I had to make door panels for my VW Squareback completely from scratch, including the bare door cards. Here's how I did it. You can watch the video below, or keep scrolling down to see a photo gallery of the process.
First, tape some clear plastic sheet up to the inside of the door, then use a sharpy to mark the shape of the door panel.
Then transfer it to the hardbard by cutting it out with scissors and using a sharpy to trace out the shape onto the hardboard.
I'm using 1/8" hardboard.
Cut it out with a jigsaw.
Don't forget holes for the window crank, door lever, speakers, etc. I had to go back to step 1 because I forgot.
I made a little bracket piece that clips onto the inside of the door, and screwed it onto the hardboards. The screw heads left raised areas on the vinyl covering but there was no way to avoid it that I could think of, except use a thing layer of foam over the entire door panel which I didn't want to do.
Test fit.
Seal both sides with a sealant to keep it from warping if moisture gets to it. I used shellac because it seals well and dries very quickly.
Now its time to start wrapping the vinyl onto it. Cut out the vinyl and spray both the backside of the vinyl and the hardboard surface with 3M 77 adhesive spray.
Stretch it tight and use clothes pins to hold it around the edges.
Do not use Scrotch adhesive spray or anything that is inferior to the good 3M spray. If its not grabbing and hold well, and you can pull it off easily after a few minutes, then its not going to be strong enough. It should hold well even without the clothes pins, which are just there as a backup.
I used a two-tone vinyl design.
I didn't bother with those clips that hold the door panel and push through the little holes in the inside of the door. Instead, I simply used self-drilling sheet metal screws. I used finish washers and all stainless-steel hardware to make it look nice. And I only needed to use a few, much less than the number of clips used by in OEM.
Then I started putting everything together. I'm using arm rests (that doubles as door pulls) from a 1960's era Ford car. And to hide the ugly seam between the two pieces of vinyl, I'm using aluminum trim that I found - it came from the front grill of a 1990 Blue Bird school bus!
Fits my custom interior well, it's half Mazda Miata and half Volskwagon Type 3. Wild!
