Door pockets for not so deep pockets

[tomster]

Hi all!

I just wanted to let you know that I finally managed to perform some work on my door pockets. I actually was planning on doing so for the last ~20 months but never really felt like it. Well, until last week. That might not sound THAT interesting in the first place, but I guess it's (moneywise) a pretty good alternative to buying the repro-pockets from the stores around.

After having bought numerous original but (more than) used ones I came across an ad on the German equivalent of Kijiji. Someone sold fiberglass reproductions of both the map pockets and folding ones - that's just the pockets, no vinyl, no chrome trim nor flock. The map pockets were € 110 and the folding ones € 150 both for a pair incl. shipping. Since pretty much all of the pockets I bought before were nowhere near straight I decided to give them a go. That was back in 2017 (so prices might have changed a bit). Of course the insides of the pockets need some sanding to get a smooth surface. No problem with my equipment on the front pockets, but kinda hard to get inside the folding ones. So I sanded the latter by hand until I lost titillation.



After having read through numerous forum posts about the correct vinyl I settled for the one being offered from German Supplier MAH https://www.mah.de/sortiment/kunstle...unstleder.html for ~ € 35 per running meter (1m is sufficient for all 4 pockets). Damn close to the original by grain but maybe a tad off to the greyish side. But I could only tell by putting them both aside. So after all it was fair enough for me.



Next step was thinking about the flock. Coincidence had it that a good friend of mine runs a flocking business quite nearby. After having talked to him he agreed to do the flock on the 4 FGL pockets for "a couple of Steins at the Oktoberfest in Munich". Though we did not settle for a determinded amount of 'em it sounded like a fair deal to me. + I get to join him since the tap is on me ;-) It turned out quite nice IMHO (map pocket pictured):



So I ended up with my first "vinyl wrapping" experience. It is actually not that hard when you take your time as you work yourself along the pocket in small steps & let the glue dry properly at each step. The chrome trim & "diamond" were taken from the original pockets. I drilled out the rivets, just to re-rivet them after having them newly covered onto the GFL ones with rivets I found looking quite similar to the original ones (not 100% but close) Hollow rivets, black shaft 8mm:





Because you can't put staples in FGL pockets I decided to glue the vinyl aroud the pocket corners to give a clean appearance when looking from the front side.


Attaching the rest of the chrome trim (a bit polished but nowhere near "mint"), and re-riveting the hinges. Ready to install!



At the moment I am preparing for my all-first sewing experience to get the vinyl for the map pockets done right. Though it's just a 45° cutout and a ~ 5cm seam my hands get a little wet when thinking of actually doing it. I'll keep you posted on my proceedings.

Total cost:

Map pockets: € 110 a pair
Folding pockets: € 150 a pair
Flock: a yet undetermined amount of beer
Vinyl: € 35
Glue: € 15
Rivets: € 6

Chrome trim, "diamonds" & rubber tops for map pockets were supplied from existing pockets. All in all I ended up with a "used but tidy" look. Fitting just perfectly to the rest of my car.
Just for the looks you could also use the mock-up "rubber tops" pictured on pic1 though I doubt they will actually look real...

All in all this might be some alternative to those sets offered commercially here and there, don't you think?
At least the price is competitive ;-)
Regards,
Tom

[Eminence Gris]

Very nice! In my experience, moisture causes the bottoms of both pockets to 'droop,' making alignment -- especially of the pop-out pockets to the armrest -- a challenge. The 'glass pockets should be a permanent solution.

[kaufmanp]

Very nice indeed.

Who originally supplied the "fiberglass reproductions of both the map pockets and folding ones"...?

[tomster]

Who originally supplied the "fiberglass reproductions of both the map pockets and folding ones"...?

Here's one of his ads:
https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-...28677-223-1403

[tomster]

BTW, I found a quite nice video (props to Chris Davies! Thx man!) that shows perfectly how to re-do the vinyl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX9isE2ETTQ&t=202s

And yes, it IS that simple...

[uai]

Hi Tom, Du kannst ja mal den Stephan in Pfaffenhofen besuchen und zuschauen wie er komplizierte Teile wie BMW02 Armaturenbretter oder stark gewölbte Türtafeln mit Echtleder bezieht.
Und wenns ums Nähen geht kann er Dir sicher auch helfen. (Er verkauft Dir aber sicher auch gerne ein paar von seinen Türtaschen)
Grüße nach München.

Uli

[tomster]

Thx Uli,

but I just conquered the sewing machine! I would have gotten back to Stephan if I would not have bought the FGL ones quite some while ago. Besides, a little DIY in a field you're not familiar with is always fun.

[G69]

Very nice. And the fiberglass layup is done so well no worries about those nasty glass splinters.

You can be proud of making something that is better than original. And one that can hold a couple sweating bottles of Stella on a run to the boatyard! Hell- with GRP construction you could add a little ice and really be sitting pretty!

[tomster]

And installed. A little more tweaking on the handle and the gaps will be pretty much aligned as it came from factory.

[72targa]

Wow! nice!!