Diy Door Panel Reupholstering On A 5th Gen Coupe.

[imported_team_adrenaline]

These are the things needed before you begin.
Vinyl or carpet whichever you prefer, all purpose spray adhesive,
a sharp exacto knife, a sharp pair of scissors, some strong epoxy,
and some adhesive remover.


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After removing the door panels from the car this was the first thing I saw that would be a problem. These tabs are permanent therefore I had to come up with a way to reattach the arm rest to the rest of the panel before I broke them off. I have a solution so I just broke them off with a flat head, or you can get a large drill bit and drill them but be very careful not to go through the door.


The carpet was just glued on so it peeled off without incident. I then cleaned it with 3M adhesive remover which took some scrubbing and this is what I am left with.


Then lay the panel on the vinyl or carpet and trim it down so there is not a whole lot of excess hanging over the edges but so that there still is about an inch or so left hanging.


Now for the fun part! Get the spray adhesive and spray heavy coats on small portions at a time. Make sure that you dont miss a spot or you'll be doing this over again soon.


Now lay the vinyl on top of the panel trying to get it lined up so that you have the inch or so extra on all sides. then use your fingers and press the vinyl down on the glued area. Make sure to get the corners smooth and all the wrinkles or bubbles out of the vinyl quickly because once the glue dries you are screwed. This section proved to be the most difficult on the drivers door so I figured I'd start with it this time.


After getting the vinyl on to my satisfaction I then took the exacto knife and trimmed the area where the door handle goes. Since I am not reinstalling the pocket in the door this was all I needed to trim for, but if you will be reusing this pocket then you will need to trim this also. Make sure to still leave some excess so that it will tuck underneath which can be glued but it doesn't have to be.
After that is complete you are ready to reinstall this peice in the door panel. This is where I had to get really creative, so i hope you all appreciate this because that doesn't happen often. What I did was take epoxy and run a line of it around the rim of the BROWN vinyl that was already on my door. I then very carefully put the arm rest back in place and pressed(which is harder then you will think because of the contour of the panel). After holding for several minutes I tested to see if it was in there good and it was so that's done.



Now that the fun is over all you need to do is put it all back in you car and reattach all the peices you took off and stand back and admire your great work. I thnk overall it made a great improvement to the interior of my Civic and definately adds the custom look.
If anyone has any questions about this feel free to PM or e-mail me.

[cynosurecivic]

its kind of funny that i saw this topic, i just did the exact same thing like two days ago. the only thing i did differently was re-attaching the the panel to the door panel, i used a hot glue gun. no big difference.

anyways, in your opinion, how plossible would it be to do the rest of the interior in that manner. like the dash, the whole door panel, the rear panels and headliner.

right now i have a black and red them, but i woulld like to convert to red and white, but that means i would have to redo all the stock vinyl in another color.

any info would help, thanks

[jdk915]

It's just as simple, i have a 93 Coupe, and did my back panels too, and i helped my friend do his entire roof with just as much ease. I'd think the whole door would be just as simple:
-just be careful
-do some planning
-use alotta glue to hold it on
-always leave extra, you can cut it off in the end, or tuck it

Put up some pics if you do !

[cynosurecivic]

what about the dash, is it plossible. and would i be able to do it with the dash in place, or have to rip it out??