mikeric

iTrader: (20)

When I purchased my FB five years ago one of the first things I did was rip out that terrible burgundy carpet and door panels. I always said I would replace the panels but other priorities came up. This weekend I finally bit the bullet and decided to make something custom as I did not have the original board that went in the door.

This is how I have been driving around for the last 5 years:





I went to Lowe's and purchased the thinnest plywood that I could find. I then went on Amazon and ordered some 2x10 square feet of leather (as I hate pleather), glue, Thermo-Tech, and a pack of 8mm bumper retainers.

I first tried to trace out the doors with paper and transfer it to card board but that was too inaccurate. I found some semi-clear drawer liner plastic at the local hardware store which was stiff enough to work with but see-through enough to see what I was doing. I used this to create a template.



Once the template was created, it was transferred over to the plywood.





After trimming and test measuring and re-trimming



Holes were drilled and test fitted. The first piece was then used to do the other side





Now down to the basement to get wrapped up in leather.



Testing the glue



Trimmed the leather, glued and gave the panels some books to ponder.



While that was curing, I lined the doors with Thermo-Tech as I didn't want my new panels rattling around.



Once the glue had cured for a couple of hours, and put small staples on the back side to secure it all in place. I'm still working on a more elegant handle but for now a strip of leather will have to do.

mikeric

iTrader: (20)

The finished product.





In all, this took an afternoon and a little over $200 to do.

placd1

iTrader: (3)

Nice job Mike! They look identical to the door cards that T3 recently started selling.

mikeric

iTrader: (20)

Thanks! Probably a good thing that I did not know that someone was selling these as I may have been lazy and just bought them. How much are they by the way? The most expensive part of this was the leather so I could have made it cheaper if I was willing to use alternative materials. Non-black leather is half the price for some reason and as much as I like brown leather, it just wouln't have matched the rest of the interior which I am slowly turning to black. Even if I didn't save money by doing it myself, at least I have the pride of doing it.

I figured out that I can flip the "handles" upside down and it hides the screw and looks a little cleaner.

David Rodak

Those turned out way better than when I attempted it lol. Ill have to give it a go again

edit: the only thing that bothers me is no armrest :/

mikeric

iTrader: (20)

I never really missed an arm rest as I never had one. I guess my driving. Style requires both hand on the wheel

RustyRotary

iTrader: (2)

Looks good! Reminds me of the no-nonsense door cards in old Porsches and the like.

How about this for a door handle? Crown Automotive Part 55009801K - Interior Door Pull Handle - Fits 1976 to 1995 YJ Wrangler and CJ - 4 Wheel Drive

mikeric

iTrader: (20)

Well, that works out perfectly since I often have people say "nice Porsche" due to the WB and the fact that there are no emblems on the car.

Cookboy

iTrader: (10)

I'd take the strap, or a wider one, to a shoe shop and hem the sides. Keep it simple. It looks good.

placd1

iTrader: (3)

Techno Tuning Toys has the door cards at $150 plus shipping for a pair

David Rodak

yea plus shipping. Thats a little pricey considering this may have cost him 40 total

mikeric

iTrader: (20)

Sheet of plywood cost $13 and the plastic door liner was $6 so total for the cards was $19 plus my time but I'm happy in the garage.

tommyeflight89

iTrader: (4)

Looks good!

Certainly goes along with the wide body and race seats.

Also, the TTT door cards are very nice...

I would email them and see if they can just sell you the small machined aluminum piece they made to act as a guide for the door locks. You can see it in a few of the pics from their site.