My coupe by 66Lincoupe

3 minute(s) of a 130 minute read

One down. Just final trimming and then holes for the jewelry!

9-5-2014

I found that the hardboard for the passenger panel was not in the greatest condition after removing the vinyl and carpet. This material is available from several auto suppliers but they tend to think it's made of platinum. The Home Depot and Lowes sells the same 3/16 inch thick stuff in 2 foot by 4 foot sheets for less than 5 bucks a sheet which is perfect for what I needed. 

I started by prying off the metal cap that gives the door panel its curved shape. The steel is perforated and the sharp edges form points that secure the steel to the hardboard. I had to straighten each of the 124 points (31 holes, 4 points each) so that I could secure the new hardboard to the cap. This worked well and the door panel was a sturdy as I would expect it to be but I reinforced the seam just to be safe.

Here's the old panel with the cap removed. It was so brittle it was almost crumbling in my hands.

I used tape to recreate the missing bits around the edges. I left the chip in the top because I don't have to cut that edge.

Then when the new panel core was assembled I flipped the old panel over and marked all of the cutouts that need to be drilled and cut. That's tonights project!

9-7-2014

Well, the door cards are done. On to the quarters. Here's the starting point. Faded gold/green which wasn't a pretty color to start with, but somebody loved it... And the weird biscuit pattern with the weave is not my favorite. 

The hardboard on both of these was damaged - either water because the passenger window was down outside for nearly 25 years or heat cycle damaged from being in the Arizona sun or both - so I fabbed up some new ones. Then I got called in to work so these will wait until tonight.

before

The cut and shaped new boards...

hardboard cut