This is how I made my new door cards

Hi all, thought I would take a moment to create a photo guide on how I made my new simple, but effective front door cards, incase anyone 'thinking of having a go; but not quite sure' needed a little help  

So, What will you need?

Old door cards
2x 3mm Hardboard (610mm x 1220mm)
'2 oz' Upholstery wadding (approx 6-7mm thick synthetic cotton-like stuff)
Vinyl or other fabric to form new covering
Impact contact adhesive or similar
Spray adhesive
Drill and various bits
Hand and fret saws/Jigsaw
Stanley knife
Scissors
Pen/Pencil
A few bulldog/spring clips can be very handy
Leather punch optional

Getting started

Once you have got yourself set up with tools and materials, you'll need to start with your old door cards (sorry about the blurry phone pic)


20121018_152547 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

We are going to need this for two reasons, firstly as a template for the new card and secondly, for the plastic clips which attach it to the door (unless you have bought new ones of course, but I only had one missing and 2 broken so I reused them..and i'm cheap!)

Flip the card over, You can see here on mine that it was water damaged which caused it to warp and look generally tatty, the speaker hole hadn't been done particularly well either. Start by marking around the holes where the plastic clips are, to save any unnecessary work later cutting/drilling holes we don't need    I also didn't want the mirror adjuster holes and needed a bigger hole in a slightly different place for a 5.25" speaker, which you can see i've marked already. Peel away the vinyl from the board on the back…


20121018_152559 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

…and then flip the card back to the front and continue to peel away the vinyl until the plastic clips are exposed, then use a knife or scissors to cut off this material and then remove the clips by twisting and pulling them at the same time, it will become clear when you try it


20121018_153604 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

So now we have the template for our new door card. Lay it on one of the new pieces of hardboard, bare in mind here that we are going to want the shiny side of the new board to be the back, and the rougher 'matte' side to be the front.

Now draw around it and every hole we marked earlier, i've also drawn the new speaker hole I needed. Sorry the pencil lines haven't shown up too well, but hopefully you can see that I also copied the clip holes exactly, with the extra lump beside them, which makes refitting the clips a whole lot easier later on!


20121018_154639 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Now get cutting! The hardboard is really easy to cut, I used a hand saw for the big straight lines and a fret saw for the corners, speaker hole and door handle hole. Drill a lot of smaller holes around the inside of the speaker and handle holes to make cutting out their shapes easier, unless you are using a jigsaw; then obviously just one will do. Use a 9mm drill bit for the larger part of the plastic clip holes, followed by a 4-5mm bit for the smaller 'nubbin' that sticks out at the side of them, it's fiddly, but worth it later. A 16mm flat wood bit for the 2 grab handle holes and a 22mm flat wood bit for the window winder, and finally a 32mm bit for the mirror adjuster if you need it. Sand off and rough edges along the cuts or around drill holes to tidy them up. You should end up with something like this


20121018_165331 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Now twist those clips back into their new holes, remembering that the shiny side of the board is the rear


20121018_170038 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Lay the upholstery wadding on the new board and roughly cut it to the size of the board. Apply spray adhesive to the matte (front) of the board and apply the wadding to it, pressing firmly all over, then trim off the excess all around with scissors, to end up with this


20121018_174017 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Lay out the new vinyl, or other chosen material and again roughly cut off the required amount. Lay the new door card, face down on the back of the new covering and trim to shape with anything from 30-50mm of excess material all around the edge. Apply contact adhesive to the entire perimeter of the board and the back of the new material, then spread to a thin film with a plastic/card spreader


20121018_180331 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Allow to dry for 5-10 minutes as per instructions, this is important or you will be better off pushing water uphill with a fork! Then pinch the material with thumb and first finger on both hands while remaining fingers apply pressure to the board, lift the material and fold onto the back side of the board, spreading out the glue and air bubbles with your thumbs, working a small area at a time until you have gone all around the board. The vinyl material is strong but with a good amount of stretch so force can be used to really pull it over at the corners. Use bulldog or similar clips on the corners to hold them in place for several minutes while the glue really takes hold


20121018_181944 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Cut a 'double-ended Y' (>-< sort of thing) in the material where the door handle will be, stopping 3-4mm short of the edges of the hole. Do the same for the winder, mirror adjust (if using) and the speaker hole if you want your speaker on show or are mounting it to the door card (which I didn't) Then apply the contact adhesive exactly as before, wait, then pull material through hole and press down firmly. Finally, use a sharp knife to trim off any excess material thats not stuck down, I only had around 15mm stuck around each edge, though I would probably suggest doing a bit more


20121018_194309 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Flip it over and enjoy your achievement!  

OR…

I didn't want a really Jazz modern speaker or grille on show, so I didn't wrap the material around the speaker hole I had cut in the hardboard. Instead, I have mounted the speaker to the door directly and 'perforated' the vinyl in front of the hole/speaker as shown here..


20121018_204833 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr

Which I did by marking a grid on the back of the material and used a leather punch to make a series of holes, which you could do in any shape you like. I found marking on the back was best because you can se the shape of the speaker hole easiest, you can draw on the back of the vinyl clearest and not worry about errors and the punch cut through the materials reinforcing first, making a neater hole


20121018_205006 by myfirstmk1, on Flickr


I hope this information is of use to someone at least and please feel free to comment or redistribute  :mrgreen:

Rich

nice guide

nice

Great bit of work, on my list of things to do over the winter!
Thanks

Thanks everyone

Rich

Great guide