Door Card Fit, Appearance, Originality and Quality

Lovel

Member
The main traders for P6 spares have new door cards available to order. Would anyone who has purchased from either of these suppliers care to comment on the fit, appearance and quality of the door cards? Do they have hardboard backing like standard, or is some form of plastic used nowadays?
 
I'm not sure how good they are as I've never seen them but the ones I've seen pictures of on suppliers websites don't seem to have the correct line for the stitching. They should fall away slightly toward the back of the car and they appear to be straight on suppliers websites. I'm a teacher of design and technology so when I needed a set, I copied the original patterns , designed them on CAD software and then made them in the correct hardboard on the laser cutter. It took a bit of fiddling and trail runs but they're a perfect fit now. I bought scrim foam, vinyl and thread from Martrim and trimmed and stitched them myself. I've subsequently made replacements for another two p6 cars as once you've got the file right, the laser cutter will keep banging them out perfectly every time.
 
Depends what you want. I've never, ever seen non-original vinyl emulate the grain of the original Ambla.

I'll be making my own using ABS sheet instead of hardboard.
 
I'm not sure how good they are as I've never seen them but the ones I've seen pictures of on suppliers websites don't seem to have the correct line for the stitching. They should fall away slightly toward the back of the car and they appear to be straight on suppliers websites. I'm a teacher of design and technology so when I needed a set, I copied the original patterns , designed them on CAD software and then made them in the correct hardboard on the laser cutter. It took a bit of fiddling and trail runs but they're a perfect fit now. I bought scrim foam, vinyl and thread from Martrim and trimmed and stitched them myself. I've subsequently made replacements for another two p6 cars as once you've got the file right, the laser cutter will keep banging them out perfectly every time.

With very little photographic evidence available from the suppliers it is difficult to make the judgement on which route to choose. Have asked Wins about theirs and it would appear they are hardboard backed subject to two weeks delivery. Will try and establish what Wadhams are made out of, the
My vinyl is actually still in good shape, its just that the hardboard backing is a bit warped. I had thought about using plywood in place of hardboard, but it would be difficult to apply the stitching as it passes right through to the backside of the hardboard on the original board. What did you use for the stitching through the hardboard, just a stout needle and thread?
 
Depends what you want. I've never, ever seen non-original vinyl emulate the grain of the original Ambla.

I'll be making my own using ABS sheet instead of hardboard.

I wish suppliers would show photos of the door cards on their websites and a bit more details about their make-up as they are relatively expensive purchase. If I could see more detail I think would go for them.

Looking at the stitching it goes through the hardboard too. Doing that with ABS sheet would be tricky unless you have another way of attaching the vinyl. I priced some ABS and it’s not cheap either.
 
With very little photographic evidence available from the suppliers it is difficult to make the judgement on which route to choose. Have asked Wins about theirs and it would appear they are hardboard backed subject to two weeks delivery. Will try and establish what Wadhams are made out of, the
My vinyl is actually still in good shape, its just that the hardboard backing is a bit warped. I had thought about using plywood in place of hardboard, but it would be difficult to apply the stitching as it passes right through to the backside of the hardboard on the original board. What did you use for the stitching through the hardboard, just a stout needle and thread?
Yes, a stout needle did the job. The trimmers thread is a bit thicker than the standard stuff so a biggish eye is a must. I too wanted the stitching to pass through the hardboard so I designed it such that the laser cutter cut 1mm diameter holes in the hardboard for the stitching, so the needle only needed to penetrate the vinyl and scrim foam.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    113.3 KB · Views: 53
I thought there was a tapered hardboard doubler on the face of the card that the line of stitching ran through. But I'm having trouble remembering it right now, so I may be thinking of a different car.

Yours
Vern
 
I made new door cards for my P5B. I used hardboard and did the stitching with a sewing awl after drilling the holes with a dremel and a 1,5mm drill

CIMG4698.jpg


CIMG4713.jpg


CIMG4728.jpg


CIMG4714.jpg


CIMG4716.jpg


I was a lot of work but i am happy with the result.
For other interior work i bought a 60 year old Singer for Euro 60,-. These are amazing machines which easily stitch leather and even carpets

IMG_0656.jpg


CIMG4662.jpg


Peter
 
I made new door cards for my P5B. I used hardboard and did the stitching with a sewing awl after drilling the holes with a dremel and a 1,5mm dr
I was a lot of work but i am happy with the result. For other interior work i bought a 60 year old Singer for Euro 60,-. These are amazing machines which easily stitch leather and even carpet
Peter

Wow that's lovely looking and inspiring work, thank you. Its good to see the Awl tool that you used as I was not aware of that. What tool did you use for the staples?
 
Badrover, I would have thought having already made the CAD pattern that you could pretty easily sell more of them!?
RoverP5Bcoupe, your work looks very nice indeed.
 
Wow that's lovely looking and inspiring work, thank you. Its good to see the Awl tool that you used as I was not aware of that. What tool did you use for the staples?

Thanks . The stapler gun was a Euro 20,- simple one. I had to shorten the strips of stapels with an angle grinder as i could not find staples with 3 or 4 mm

Im suffering from interior envy !!
Stunning job.

Mark

Cheers Mark

Badrover, I would have thought having already made the CAD pattern that you could pretty easily sell more of them!?
RoverP5Bcoupe, your work looks very nice indeed.

Thanks!

Peter
 
Badrover, I would have thought having already made the CAD pattern that you could pretty easily sell more of them!?
RoverP5Bcoupe, your work looks very nice indeed.
You’re right. I made two sets in black and have 4 sets of backboards just in case so a fair few to go at. I’m spotting a little sideline here!
 
Back
Top