Black Suede door section on R18

[cojaro]

It's not real suede, it's 100% polyester (called Butter Suede), made to imitate real suede.

After I saw this I had to do it to my car. I decided against doing the armrests because if I were to do that, I'd have to do the center armrest also. Plus, the armrests would no longer match the seats. So here are the results:





It's so good I wish I could +rep myself over and over. (kidding)

two new pics:

Wow, my tint looks really dark in that pic.


-------------------------(*( DIY )*)-------------------------------

Materials needed:
Butter suede (yard x 60" should be enough, but I got two yards just in case)
3M Super 77 (recommended; I got mine at Michael's craft store)
Phillips head screwdriver
flathead screwdriver
dremel or something similar (recommended with a small metal bit; mine looked like a small cylinder with sharp edges)
hot glue gun
felt (optional)

OK, the first step is to remove the door. Before you can do that, though, you have to undo a few pieces here and there.
This is the moulding piece next to the side view mirror. Best way to get that undone is to move it side to side until you can pull it out.


Next, you undo the four screws that are holding the door to the metal.
This is the screw + clip behind the handle. You'll see a small cover with a tab at the back end; just push on that little tab and the cover will come off. You should be left with this. Undo the clip and screw (The clip is undone by pushing on the center until it pops in).


There are now just three screws and eight clips between you and a free door. To remove the silver armrest handle, just pull it out. There should be a little slot on the bottom in which you can put a flathead screwdriver. The three screws are seen (kinda) here:


After all the screws and that solitary black clip are removed, it's now just a tug-of-war between you and the door. I found that pulling closest to the door's speaker (holding on the side pocket) was best. Trust me, you'll now when those clips come undone. A few may fly out (check within 10ft of the door if you're missing one) and a few may just fall off. After the clips are undone, slid the door up and out. Don't forget unclip (i.e. pull somewhat hard) the inside door handle and slide it out of the door, as well as unplugging the electronics.

I found that if I took all the clips out of the door metal and onto the door panel, it was much easier to put the door back on. I didn't have a door popper or whatever those weird tools are, but I found my own way to get those clips out. When you do get them out, put them back in the door panel (the one you just took off) for safe keeping.

On the back you should see this:

The blue circles are where (approx.) the plastic welds are (eight of them in total, if my memory serves me right). The red circles are the fifteen screws that hold that panel in place. That little wihte "pillow" is attached at three places on the panel you want to remove; just pull the "[illow" away at the spots it's glued onto. Also, carefully and slowly try to slid the foam block out from the plastic welds holding it on. If it breaks (like mine did), don't worry about it; there's a fix for that.


Undo the screws , then take the panel outside (don't place on the ground! It'll scratch like hell. Place towels underneath it) and use the dremel like so (clockwise or counterclockwise, it doesn't matter). Don't dremel too much, just check now and then to see if it'll separate from the rest of the door


Once everything is said and done, the panel should come off.

Once the panel is off, you're ready to glue the suede onto it (just make sure the surface of the panel is relatively clean and free of debris; it doesn't need to be spotless though). I sprayed a third of the panel and applied the fabric, then the next third, applied fabric, and so on. Make sure it's smooth all around and that you have plenty of excess. Let it sit for about 15 minutes and then start punching holes through the fabric where the screws and what-have-you will be going through. I used a nail and my pocketknife for that, but you can use whatever is handy.

Once that's done, put the panel back on and put all the screws back in place. I didn't bother with the plastic weld areas, assuming that the excess fabric would prevent any rattles.
Now you get to take out the hot glue gun and glue the "pillow" back in place, on the same places where it was originally glued. Put the foam block back and hot glue the top of the plastic weldsthat were holding the foam on originally and, if you want, a spot underneath the foam to make sure it stays. I broke my foam block in half on one of the doors, so I just hot glued it back together.

Now, if you want to avoid rattles, this is where the felt comes into play. Look at the side and bottom edges of the door panel; there should be like felt pieces about every 6 inches. If you're missing any or just want ot make sure there won't be rattles, cut small rectangles of the felt and put a little glue from the hot glue gun on them. Apply them to the edges, however far apart you wish.

Putting the door back on is basically the reverse of taking it off, so I'm not going to elaborate there.

There! All done.

Two Things I Learned
1. Don't touch the black gunk that hold the plastic sheet to the metal door frame. If you do, use Lava soap.
2. When the passenger side window controls are unplugged, neither the passenger nor the driver can roll that window down. If the driver side window controls are unplugged, neither the driver nor the passenger can roll any of the windows down.

[aodmisery]

[K20z3 Civic Si [PHONG]]

Looks good

[modoko]

Very nice, one of the best R18 ever, very clean.

[projectprelude]

very nice...i want to do this black inserts on mine also...but it almost seems like a hassle...lol maby im just sorta lazy :)

[Celcius]

Looks like you did a pretty good job. It's subtle.

[cojaro]

Originally Posted by projectprelude

very nice...i want to do this black inserts on mine also...but it almost seems like a hassle...lol maby im just sorta lazy :)

It's actually pretty easy. As long as you know what you'll need to do, then it should take more than 1-2 hours for both doors from start to finish.

[projectprelude]

ill have to look into it again..

[cojaro]

Originally Posted by projectprelude

ill have to look into it again..

Having a Dremel really helps, because there are 6 plastic welds holding that section on (along with 15 screws). I didn't bother to hot glue or epoxy the plastic welds when I was putting the section back on because I think that 15 screws is quite enough to hold it on tight.

[reelbigfish241]

DIY possibly?

[cojaro]

Originally Posted by reelbigfish241

DIY possibly?

Sure! I'm going to do the driver side door after school today so I'll try to get the DIY (w/ pics) up tomorrow.

[reelbigfish241]

Originally Posted by cojaro

Sure! I'm going to do the driver side door after school today so I'll try to get the DIY (w/ pics) up tomorrow.

nice! my dealer stained mine a bit but I couldn't prove it. They want a lot of money for replacement parts.

This would be a much cheaper and more personalized way to fix it.

[cojaro]

In an effort to not copy the guy who posted the DIY about this first (he put red butter suede on his Si), I'm merely going to try to elaborate what he did, including where the clips are, what to watch out for, and anything else.

[twistedframe]

Looks great! Good work!

[esx005]

Originally Posted by cojaro

In an effort to not copy the guy who posted the DIY about this first (he put red butter suede on his Si), I'm merely going to try to elaborate what he did, including where the clips are, what to watch out for, and anything else.

hey man that looks great i hope the diy helped.

+rep 4 u

[BubzSI]

post up your DIY..


was it easy?..

[esx005]

DIY Fabric Change on Doors
here is mine if you want it

[mishima8]

Good work bro.

[projectprelude]

maby seeing another DIY will motivate me to get on this little project...i really just wish i could make the entire interior black...carpet and all..lol btw cant wait for the pics

[DTurnbull]

We're making CF door inserts...