XXL Posted March 26, 2013 Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 Now that the seat is done, it's time to turn my attention to the door panels and kick panels. Here's the stock panel... 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted March 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 Here are a few quick and dirty mockups of some ideas... don't worry about the colors. I spent about 10 minutes in pshop on them. The colors are already set by the materials I used on the seat. "Leaf" -- and "slate" -- In each of the below, I moved the lower color separation line from the horizontal as it is on the stock panel, to a slight angle that roughly matches the seat bottom angle. I think this makes more sense visually. For the green insert portion, I will likely do a very thin pleat that mimics the pleat of the seat (only no more than 1/8" padding. I don't want a pillowy door). On this one, I took lazy to a new level and didn't bother to work it up in pshop. I just penciled in the arc. the idea is to have the pencil shaded part to be one piece with the other two gray strips. The green would look more like a typical insert in a door. A couple of thoughts, though... 1) it seems to beg for a traditional arm rest in the green part, and 2) I'm not sure the curve fits with the design of the truck itself. Comments? Blank stares? Ideas? 1 Quote Link to comment
boxboy Posted March 26, 2013 Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 I don't have any suggestions, but I will say that you should get some good money for those original panels. I went through great trouble to preserve them and get them looking nice. I replaced the actual masonite panel as they were warped from years and moisture. But the skins are in remarkable shape. Nice to watch your progress! 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I don't have any suggestions, but I will say that you should get some good money for those original panels. I went through great trouble to preserve them and get them looking nice. I replaced the actual masonite panel as they were warped from years and moisture. But the skins are in remarkable shape. Nice to watch your progress! I won't be molesting the original panels. They will be stored for posterity. 1 Quote Link to comment
highdesertdatsun Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 i gota go with the stock configuration or two tone top and bottom with strait line. but if you look the stock door panel seems to match the body lines on the outside of door. i think I like stock style best . the others are cool just kinda remind me of old school vw stuff . you gotta put the Santa Cruz sticker on it then. I will have mine made like your stock ones , thanks for the pic because I had no Idea what they should look like. i also got my seat design from one Wayno posted on your seat design. my colors wont be stock though hunter green and black . cant wait to see how it comes out . 1 Quote Link to comment
alabama_lowlife Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 I kinda like the stock design over the other choices. Maybe some 1" pleats worked into it? 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 I kinda like the stock design over the other choices. Maybe some 1" pleats worked into it? Thanks. In general, I do like the angles of the 3 modified examples I posted above, but I think you're right about the stock design... it really lends itself more to the simple nature of the truck. The angles and curves are too "progressive" for a stock truck (perhaps if I was doing buckets, console, stereo, and a bunch of gauges... but not with the stock lines). So... I agree. I think I need to stick with the stock panel lines. And I was actually thinking about very thin stitched pleats to play off those on the seat. What I'm leaning toward at the moment is, rather than go with the 3 strips, just doing 2 strips of color... combining the top strip and main body into a single color (leaf green), and then the bottom strip in the slate gray. That will give me a little more of the green on the panel, so it will look less like a racing stripe (which is why I had contemplated the angle before-- so it wouldn't look like a racing stripe down the door). Now... what about the kick panel? Do I extend the 2-color pattern onto the kick panel, or just make it a single color? 1 Quote Link to comment
4perrev Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 I like the colors you picked, but I also like the original 3 strip pattern. 1 Quote Link to comment
DatWifey Posted April 1, 2013 Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 As stock as the overall truck is, personally, I would keep with the pseudo-stock look of similar styling on the panels. Our panels in our 521 were covered in a plain black vinyl when we got it, as well as the seat with a basic faded canvas, so I re-did them at the same dimensions of the stock panels. My initial go-around, I did a piping seam with 1/4" foam, and it sucked. The window roller was harder to wind, and kept hitting the piping. So, I re-did them again with a super thin layer of foam (maybe 1/16"), just to hide any indentations from the panel clips, and it was MUCH better. And I just did the kick panels to match the stock color, and on the 2nd go-around on the panels did the center strip to match the seat. With padding and piping 2nd try with less padding and no piping, just regular seams But, if you do go for something different, Madness did some badass panels a while back that I really liked. (you can see his post of how he went about them here in his first post) 2 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted April 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2013 Our panels in our 521 were covered in a plain black vinyl when we got it, as well as the seat with a basic faded canvas, so I re-did them at the same dimensions of the stock panels. My initial go-around, I did a piping seam with 1/4" foam, and it sucked. The window roller was harder to wind, and kept hitting the piping. Thanks for the insights and the pics. I see where the piping (or any other "thick" material) would cause a problem with the crank. I'll definitely keep that in mind. I do like your second panel better as well... hmmm... 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted April 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2013 Last weekend I pulled the door panels off the truck. I was expecting them to be original, but it looks like someone scavenged an old write-on board to make new panels, then covered them with the original material pictured above. I was planning to use the "original" panels as a template to make new ones out of 1/8" ABS plastic sheet, then store the old ones for posterity. However, since they're not original, I decided to reuse them. I stripped off the material and am setting that aside in case someone is looking to restore their panels to factory look (PM me if interested :) ). For the new covers, I'm going to keep the stock lines as others have suggested. I'm doing the leaf green on top and bottom, and the slate gray stripe through the middle, with a French seam stitch where the pieces connect to keep things flat. That will all be backed by an 1/8" foam, and then wrapped onto the panel. The vinyl is at the upholstery shop now. He's got a bit of backlog, so it will be a couple of weeks before I can get them wrapped and back on the doors. Pics to follow. 3 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 Door panels are done, and back on the truck. 3 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 I used a 1/8" padding to keep the panels thin, but the door handles were still rubbing slightly so I relieved the back side of the handles about 3/16". Before-- and after-- 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 If anyone is looking for the factory panel covers for a resto, please PM me. Mine are in VERY good condition and for sale. 1 Quote Link to comment
Jackson311 Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 love your color combo. you have very nice taste! 1 Quote Link to comment
JoeCool Posted May 8, 2013 Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 WOW! That interior is turning out great! I see just one problem... if you keep making your truck look nice, we will be forced to ask you to leave. This is RATsun. We have ratty rides here! :P 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted May 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2013 This is RATsun. We have ratty rides here! :P Thanks. I'm leaving the surface rust on the bed floor ;) 2 Quote Link to comment
DatWifey Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 That looks clean! Good choice with the pattern and stitches used :thumbup: 1 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Nice work - looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment
highdesertdatsun Posted May 9, 2013 Report Share Posted May 9, 2013 Big pimpin! They came out sweet . Hardly any room for foam . Note taken. I hope to afford mine soon! The paint on door. Original? Looks mint. 1 Quote Link to comment
boxboy Posted May 31, 2013 Report Share Posted May 31, 2013 Looks awesome XXL! I have serious regrets about selling this truck. Glad it is good hands. If you get tired of her, let me know! 2 Quote Link to comment
zed1 Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 XXL, What door panel clip did you use? (I am looking for a source for a replacement to the metal button topped clip.) Thanks, Keith 1 Quote Link to comment
difrangia Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 XXL, What door panel clip did you use? (I am looking for a source for a replacement to the metal button topped clip.) Thanks, Keith Keith, Like this? If that's not it, take a look at Au-Ve-Co's site: https://www.auveco.com/ Lots of other commonly needed items in there also. All established auto trim shops use this company's products. Steve 2 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted January 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 XXL, What door panel clip did you use? (I am looking for a source for a replacement to the metal button topped clip.) Thanks, Keith Thankfully mine were 100% intact. I think @difrangia may have you covered above. If you find out what specific pn# works, please update us. At this age, I'm guessing the world of Datsun door panels is missing about 70% of all clips. 1 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted January 10, 2017 Report Share Posted January 10, 2017 These are what I have/use on my 320/520/521 door panels, the left piece is a stock metal clip that I find on nearly all door cards, the middle plastic clip is a type I found on a good set of door cards I found(aftermarket?), and the right clip I can buy at the auto paint store now. 1 Quote Link to comment
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