Door pockets

[Zithlord]

I followed the guide in the Esses magazine. I started with two crappie door pockets I bought at Pelican forum, it was far from straight, the vinyl ripped, the cardboard had cracked in a couple of places etc.

The ironing process was much easier than I thought when I read the article !

I forgot to take a before picture I am afraid, but in one of the pics you can see the straightened pocket before covering (glued cracks, sanded) and the other one finished. I bought the missing trim from a shop, but I am not satisfied with the scratches so I will take them of and fix them.

I recommend others to do this, it took about 2 hours.

Thanks
John

[Kaefer]

Wow...nice job!

I think I have the before pics:

[Aircool]

That looks great. What issue of the Esses was that in?

[Zithlord]

That right Kaefer !
I bought them from you !! Thanks to Keafer for suppling them. The trim for the fold down pocket was missing but I will post later where I bought them, have to go now for some beers downtown with customers.

Aircool: It was the one before the last issue.

John

[70SATMan]

Did you do anything special for the areas between the corners and the stiffening plate on the interior edge? Mine are in fairly good condition but, are slightly flaired at those points. Why coudn't they have run that stiffener full length.

[t6dpilot]

Zithlord, I have taken off my door pockets and am going to do the same thing. I have a couple of questions for the board.

How are you going to clean up the scratches on the Al trim?

Does anyone know where to get the felt material on the inside?

I have speaker holes in the map pockets. Can anyone recommend a method for repairing the hole, what material?

Thanks.

[Zithlord]

70SATMan: If I understand you correct you are referring to the metal stiffening piece that is attached to the upper edge of the interior wall of the pocket. I had the exact same question, Wye did they not use a piece that was a bit longer? Both my pockets were bent the wrong way between the point where the metal piece ends and the end of the pocket, and there was also a crack where the metal piece ends. What I did was first use the steam iron to bend the cardboard slightly the opposite way, and then I used epoxy glue to fix the crack and stiffen this part. Afterwards you can use some sandpaper and flat black paint or flocking material to get the right look and texture.

T6dpilot: In the article there is a reference to the provider of the flocking material, I will post the link when I get home.

I have given up finding some one in Norway that can do the replating of the aluminium, so what I am going to do is to remove the old plating, use very fine sandpaper and then polish them to shine. The drawback is that you at least once a month have to polish them.

In the article the guy used stiff "cardboard like" material, glue and wood putty to fix holes. Afterwards just sand out a smooth surface an d recover with correct vinyl !

Einmalig provided the trim(original) and the vinyl.

John

[robmog]

john, great job!
i'm the guy who wrote the esses article but i bow to the new master!
the "felt" material is flocking, a bit messy but easy to apply.
go to www.woodcraft.com, search "flocking".
i tried to keep the article short so didn't get much into repairs but my pockets were ready for the trash.
some more tips:
for delaminations saturate the cardboard with waterproof wood glue cover with wax paper and clamp overnight. it will be better than new.
for cracks epoxy is a great fix.
for missing corners i used eggcrate cardboard in thin wafers and tried to splice then into the doorpocket cardboard layers saturate with glue, shape and clamp. bondo or wood putty will make it smooth.
speaker holes are tough. i'd get a dryer softener sheet (tough non-woven fabric) glue it on the inside after removing flocking.let dry then fit a piece of cardboard in the speaker hole and the cover with another dryer sheet.
this worked real well for me and was invisible when covered.
keep up the good work.
bob m

[70SATMan]

70SATMan: If I understand you correct you are referring to the metal stiffening piece that is attached to the upper edge of the interior wall of the pocket. I had the exact same question, Wye did they not use a piece that was a bit longer?
John

Yep! and THANKS! I'm considering an additional support there as well as trying yours or Bob's method. Was the replacement trim you sourced reasonable in price? You might want to polish your trim to a high shine and then shooting it with a clear coat. Might help to keep you from polishing over and over. I've thought about this as well. I've got one small piece of broken trim that I'm going to practice on. Probably moot since I'll rarely have run the total stock look in my interior.

Cheers,

[johntyboy]

Great Thread

Hi I am from the UK and am unsure if we have access to the Esses mag, could you advise where I could find the artical or mag as my door pockets are very poor and I am really keen to have a go at restoring them.

Kind regards