a small upholstery project

[lostforawhile]

just made an over head switch console to replace the one I had made before, thought I would post a couple of pics.
wood piece and fabric with glue applied. always use an upholstery type contact cement,home contact cement is not designed for automotive use and will come loose in time. you need to apply cement to both parts and let it dry before putting the parts together.

the hardest thing people run into when upholstering parts,is making the upholstery fit around corners. heres a picture showing the cuts to make a smooth transition on both a square hole and a curved surface. the most important thing to remember is, don't cut all the way to the part, cut to about an eigth of an inch from the part,on most thin materials. if you cut the fabric all the way to the part,when you stretch it over the edge, it will leave a gap. first step is to cover the main part and attach the material,then cut a rough cut around the entire part,make your cuts for the edges, then stretch the material to the backside and glue in place.

plastic switch piece in flexible primer
finished part. it looks blue due to the flash washout,but it's black.

note: the things sticking out of the top are clekos, I hadn't riveted the plastic piece on yet in this picture

[Nospeed]

sweet. cant wait to see it on the car!

[lostforawhile]

ran out of film before I could get a pic

[mkymonkey]

ok excuse my ignorance, but where the hell is it going? is this a replacement piece for something. i dont remember seing anything in that shape on the roof liner.

sorry if i sound like an ass.

[lostforawhile]

It goes where the red one was. this is a pic with my headliner out, I modified one of those chime thingys to hold the xm unit,and this fits under the edge of it. I had put the new headliner in only to find the holes for the sedan don't line up correctly. so I need to rip it out and recover it. also it's eaisier to dye the sunvisors I found black,and use some black accents in the headliner. the rounded edge of it fits in better with the different dome light i have in here now. there is also an aluminum piece i have to make yet that has a green bulb in it, this gives me panel illumination at night. this fits on the rounded part.

[Nospeed]

well.


good job on the experimentation...but dood.........you have gone overboard on the duct tape. wait. so have i.


looks good!!!

[lostforawhile]

well.
good job on the experimentation...but dood.........you have gone overboard on the duct tape. wait. so have i.
looks good!!!

well it's just to hold up the wiring while the headliner is out.

[speedpenguin]

When are you installing it?

[lostforawhile]

When are you installing it?

well I installed it once,then I found all the holes don't line up,now i have to pull the headliner back out,rip off the fabric and cover it again. I also put a screw through my wire for the xm antenna, so i have to solder it back together.

[speedpenguin]

Good lord, with the amount of work you're doing you may as well build your own car.

[lostforawhile]

Good lord, with the amount of work you're doing you may as well build your own car.

well it's most of the way back in,I still have to install the dome light and the overhead console,also the third brake light,been working on it most of the day, the problem is when you remove the factory vinal,it removes the top layer of cardboard with it,this weakens the headliner board a lot. I had to do a lot of reinforcing with fiberglass. it looks pretty good, I have a couple of wrinkles even as careful as I was. but thats what you get with 20 year old cardboard. the hardest part of these particular headliners is, the front trim piece is stapled on,if you remove it you'll never get it right again. you have to pull the rubber piece back,and cut the factory material with an exacto knife along the metal piece under it. then you have to start upholstering at the other end, when you get to the trim,you have to carefully cut the material so it lays under the edge of it. put your glue under the trim first,then you push the material under the edge of it and run a paint stick under it to make sure it's stuck down. if you remove that front trim piece you might as well trash the board. it's stapled then pressed in place at the factory. the rear one is hard enough to put back,but you have to remove it to cut the board to make it fit the hatch. as soon as I can get these pics developed,I'll post them. probably thursday.

[lostforawhile]

Good lord, with the amount of work you're doing you may as well build your own car.

well it's most of the way back in,I still have to install the dome light and the overhead console,also the third brake light,been working on it most of the day, the problem is when you remove the factory vinal,it removes the top layer of cardboard with it,this weakens the headliner board a lot. I had to do a lot of reinforcing with fiberglass. it looks pretty good, I have a couple of wrinkles even as careful as I was. but thats what you get with 20 year old cardboard. the hardest part of these particular headliners is, the front trim piece is stapled on,if you remove it you'll never get it right again. you have to pull the rubber piece back,and cut the factory material with an exacto knife along the metal piece under it. then you have to start upholstering at the other end, when you get to the trim,you have to carefully cut the material so it lays under the edge of it. put your glue under the trim first,then you push the material under the edge of it and run a paint stick under it to make sure it's stuck down. if you remove that front trim piece you might as well trash the board. it's stapled then pressed in place at the factory. the rear one is hard enough to put back,but you have to remove it to cut the board to make it fit the hatch. as soon as I can get these pics developed,I'll post them. probably thursday.

[lostforawhile]

VELOUR BABY!!!

OK WITH MY CRAPPY DIGITAL
heres the grab handles I put in from the sedan


third brake light

new overhead console, I haven't put the screws in the plate that holds the switches yet,or painted it yet.

better pics of the grab handles


I still have to work on the plastic around the c pillars, its a job to remove it,so thats another project

[MessyHonda]

starting to look good... mine has writing on top...its pen so i bet i can clean it off but no one looks up so i dont have to worry about it

[speedpenguin]

Man, you really are a god to me.
Too bad you don't live any closer, I'd love to have someone teach me a few things.

[lostforawhile]

Man, you really are a god to me.
Too bad you don't live any closer, I'd love to have someone teach me a few things.

If there is anyway I can help you online let me know,I'm just an everyday person,I had to learn all this stuff myself.

[speedpenguin]

I'm probably just going to order a fresh interior, I'm going for a restoration theme with my project, not a modification theme, so I'm trying to avoid customizing the interior.
I'll probably need help with the dent work, though.
How long would it take to strip the car and paint it?

[lostforawhile]

I'm probably just going to order a fresh interior, I'm going for a restoration theme with my project, not a modification theme, so I'm trying to avoid customizing the interior.
I'll probably need help with the dent work, though.
How long would it take to strip the car and paint it?

it really depends on the condition of the car,and how much damage there is. you don't need to completly strip it, just fix the damaged areas,honda paint often sticks like glue and as long as it's not chipping and flaking you can scuff it and seal it. they have excellent corrosion protection in the paint, it's the road salt that gives them the rust reputation. look carefully at the lower 12 inches of the body for hidden rust though. as far as a fresh interior,have you seen hondas prices on factory upholstery lately? they are very proud of their upholstery. for what they charge it ought to be gold plated. I know i checked on that little shelf in the hatch one time a few years ago. one piece was 400 bucks,the other was 600. for freaking covered molded cardboard. you can do a nice custom interior that still looks classy, most people nowadays rice them so bad they are horrible. they look really nice with a classy interior.

[lostforawhile]

any way to combine two threads together here? I started one on the headliner and this one on the overhead console,and somehow all the headliner posts got on here. LOL heres the link to the other thread on this. https://www.3geez.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52235

[speedpenguin]

it really depends on the condition of the car,and how much damage there is. you don't need to completly strip it, just fix the damaged areas,honda paint often sticks like glue and as long as it's not chipping and flaking you can scuff it and seal it. they have excellent corrosion protection in the paint, it's the road salt that gives them the rust reputation. look carefully at the lower 12 inches of the body for hidden rust though. as far as a fresh interior,have you seen hondas prices on factory upholstery lately? they are very proud of their upholstery. for what they charge it ought to be gold plated. I know i checked on that little shelf in the hatch one time a few years ago. one piece was 400 bucks,the other was 600. for freaking covered molded cardboard. you can do a nice custom interior that still looks classy, most people nowadays rice them so bad they are horrible. they look really nice with a classy interior.

Maybe I can try eBay?
I've really got my heart set on an OEM interior...

[lostforawhile]

Maybe I can try eBay?
I've really got my heart set on an OEM interior...

you might get lucky,I've seen cars with really nice interiors at the junkyard before. usually stuff like that you can get for cheap. just keep your eyes open. sometimes you'll have a car thats been really well taken care of and it has mechanical problems,so it gets junked. if you see one try to offer like a hundred bucks or something for everything inside. really depends on the yard. lots of times no one buys interior parts for a car this old.

[speedpenguin]

One can only hope.
I can't exactly expect a black interior though. Those are hard to find, I've tried.

[3gn86lxi]

What do you think of this Tim??????

This was my vision, done by a good buddy of mine..........on my bike now. He is also doing the "bitch" seat and backrest in the same leather, and stiching style.
I wish I could afford to have him do the Accords interior.....oh, well.

[lostforawhile]

What do you think of this Tim??????

This was my vision, done by a good buddy of mine..........on my bike now. He is also doing the "bitch" seat and backrest in the same leather, and stiching style.
I wish I could afford to have him do the Accords interior.....oh, well.

SWEET!! I would like to get the piece that covers the rear hatch cover done like the old honda logo,but it's probably expensive. I have the logo already drawn,the one that looks kind of like the old gold wing emblem, I would just need to take it and the material and have it done on one of those embroidery machines.

[88Accord-DX]

Looks cool lostforawhile, car should look pretty good after your paint job & some rims. (I need some too)