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Hi all, I'm gathering parts to do a full interior refresh on my '81 with the buck rogers all silver interior. My console side panels are factory carpet and the backer board is splitting. Sure I can cut new templates and re-carpet but I was wondering what others have done here. The carpet frankly looks like crap on those trim panels IMO. I've seen some folks redo theirs in vinyl/leather and that looks a lot nicer to me. But, just wondering what others may have done here and any tips. Pics would be great. Thanks!
i know others may have made their own, i had zero luck…SAVE those original boards, the have twists and turns that new boards will not contort to..
i dont mind the carpet but Michaels has some nive marine vinyl in silver i almost used..carpet hides a lot
Put a layer of fiberglass mat on the back side of the board to strengthen it.
Scrape off the carpet, remove the glue residue, bond leather to the clean surface.
So do you put any kind of backer material before the leather or vinyl? What about using abs plastic or something stronger than fiberboard. I don’t have any fiberglass mat or material for that matter. Thanks guys!
I mentioned adding a layer of fiberglass mat so you wouldn't have to make a new backerboard.
As Intercontinental said...the original backer has too many twists and bends to DIE a knockoff board.
of course if you took your time, it can be done.
If you re-cover the original piece the surface would need to be very smooth to prevent flaws from making the leather appear bumpy..
You did a nice job on those. And yeah, the boards are not flat that’s why I was thinking using some ABS sheet. You can mold it pretty easily with a heat gun into any shape. I may give this a try with some 1/4” upholstery batting between the plastic and vinyl which will hide any imperfections and keep it nice and smooth.
Personally, I’m just not a fan of carpet there. It looks cheap to me. I did find that the aftermarket places make a vinyl set for the later C3’s but I can’t bring myself to spend that much.
I covered the console side panels with quilted vinyl.
I had binding tape sewn around the edges for a finished look.
The other two pieces at the top of the photo are used in place ot the t-top headliners.
I used 2.5mm thick PVC sheet to make new backing boards. It's flexible enough to bend to the required shape and stiff enough to hold the carpet or vinyl securely in place (also I had a load left over from cladding a shower wall). It's easy to cut and has a nice smooth surface too.
I just cut the plastic to match the shape of the carpets (I was fitting new carpets at the time), but didn't need to do any other shaping. It just bent as needed to follow the shape of the centre console. Can't help with where you could get the plastic, unless you want to order it from the UK!
An upholstery shop can sell you (most likely give you) a product called sew foam. Comes in different thicknesses. Glue it to the backer board then put your vinyl or leather on top of it. It hides a lot of sins.
Center console side panel ideas?
