DIY custom curved interior trim panels for cars: How to quickly and easily make compound-curved custom trim panels. Make your own interior trunk ... and kick panels for cars, trucks and RVs. - Softcover

Edgar, Julian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 153937856X ISBN 13: 9781539378563

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

Synopsis

It's normally difficult to make interior car trim panels that look right. That's especially the case when the panelneeds to curve in two directions at once - to be compound curved.But inthis short booklet, author Julian Edgar shows a completely new way ofmaking these panels.
It's quick, easy (no hours of sanding!)and gives excellent results.The approach uses a very special techniquethat produces sandwich layer foam panels that can easily be trimmed incarpet or cloth. The panels can be curved however you like, and providegood sound and heat insulation.The panels can be produced at home,require no special tools and use readily available materials.

In this booklet more than 65 colour photos are used to show thestep-by-step of making flat-faced panels, 3-layer foam curved panels and 5-layer foam curved panels. There's also pages on how to trim thepanels in carpet, on the correct materials to use, and hints and tips.

So start making interior trunk panels, door trims and kick panels for your car, truck or RV today.

About this title

From the Author

If you look inside a car, you'll see lots of curved interior panels. In the boot (trunk), on the inside of the doors, on the kick panels - and so on. The manufacturer of the car makes these panels using huge moulds to shape them - but what do you do, as a car modifier or restorer, when you want to replace these panels or change their shape?

The was the question that faced me, and when I looked for an answer, all I saw were difficult, time-consuming and messy approaches like using fibreglass resin, or free-spraying aerosol foam and then carving it to shape.

So I developed a completely new way of making these panels.

It's a method that is cheap, fairly easy, and produces 'natural shaped' compound curves. I've used it to make door panels that contain speakers, and I've used it to make panels that curve around obstacles (like inner fender metalwork) and fit into place neatly and accurately with existing trim panels.

The panels are also very light and provide good sound and heat insulation. I carpet mine but you could also use cloth or leather.

You can buy the materials to make the panels from local suppliers, and as for tools, all you need are a pair of scissors, a staple gun, maybe an electric jigsaw, a sharp knife and some timber props and weights.

Developing the technique took me many hundreds of hours, but now that I know all the tricks, I can make a panel in perhaps 30 minutes of work. And so can you - this small book distils all that I have learned and presents it as an easy to understand, step-by-step process.

I made my first panel in this way many years ago, but I still get a kick out making new ones - I just love seeing people's jaws drop when they see the results. "Looks like it came out of the factory," is the most common comment.

So if you're stuck endlessly painting fibreglass resin, or sanding foam or chipboard laboriously to shape, buy this book! I know I wrote it, but I don't think you'll regret the purchase...

About the Author

Julian Edgar started his working life freelancing for photography magazines.

He then worked as a secondary school teacher for eight years, teaching senior humanities, before leaving teaching and becoming a full-time automotive writer.

He edited a national Australian automotive print magazine before becoming editor of AutoSpeed, an online car magazine. Along the way he wrote extensively for Silicon Chip, an electronics hobbyist magazine, while contributing articles to technical and automotive publications in Australia, the UK and the US.

He has been making custom interior trim panels for more than 20 years, and spent many hours developing the techniques described in this booklet. 

Julian lives in a hamlet 80 kilometres north of Canberra, Australia. He spends much of the week playing in his home workshop - for the rest of the time, he works for a company providing training in high-level writing skills.

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 153937856X
• ISBN 13: 9781539378563
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 24