Sourmug's Decklid Vent Build ** 56K Warning!!** (Page 52/69)
drummer5 MAY 25, 11:29 PM
I think you're doing an awesome job, it looks great! Only suggestion is maybe build up the top of the panel a little bit so the "horns" don't look so out of place.
Jake_Dragon MAY 25, 11:35 PM
Wow nice work.
Sourmug MAY 26, 09:54 PM
Thanks for the comments guys!

drummer5:

I know what you mean about the "Horns". They are much more obvious when the door panels are off the car or the doors are open, but when the doors are closed they appear to blend in and not stick out so much. I will keep this in mind and I may add some curvature to the top of the panel in the future.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-26-2007).]

Sourmug MAY 26, 09:57 PM
I have now applied two layers of fiberglass to the panels:



The two part urethane foam can have the fiberglass applied directly to it and it wont melt unlike some other foams.
And here the panels have had a quick sanding and the edges have been cleaned up ready for a filler coat.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-29-2007).]

cornersonrails MAY 27, 08:12 AM



Ummm, Where can I find a bucket like that ?
The door skins you are making are looking awsome. I didnt realize how bad the stock skins look with the new dash. Now when I am driving I keep stairing at the doors. I know you have a lot of work in them but how much for set ? $300.00 ,$400.00 , $500.00 Thanks , Chris
Toaster_Man MAY 27, 01:47 PM
For the past 12 pages I’ve been saying to myself “Yeah, I could that. I could give the same attention to detail and build something that looks just as nice. When I make over my car I’m going to make it just as awesome as Nolan’s!” Then you built those doors…from scratch…and they look stock. Bravo! On the passenger side, did you even take that seam on the dash between the glove box and the top part and continue it across the door? In a couple pictures it looks like you extended it across the door to the top of the armrest where it picks up that line as it cascades down to the part where you would actually rest your arm. To my eyes, that is the styling cue that makes the doors a perfect fit.

I may have missed it before, but have you decided what you are going to do about covering them? Getting vinyl to stick to those contours might be an interesting chore to say the least.
Unsafe At Any Speed MAY 27, 03:06 PM
Do the "horns" look wierd from outside of the car?

------------------

My Build Thread

Sourmug MAY 27, 07:44 PM

quote
Originally posted by cornersonrails:




Ummm, Where can I find a bucket like that ?
The door skins you are making are looking awsome. I didnt realize how bad the stock skins look with the new dash. Now when I am driving I keep stairing at the doors. I know you have a lot of work in them but how much for set ? $300.00 ,$400.00 , $500.00 Thanks , Chris



About the door panels. My dash is probably sitting in my car at a slightly different position and angle than your dash is in your car. Because of this difference the panels likely would not match the dash ends in your car. I needed to slowly carve out the shape in the foam a little at a time to make sure that it finally matched the dash as close as possible. My intention is to provide the information so that anyone can do this to their own car. If I can do it so can anyone else and in fact they may find a better way. So I guess that as a long winded answer to your question I don't think I would be comfortable making panels for you based on my dash as they may need substantial remolding to fit yours.

Thanks for asking though, that's meant a lot to me as a compliment. I hope you understand my reasoning.
Nolan
Sourmug MAY 27, 07:54 PM

quote
Originally posted by Toaster_Man:

For the past 12 pages I’ve been saying to myself “Yeah, I could that. I could give the same attention to detail and build something that looks just as nice. When I make over my car I’m going to make it just as awesome as Nolan’s!” Then you built those doors…from scratch…and they look stock. Bravo! On the passenger side, did you even take that seam on the dash between the glove box and the top part and continue it across the door? In a couple pictures it looks like you extended it across the door to the top of the armrest where it picks up that line as it cascades down to the part where you would actually rest your arm. To my eyes, that is the styling cue that makes the doors a perfect fit.

I may have missed it before, but have you decided what you are going to do about covering them? Getting vinyl to stick to those contours might be an interesting chore to say the least.




Thanks for the compliments! As I mentioned above, if I can do it so can anyone else.

Yes I did extend the groove onto the door panel where the curve of the armrest supports off of the original Grand Am door panel continues the suggestion of the curve.

As for finishing the fiberglass contours, I don't think that I will be able to apply sheet vinyl in any way that would gibe me a nice finish. There are simply too many curves. I know that there is apparently a heat formable vinyl that is available but I still think that it will not be a good fit. SEM produces a spray on texture as described by their website as follows:


quote



SEM Texture Coating is a unique blend of flexible materials formulated to reproduce a BLACK TEXTURED FINISH on plastic bumpers, instrument panels, dashes, consoles, fiberglass tops, and other textured plastic and vinyl parts. After applying SEM Texture Coating, use SEM Plastic Prep to prep the surface to be sprayed with SEM COLOR COAT.





I think that I will give this a try. As I understand it there are different ways to apply it which creates some variation in texture. I don't know how close it will match the dash vinyl grain but some difference will be OK I think.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 05-29-2007).]

Sourmug MAY 27, 07:58 PM

quote
Originally posted by Unsafe At Any Speed:

Do the "horns" look wierd from outside of the car?




I don't have any pictures at the moment of the panels from the outside of the car. I will post some later. I don't think that the horns are quite so obvious with the door closed but I may extend the curve on the top edge of the panel so that it isn't quite so severe.

Nolan

[This message has been edited by Sourmug (edited 06-18-2007).]