looks like, you'd have to see it. I've got some pics of it, but I have no idea how to get them up on here. If someone does, drop me a line at sspencer@mma.edu and i'll send the pics to ya. Thanks, good luck with the mods....later,
Spence

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 01:03 PM

Glue this edge first. Then glue down the other sides. You know how to do this so I'm not going to post pictures. This is the last step, we're almost done!

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 01:05 PM

Here is my drivers side door panel, it actually looks better than the passenger side did before I started! How ratty!

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 01:10 PM

Here is the door panel. I am still going to open up the vent but basically we are done. I really like how it turned out and it looks a lot better. I have a few more things to do to the door before I mount the panel (fix the power lock switch and clean up the backing piece for the switches and the handle) Then I am done too!

I hope this helps you get rid of your ratty door panels. Of course I am now going to do a custom speaker pod so you may want to wait to do the bottom panel until we do that. But go ahead and do the upper panel and the trim piece. Have fun and be safe....always wear eye protection!

I'll Start a new thread for the pods in a few days.....I'm doing the initial design work like measuring the clearance in back of the panel I also have to find dimensions on some speakers. Keep checking the 1st Gen forum!

PisOnCavalier · 03-25-2002, 01:13 PM

Wow, thats fockin nice man! This is a really great "how to"

Hadley Hellhound · 03-25-2002, 02:26 PM

I already had the door panels off to install my power locks and ran across your thread. Then I went nuts with the cordless drill and just happened to have a sheet of plywood and some aluminum (which I haven't put on yet)

I'm thinking of a graphite tweed and maybe some flames

xtremer-pxl · 03-25-2002, 02:42 PM

That does look really awesome..now I am going to have to try it!!!

SpencemanMMA · 03-25-2002, 04:41 PM

I put up a quick page on AOL showing how mine came out. Check it out at:

http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/stevii/...mtbrand=AOL_US

I did the lower pannels modified to fit 6X9's covered in fabric with an embossed design. Some notes for doing this: Fabric doesn't hide imperfections as well as you might think...make sure what you are covering is smooth. If you emboss a design, work from the middle of the design out. Thats about it all I can think of. Anyway, have fun and good luck...later,
Spence

92S10LB · 03-25-2002, 07:03 PM

damn all you guys have some really great ideas for changing the doorpanels from ugly stock to a nice custom look. now i think one of these days i may have to try it myself lol

Nates93sTEN · 03-25-2002, 08:19 PM

I've been following along. Great work.

rhenry01 · 03-25-2002, 08:25 PM

Thanx Nate!

Hadley Hellhound · 03-26-2002, 02:27 AM

Spence those panels are cool!! I like bowtie on the back it. What kind of matterial is that?

03-26-2002, 09:38 AM

Hey Nate, would yo mind telling me what wheels ou have on your truck? Sorry to get off track from the thread but I am looking and am not having much luck finding ones I like.

SpencemanMMA · 03-26-2002, 12:26 PM

Thanks Hadley....they're not perfect, but they came out alright. I really want to fiberglass those, my box, and a custom center console (not yet built) this summer. When painted and done right, fiberglass looks amazing....i'm going to practice on some old pannels I have first though....it doesn't look easy to get that effect. The fabric I used is a heavy automotive-type fabric....its not tweed, but its about the same stiffness. I got it for a dollar a yard at Wal Mart and I actually intended to use it under another fabric I got, but ended up liking it better. Later,
Spence

jman · 03-26-2002, 07:41 PM

great work! this is what customizing is all about. good info for future reference. awesome.

rhenry01 · 03-27-2002, 03:19 PM

OK! My wife said that the blue paint look kind of weird so I had to repaint the trim panel with Hammered Silver paint. I also cut out the vent opening.

One minor detail that I overlooked. Where the staples were in the window molding...I just put 2 small sheetmetal screws in to hold it together, worked great!

When any of you do your door panels you have to post a Pic of the finished product in here so we can all check out your work!

Pods to come so keep your eyes open!!

xtremer-pxl · 03-27-2002, 03:26 PM

That looks Hell-A-Nice!!

damn if I send you mine...will you do that!

lol, j/k....I think I can handle it...GOOD Job though!

03-25-2002, 01:05 AM	#61
kbirdjr Registered User Age: 34 Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 38 Location: Oklahoma City User is: OffLine	Looks like my most recent project. Great looking project. I am in the middle of the same thing. I have the inserts cut out ( I used 1/4" MDF ) and eleminated the vent but I cut a hole in the front (where the map pocket was) and droped in a 6.5" speaker. I had to get out the grinder to enlarge the square opening behind the door panel. I am real pleased with the results so far, they look good and sound great but I am anxious to see how your speaker pods work out since you have years of exp. doing that kind of stuff, maybe I'll find something that'll work even better than what I did. BTW I have a set of Audioforms that do about the same thing but take up some leg room. If you wawt a pic for ideas for the speaker pods they are in the swap meet section or I'll e-mail 'em to ya.

03-25-2002, 12:00 AM	#59
rhenry01 Self Portrait Age: 47 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,691 Location: Memphis, TN User is: OffLine	I learned most of this stuff from disassembling the door panels of my other trucks. When I pulled the door panel off of this truck I had no idea what I would find. I knew that I would destroy the retainers so I just went out and bought them so that I could put the door back together if I decided to do nothing. If you notice, there is no "before" shot of the door panel because I didn't know I was going to do anything to it until I had it off and apart. I looked at the construction and decided that I could do something nice with it. Speaker pods are a different story, I've been installing stereos for about 20 years and I learned a lot of tricks over the years. Everything I have done so far has been one-off custom work but the next set of pods I do I want to make a jig so that I can get reproducable results. If I can get a jig that is easy enough to use and I can get the material costs down I'll do door pods to sell to other S-10ers. I know that some of those Q-forms can cost $200... that is ridiculous. And the guys that want something really custom can follow my steps and do their own doors and hopefully come up with something even more exciting that I can copy! It's a two way street.

03-25-2002, 01:11 AM	#62
DimebagDarrell C.L.I.T. Commander Age: 26 Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 431 Location: Cedar Falls, IA User is: OffLine	yeah i redid mine, put a 7" and 2" tweeter in the doors, i just redid the front of my truck this last weekend and then am puttin my new air dam on this weekend, so ill provide pics of the inside too

03-25-2002, 09:09 AM	#64
rhenry01 Self Portrait Age: 47 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,691 Location: Memphis, TN User is: OffLine	kbird: Send the pics....always looking for new ideas. Hadley: Are you following along with the thread or had you already started your project?

03-25-2002, 01:03 PM	#67
SpencemanMMA Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 16 Location: User is: OffLine	Hey, I finished my lower door pannel project last weekend. I modified the pannels to house my 6x9s and covered it over with an automotive kind of fabric. I also embossed a bowtie design kinda thing in it....kinda hard to explain what it looks like, you'd have to see it. I've got some pics of it, but I have no idea how to get them up on here. If someone does, drop me a line at sspencer@mma.edu and i'll send the pics to ya. Thanks, good luck with the mods....later, Spence

03-25-2002, 01:13 PM	#71
PisOnCavalier bagged after winter Age: 26 Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,811 Location: Lake County, IL User is: OffLine	Wow, thats fockin nice man! This is a really great "how to"

03-25-2002, 02:26 PM	#72
Hadley Hellhound Registered User Age: 35 Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 275 Location: Kentucky User is: OffLine	I already had the door panels off to install my power locks and ran across your thread. Then I went nuts with the cordless drill and just happened to have a sheet of plywood and some aluminum (which I haven't put on yet) I'm thinking of a graphite tweed and maybe some flames

03-25-2002, 02:42 PM	#73
xtremer-pxl little pink pink Age: 31 Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 5,369 Location: KANSAS User is: OffLine	That does look really awesome..now I am going to have to try it!!!

03-25-2002, 04:41 PM	#74
SpencemanMMA Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 16 Location: User is: OffLine	I put up a quick page on AOL showing how mine came out. Check it out at: http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/stevii/...mtbrand=AOL_US I did the lower pannels modified to fit 6X9's covered in fabric with an embossed design. Some notes for doing this: Fabric doesn't hide imperfections as well as you might think...make sure what you are covering is smooth. If you emboss a design, work from the middle of the design out. Thats about it all I can think of. Anyway, have fun and good luck...later, Spence

03-25-2002, 07:03 PM	#75
92S10LB Long Bed Member Age: 25 Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 3,080 Location: Camden County, NJ User is: OffLine	damn all you guys have some really great ideas for changing the doorpanels from ugly stock to a nice custom look. now i think one of these days i may have to try it myself lol

03-25-2002, 08:19 PM	#76
Nates93sTEN 1st Gen Member Age: 34 Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 216 Location: Pine Island, Florida User is: OffLine	I've been following along. Great work.

03-25-2002, 08:25 PM	#77
rhenry01 Self Portrait Age: 47 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,691 Location: Memphis, TN User is: OffLine	Thanx Nate!

03-26-2002, 02:27 AM	#78
Hadley Hellhound Registered User Age: 35 Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 275 Location: Kentucky User is: OffLine	Spence those panels are cool!! I like bowtie on the back it. What kind of matterial is that?

03-26-2002, 09:38 AM	#79
89s10-350 Posts: n/a Location: User is:	Hey Nate, would yo mind telling me what wheels ou have on your truck? Sorry to get off track from the thread but I am looking and am not having much luck finding ones I like.

03-26-2002, 12:26 PM	#80
SpencemanMMA Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 16 Location: User is: OffLine	Thanks Hadley....they're not perfect, but they came out alright. I really want to fiberglass those, my box, and a custom center console (not yet built) this summer. When painted and done right, fiberglass looks amazing....i'm going to practice on some old pannels I have first though....it doesn't look easy to get that effect. The fabric I used is a heavy automotive-type fabric....its not tweed, but its about the same stiffness. I got it for a dollar a yard at Wal Mart and I actually intended to use it under another fabric I got, but ended up liking it better. Later, Spence

03-26-2002, 07:41 PM	#81
jman Hardcore 1st Gen'r Age: 29 Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 2,839 Location: Austin, IN User is: OffLine	great work! this is what customizing is all about. good info for future reference. awesome.

03-27-2002, 03:26 PM	#83
xtremer-pxl little pink pink Age: 31 Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 5,369 Location: KANSAS User is: OffLine	That looks Hell-A-Nice!! damn if I send you mine...will you do that! lol, j/k....I think I can handle it...GOOD Job though!