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Recovered Door Panels By Jim and Berni Bova/ Additional hands Jimmy Bova
Many options exist for replacement of Samurai door panels. Vendors sell diamond plate panels and many homegrown ideas from plastic to wood have been made. When our famous gray vinyl parted ways with the fiberboard my Wife suggested that we just buy some vinyl from the fabric store and recover them. 
These are the tools we used. A phillips and flat blade screw drives, knife, chisel (to remove old glue), scissors, tape measure, and the all important hot glue gun. 
The project door. Not the nicest look but a common one. You will need a piece of vinyl about 18″x36″ for each panel. 
Using the phillips head screwdriver, remove the screws from these points. 
Remove the clip that holds the window crank on. 
Remove the door panel by slowly and steadily pulling the panel away from the door. Work carefully as not to break the panel. 
Lay the panel face down on the vinyl and trace around the panel and all openings and screw holes. 
Add 1 inch all the way around the panel to allow vinyl to be folded over the inside of the panel. 
Carefully run a bead of hot glue along the edge of door panel. 
Fold over the end of the vinyl being careful to pull the vinyl taught. Tip: Have a cup of cold water nearby in case you get the hot glue on your hands. 
The corners are the toughest part of the project. Fold the vinyl in and double cut through both pieces of material. Remove the waste. 
After removing the waste you should be left with a single layer of material. Hot glue to the panel. 
Finally pull in the remaining material and hot glue it down. 
Replace all the clips that were removed earlier. Trim material so the clips lay flat on the panel. Replace door handles and window crank. 
The completed door panel. Looks better than the original. For the cost of less than $20 dollars we think this is an easy and inexpensive solution to a common problem. If you have any questions feel free to contact us at redidbull@hotmail.com
08/11/10 15:07
