EDM620

Ah yes, the Wet Coast! True the MDF/Fibreboard will behave in a Hydrophillic manner (draw in moisture), but if you give it a coating of something like Thompsons water seal, you'd eliminate that potential. Expect you wouldn't be able to apply the vinyl though afterward but maybe apply the vinyl and coat the backside (and exposed edges) with the water seal. Another idea to "build in" a pattern. Maybe I should've done this. When I remade the rear corner panels (fibreboard) I had to duplicate the curve of the original panels. The process isn't hard but use caution or the fibreboard will crack not bend. First step is a mould to replicate your shape (or embossed pattern). Best would be to have male+female mould halves so you can press the fibreboard in between. Like stamping metal. This has to be gentle and smooth but easily accomodates up to about 1/2" embossing. Lightly sand the area that needs to be curved/raised or altered. Spray (important - use Glass cleaner that has ammonia) to wet that area, then lay the fibreboard on your mould and slowly & evenly press the halves together. Allow to dry. Repeat as necessary until full shaping is acheived and fibreboard doesn't relax back to the original flat beyond what you accept. If you are too aggresive, the fibreboard with separate and crack. If that happens and isn't too bad, use wood putty and smooth it out. Here is the original curved and rotten panel My test panel with mould negative to confirm curve Curved panel ready for other work Not shown is the dimple I had to make to accomodate the bump out for the seat belt. First one I was too aggressive and it cracked alot. Next one was much better. Doing the dimple is why I think this might work for shaping a pattern into the door cards. I've already invested too much time and made my replacement cards fit exactly, but maybe one of you guys would do it.

Looking at the slider window and thinking "reaching a beer outta the cooler be challenging" 😁

Now that is funny! I might as well be holding a piece of cardboard for all the good that would do. The battery alone on the EV Hummer weighs 2923 pounds. The current Ionic 5 weighs in at 4800 lbs (extended range model) rendering the 620 (or any vintage Japanese vehicle) as effective as a bug hitting the windshield especially in a side impact. Honey, where's my bubble-wrap suit? 🤣

Had an opportunity to pick up a stepside box about a year ago, was mounted on a Chevy Luv so fuel was on wrong side. Seller wanted to only sell complete truck for stupid money so it still sits and continues to rot away. No longer an issue for me but the cool factor was there!

If there is enough material, you could run a bead to create a pattern - plus benefit of adding rigidity. A rolled edge would be a nice touch. I used to have a guy who was going to do some panel work for me, but he fully earned the nickname "Mr Unreliable"

Added colors and patterns make a big difference 👍

Well since it's for John anyway 🤣

The NiCu lines are easily bent/shaped by hand. Steel lines are available in a range of colors but the steel is of course harder to work with.

Given the increasing proliferation of the USB-C cables 'n stuff, hopeful you ordered the charging port with both types

Now for some shiny new brake & fuel lines...

I have watched those ones already, well the first and third one, which did give me some of my ideas. ATM I have about a dozen different layouts drafted out combining 2-3 materials. I have some material on hand that is "period" appropriate and a few of my designs incorporate what I've got. I did find a seller via eBay that makes pretty decent OE style cards and he would make them in my colour, but overall cost is beyond the budget just for a couple of door panels plus I'd still have the remaining panels to cover anyway and they wouldn't match. The previous owner on my nephews 68 Cougar redid the door panels plain flat and to me it just looks like crap. Yes I've watched his as well, the idea of the door pocket is a nice touch. I have added pockets into the kick panels and rear corners (still in the works). Thanks for the ideas!

Thanks for the feedback. I expect to use the dye method once I get the fabric off (new style with plastic clips) and paint the various knobs etc to match up. Playing around with the door cards and might add in some "classy" wood accents - just one of many design ideas running rampant through my head... my wife is interjecting some ideas too. Have to go with the non-sew methods as I don't have access to an industrial sewing machine.

Did some work relating to the door cards & seats, needing to check fit before I end up with a problem. My seats are from a 2001 Altima and when I mounted up the sliders I didn't have the doors on plus with the idea I'm working on for the door cards meant possible interference. First thing was to eliminate the wiring under the passenger seat (occupancy sensor) which is a hydraulic thing so when I cut the hose it leaked out some viscous liquid all over the floor. With the seat installed and door pull mounted, I was able to determine my clearance to be about 2-1/2" so all is good. With the seat slid all the way fore & aft, I marked out the relative seat position on the door cards - note the door pull is partially blocked at full forward, but no-one is ever going to sit like that - and I now know exactly what limitations I have to work within for my designs. When I initially scooped these seats, I was planning on adapting the 720 dash I had (brown) so the beige seat fabric was ok. You can see that with these seats, the extra "room" of the KC is used up. That no longer provides proper feng-shui in my grey & black interior so either I need to find better fitting seat covers or possibly remove the fabric to dye them. That sounds like a lot of work though... The generic seatbelts I have do fit properly into the Nissan seat buckles so I won't have to use the floppy ends. The floor anchor ends however pose a problem. The 620 factory mounts are located behind & inside the seat rails, so either I have to run the belt under the rail as pictured or over. The other option is to relocate the anchors - not ideal. Time for some sketching to design my non-flat "non-boring" door cards...

Fingerd it out. Surprisingly the passenger seat was fitted with some kind of hydraulic occupancy sensor - once I cut the tube off it dribbled whatever that viscous fluid was. Non-toxic I trust... as for the # of wires, several were blanked on the other side of the connector - I suspect this was advance wiring for heated seat pads, but only on the passenger side - no such wires on drivers side so something else. The bulk of the wires were all related to the occupancy sensor with only 2 being for the seatbelt. Knowing what wasn't needed or possibly repurposed I dispensed with it all. Whew. Don't like random leftover wires hanging around.