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Has anybody made their own door cards?

I am thinking of having a go at building a replacement set of door cards for my B10 as the ones on it now are looking pretty old and worn out.
 

 
The vinyl is stained & ripped, and the card is warped and weakened from water dammage.
 
My question is... what is the best material to use for the card part of a door card?
 
I intend on spending quite a lot of time on trying to make these.
So I am trying to find a wood/hardboard or what ever the best material to use is that will now warp in the future, weather it be from heat or moisture.
 
I do intend on backing these with a sheet of plastic like most cars have between the door card and the door itself, and also replacing all the door seals down the line.
Hopefully that will help with any moisture issues.
 
Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
Ash.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
Yeah I've done mine...just used craftwood sheet...not sure the exact thickness, but not like bunnings gave me much choice from memory :/. Thin enough th still be able to bend it into the channels, thick enough to hold the body clips! 1-2mm mebbe?

Would be good investigating a good acrylic/plastic in place of wood however, if like me, it seems that youre constantly taking them off/ refitting them to fiddle with mechanisms/speakers etc. just go for something a bit smaller than the channels to leave room for the vynil/ padding layers for which i used spray adhesive on the surface for a nice even adhesion, then used rubber cement (the one that comes in a pot and you put on both surfaces before bonding) to tuck the excess and fix over the back.
The original material board is called masonite, well thats what its called here. I still think its the best stuff for the job. Its very cheap and easier to work than wood or plastic.
mdf and masonite is alright, if you seal both sides with an acrylic membrane you will have no drama with moisture warping them. most of the time i see door cards warped is they dont fit properly because the wrong thickness foam is used and people dont allow for the thickness of the vinyl and foam making the panel to tight.
 
last time i made panels for my 1200 utes i used fibre glass and it worked pretty sweet
Current Dato -
68 B20 ute project
Previous Datos -
68 B20 ute
68 B10 2dr sedan
ca18det 1200 ute 180rwkw
12a montser port 1200 ute 212rwhp
Stocko 1200 wagon
^^^oh yeh MDF is what I meant by "craftwood" ...showing my age /(
Thanks for the input guys, I guess I need to see what's avaliable to me and go from there.
 
Leith, did you lay up the fibreglass sheeting yourself?
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
mate done it for me sorry
 
mdf would be easiest and is pretty cheap especially if you stuff up one or two, have you looked at any of the diy videos floating around? its fairly easy and should only take you a weekend
Current Dato -
68 B20 ute project
Previous Datos -
68 B20 ute
68 B10 2dr sedan
ca18det 1200 ute 180rwkw
12a montser port 1200 ute 212rwhp
Stocko 1200 wagon
Yeah,
Clean flat surface, release agent of some sort, resin, fibre, resin and go over it with a roller.
 
I even have a big sheet of glass that I could use to lay it up on.
 
I guess I should have a look at the local stores before I decide on a final material choice.
So far masonite sounds like the easiest option.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
I went down to Bunnings and bought a 3.2mm piece of masonite.
 
It is good to work with (Cuts easy), but I need to find it in maybe 2.5mm or even 2mm thickness.
 
I tried to glue a small piece of foam and vinyl onto the masonite to check out how it will finish up.
Still a little too thick .
So I will have to look about to see who has thinner sheets of masonite.
 
Ash.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
the Yellow 2 door i have had aluminium panels painted gloss black, he used some urethane to deadend the drumming,
 
i'm guessing you could cover them with foam and vinyl to make it more original, 
what about some thin uhd plastic sheet, or fiberglass, or some pre done carbon sheet..
you could cut the foam 5mm shorter so that where the card inserts into the braket there's only vinyl and timber if you get what i mean
Current Dato -
68 B20 ute project
Previous Datos -
68 B20 ute
68 B10 2dr sedan
ca18det 1200 ute 180rwkw
12a montser port 1200 ute 212rwhp
Stocko 1200 wagon
You are a genius Leith.
 
I'll have to do some more tests on a small bit of masonite to see how it fits into the chanels and to get an idea of how it would look in full size.
 
I would prefer aluminium, fibreglass or plastic because of water resistance, but from a cost and practical point of view, I have masonite at my local hardware store for a few bucks a sheet, and everything else i need to do the job at home.
 
Well almost everything, i still need plastic sheeting and what ever that black glue is that holds it on.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
I am now waiting for my contact adhesive to go off on my second test piece.
I rushed my first test piece, but the thickness is spot on without foam on the edges.
So this door card idea is looking promising.
 
Im now trying a second test piece and wieghing it down on the edge to really let it set for a day or so.
My first one isn't behaving how I hoped, but I suspect it is because im rushing it. (Drying times and what not).
 
If this is successfull i'll wait until the industrial & manufacturing supplier shops open up again and do it in full scale.
So im probably out for a week or two on this project.
 
More updates to come then I guess.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
from memory, 3m do a spray adheasive, and it's awesome...
I bought a 4 litre can of contact adhesive from Nolan UDA before the holidays.
The guy had the 3m stuff there, but reccomended this stuff over the 3m can.
 
He claimed it had the same bite as the 3m stuff and at a few bucks more than one can of the 3m it worked out far cheaper for me. (Hopefully this was an honest sell and what I have is ok)
 
But yes. any product made by 3m is awesome.
I have never been dissapointed with any 3m product, EVER.
 
 
I know it is just me doing it wrong, I have since looked up some how to guides and changed how im doing it.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsBTN8ZZH8k
So pressure for 24 hours is what I get out of this If I want a good bite on the top and bottom edges where the foam wants to lift up the vinyl away from the board.

 
http://www.adhesiveadvice.com/how-to-apply/applying-adhesive/
I also now know that I should have used a second coat on the foam surfaces because it gets absorbed too much with only one coat, creating less stick.
 
 
Thank you very much for all the advice guys.
Good advice helps alot when doing things for the first time.
You guys have certianly saved me time and money on this project, and also helping me to keeping it fun.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
i didn't watch the videos but here's what i done, i used spray glue tho-
 
cut the door card out
roughly cut the foam left it overhanging  little
sprayed glue on the door card and on the foam
waited 5min then stuck them together
trimmed the foam with a stanley. in your case you'll have to probably scrape the first 5mm or so off which shouldn't be hard. its a lot easier then pre-cutting the foam and trying to line it up
cut out the vinyl and added extra 10-15mm to wrap around the back of the mdf
layed the vinyl face down and placed the door card on top of the vinyl
cut triangles out of the corners of the vinyl
wrapped top around and stapled it
next i done the bottom but this time slightly pulling it so its firm but not to tight
then the same for the other 2 sides
cut out the holes for the window winders, cut in an X then staple each triangle
 
bobs your uncle, obviously there's more specifics but thats the basics. any q's let me know and ill help out where i can
Current Dato -
68 B20 ute project
Previous Datos -
68 B20 ute
68 B10 2dr sedan
ca18det 1200 ute 180rwkw
12a montser port 1200 ute 212rwhp
Stocko 1200 wagon
No worries Leith, I think i am where i need to be with my learning and experiments
I'll get there in the end.
So far im happy with where im at and with what i've learned.

I bought an el-cheapo spray gun with a big pot from bunnings today.
This way glue is for the glue gun and paint is for the paint guns.
So maybe in the next few days i'll give this a try.
 
Untill now it has been all brush work which is not too even with the application process and so the foam becomes uneven once pressed down with handling and pretend use.
I have been giving my tests a hard time to see how they can fail with use and abuse.
 
Nothing worth taking pics of yet, It's just offcuts doing the wrong thing for now.
Once I commit to full scale, the pics will come for those who are interested in my progress.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
I have made the card part of my door card for the passenger side front today.
 

 
I guess this will be a slow build for me, i'll do a little here and there.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
great work,
I'll have some for my two VB's thanks...
No way, it is taking ages to make these.
 
I know now why trimmers charge what they do for door cards, they take alot more time than I thought to make.
 
Any way more pics.
 
 
Spraying glue.

 
I think im going to use cans from now on, I had to use so much thinners to make the glue spray from my el-cheapo spray putty gun.
 
I don't want to annoy my neighbours with the smell of thinners.
 
 
Foam on Card.

I tried not to get the foam soaked through, hopefully this does not hold the foam together if it is pressed in the future
 
 
Workbench Monster.

I found a paint stain on my workbench, so I decided to draw a monster with it.
Nothing to do with the door card, but it semed like a fun thing to do.
 
 
*EDIT*
 
I got annoyed at the glue soaking through unevenly and pulled the foam off.
I don't want dents in the vinyl from new.
 
Im going to try this again with spray cans.
1967 Datsun B10 2 Door.
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