Door Panel Rebuild... And Poll, What material should I go with? Options

[Brando]

I've got an old pair of some Dr. Evil door panels (thanks again Mike!) that I want to re-cover and use. I've already cut holes for speakers because I like to be able to have good tunes to listen to while breaking the speed limit and cornering hard (or hardly cornering?).

Anyhow, I'm liking the idea of going with black cloth with a thin (1/8") foam under it for a little bit of padding. I'm wanting a clean look so I'll make a pair of leather straps for closing the door and there will be no side pockets.

I might go without the upper shelf area, the padded portion near the window. I'm looking for opinions on how it would look since I'm undecided, and I'd like this to be a little unique. Thanks!Edit: That's wierd, the poll didn't show... Wtf?

Anyhow, here are the options I'm thinking of:

Thick black cloth.
Black Vinyl.
Black leather or suede.

[Brando]

Okay...

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I went to the fabric store yesterday and purchased about 4x2 yards of both thin padding and a thick canvas-like cloth. Very similar in texture to convertible top covering material, except with a different weave pattern. I bought enough to do the door panels, to replace my back pad, the face of the dashboard, center console and eventually to cover a roll cage (when I get one). It will get scotch-gaurded quite a bit. I'm also going to put a plastic backing over the back of the panels this time to help against water soaking into them. I'll also be looking for some of those plasic door sheets most newer cars have nowadays.

I'll start with the door panels; finished gluing the padding down lastnight on one side and the leather for the top portion is flattening out, I decided to use a small segment of black english cowhide that's real smooth. Then I'll move to the center console, which will be drilled for bolts to be run through instead of being held together by flimsy tiny woodscrews. Should offer a nice texture opposed to the stock 'basketweav' which makes me want to barf almost as much as herringbone or houndstooth.

[RoninEclipse2G]

Should offer a nice texture opposed to the stock 'basketweav' which makes me want to barf almost as much as herringbone or houndstooth.

+1 that stuff looks just plain ugly! my wife and I are planning on redoing everything in EnduroSuede and black leather (maybe just fresh vinyl instead of leather, cost will determine that) the EnduroSuede will replace all the basketweave

[customstarr]

I just finished mine (sorry no pics readily available) - I got some really nice vinyl at Joann Fabric of all places - spent about $30 including 3M spray adhesive and staples. I couldn't be happier - I was really surprised by the selection, quality, and price.