civicchick2001

yep, 2001 ex.. i know its going to be extremely difficult to do. i dont even know if i am going to take the door handle off bc it looks impossible. (i know its not) but there aren't any screws to unscrew and pop off anything. its a sold handle. and im not prying anything apart or breaking anything. i think my best bet is to just cut the fabric to an exact match and lay it down as i go.. thats the only way i think. especially if i am leaving everything together.

what do you think?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

well there is no way to do it without removing the door panel and a bunch of parts like the handle and armrest. you need the fabric to lay under these so it looks good when putting it back. you cannot just rip the old fabric off and put new. it doesnt work like that. door panel needs to be completely taken apart for it to work. if you have a sedan, all the parts come out with screws from the back. if coupe, you literally have to break the parts off and glue them back on. there are no screws. if you try and put new fabric by cutting around the handle and window switch, it will look terrible.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

Ive got PM's from people saying they did it on the door, and also from people who said they didnt break the door handle part and it looked fine. To what "fine" is by their standards, I couldnt tell you- I have super high standards. Just letting you know its possible of course, but I def agree with Gear that you'll get better results taking the door panel off and laying it flat- much much much less aggravation in the end. And your door isnt a rubix cube, its held on by screws and clips (clips are even easier to work with than screws)

civicchick2001

its a sedan

is there somewhere that says step by step of how to take this off? gettin worried now. when i do things, i like them to be as perfect as possible. and if it looks crappy, well then i'm screwed. ill take pics of my door so you can see exactly what i am working with. it looks pretty solid though for the handle part. ill post pics later

civicchick2001

pics of doors as they are right now. as you can tell, the fabric currently there sucks. and also that the handle's, on both doors, are pretty solid through and through. so, let me know what you think of how i would do any of this with these doors. thanks..

right side door





left side door





please ignore my umbrella and flower thing. lol

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

if you have a sedan i would give it a try. removing the panels is easy, and once its off you will see the large gold screws on the back that need to come off. take all those out, then you should be able to pull apart all the pieces so that all the fabric is showing. the main thing is you want the fabric to extend behind those parts a bit. heres a quick diy.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...l-removal.html

civicchick2001

hmm.. ill see what I can do, thanks for gettin that DIY for me.. might have to print it out and go step by step lol

does that bigger part of the handle come off as well? the rubber feeling part, with no switches? or just the plastic?

MindBomber

I'm a horrible perfectionist, it's not an understatement to say I completely obsess over getting a project perfect once I begin until it's absolutely flawless. Through that I've learned something, if I don't get little DIYs like this perfect on the first attempt, I can start over and the second attempt will likely turn out much better. It's just a door panel, not anything crazy like a timing belt DIY, so don't worry, even if it turns out horrible your not screwed you just need try again.

civicchick2001

thats exactly how i am. if its not perfect, then its not done. i dont like sloppy jobs, i dont like rushed jobs, i like em done nice neat and perfect. which is also why i get so worried about things like this. yeah, i could probably take the door panel apart, but there's always that "what if" factor that pops in my head. what if i cant get it back on? what if i break something? what if i do something wrong and not be able to fix it? i have no buddies where i live now. before i moved, i had tons of buddies, that if i wanted this done, it'd get done, and all i'd end up doin is buyin em lunch or something.. so thats the only thing stoppin me now. im not ok with breaking something and fixing it later. knowing that its broken drives me insane. so, the weather is gonna be nice tomorrow, ill pull my car in the middle of the garage and take a look. if i plan on taking them off though, i might as well go buy some "peel and seal" for my door frame for my bass. the passenger door rattles like a mother. but anyways, thank you for your concern, and i do understand. just a little sketchy. im gonna hit up jo-ann's again tomorrow too.

(sorry i wrote a book) lol

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

just give it a try. its really hard to break the panel lol. and yes the rubbery thing comes out eventually. you will see once all the rear screws come out.

civicchick2001

2) The handle is connected to a latch that opens the door. You have to pivot the brown plastic piece to the right so that the latch can be lifted out of the hole. Now you can pull out the door handle. The drivers side only will have another plug that you take off for the power lock switch.

with this part ^ , as far as this latch goes, is that gonna fall down into the door as soon as the handle is off? and also, where is this plug for the power lock switch? i just dont want to miss anything if im gonna do this.

5) Remove the tweeter panel by pulling it out from the top of the pod.

does this thing really come off that easy? do you just pull it upwards and it slides off? or is it clipped anywhere?

So now you've removed the door handle, the two screws holding the window switches, and the tweeter pod. The only thing holding the panel on are plastic clips (about 9 of them) around the edge of the panel. You can use a screwdriver and try to pry it off, or use your hands. The first time it's really tough to pull, but it will come out eventually. Just go all around the borders until the door panel feels loose. Now you grasp it from the bottom and by the handle and pull up. Be careful when pulling the panel up, since you need to slide it up past the actual door lock.

with these "clips", are they connected to the panel? or are they loose clips? as in, could they fall out when you take the panel off? and the panel slides up? it doesnt just come off towards you?

Once the panel is off, the door lock will fall down. Just pivot back up and stick it through the hole when putting everything back in.

is this part difficult to do? how exactly do you pivot it back up when your putting it all back together?



sorry for the 20 questions, I just wanna be 100% clear before i jump into this. oh, and one more question.. when i remove the panel, will this show the me the inside metal part of my doors? bc if so, im gonna seal it up while im doing this. Will i be able to do that? Or will that make the panel not fit correctly?

let me know when ya can.. sorry i ask so much, but just nervous lol

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

....

civicchick2001

ok cool. thanks for answerin those for me. im one of those people to where if somethings gonna go wrong, it will. so just being prepared is better lol thank you again though, i appreciate it..

civicchick2001

one more question. do you think blue or black looks better where the fabric will go? im thinkin blue, but just wanted a second opinion

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

blue would be better so long as its not too dark like black

civicchick2001

ok. here's the plan for today. im gonna attempt to take the door panel off. When its off I'm gonna put dynomat on the metal area for sound. Then put the door panel back on. If it all goes smooth, and when i get the fabric (im ordering it online bc i cant find the blue i want in stores) i will take em back off and complete the doors. Im thinking about doing the back doors too. are those pains to get off?

I was thinking about painting my trim today also. And since the handle is coming off when i remove the door, i figured i could paint it. i asked a question over on the painting trim forum, but no answer yet.. but do u know if when u want to paint the vent trim, if the entire vent comes out? or just the black around the edge?

I'll let you know how to today goes. Wish me luck! lol

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you could always leave the panel in the house or something if you dont feel like putting it back on. the door can still be opened by pulling the metal latch mechanism, but the power windows will not work since there is no switch connected.

rear doors come off the same as the fronts except there is no tweeter panel to remove.

i honestly would not paint trim pieces. they may look good for a while but eventually they will flake off from sun and touching them.

civicchick2001

hey, i was thinkin.. does the fabric have to be micro suede? i mean i know its soft and nice, but what other kind can you use? im lookin for a prettier cool blue, that i cannot find in micro suede.. let me know if ya know thanx

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you can use nearly anything. first time i did vinyl lol. so long as its not too thick.

civicchick2001

ok cool.. ill definetly go have another look then. cuz i went straight to the micro suede last time i was at jo-ann's.. and they had about 3 colors. thanks

civicchick2001

well.. after all is said and done, i went to jo-ann's, picked out a fabric of the exact color i wanted, also bought the adhesive glue tape instead of the glue spray, and also some liquid glue to seal in the fabric around the edges. unfortunetly, it didnt turn out how i wanted it at all. by using the double sided sticky adhesive tape instead of the spray, it left creases exactly where the tape was layed down. it was a pain in the butt taking the door panel and door apart. And now after all of this, I have to go find a different fabric and do it all over again.

I would highly recommend thicker fabric, and fabric that can stand being layed over glue spray without bleeding through. i do not like the tape at all.. not unless you have thick enough fabric to where you cant see it on the other side.

I will be re-doing this again soon.. i dunno what to do with the rest of the fabric. guess ill make a pillow. lol. here's a pic of how it turned out.. you cant really see what i am talkin about with the tape lines, but up close, it looks like crap.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yeah i see what you mean. i never had that happen tho. the tape i used was fabric fuse tape from walmart and it is very thin there is no way it would make a crease like that. i layered my strips with 1mm gap inbetween but there was no raised height from the tape. it should be very thin stuff. if it makes you feel better, ive redid mine 4 times now til i got it looking like i wanted and i still need to redo the rear doors lol.

civicchick2001

i just hate it bc i was a nervous wreck taking my door apart, thinkin i was gonna screw something up.. got it all apart.. then when it came to the fabric, i just got ticked, but did it anyways. then when i put it all back together, the stupid a$$ alarm went off ( i just went off about that in another thread ) and it just sucks all that for nothin. and out $40 that i cant get back bc i used everything.

i want to use a thicker fabric with the spray glue when i do this again. Almost as thick as the original stuff that was in there. Do you happen to know what that is called? I am gonna go back to JoAnn's and look around, but I dont remember seeing anything like that, or much less, that color. The color i picked is EXACTLY what i wanted.. which makes it all the more depressing that its not gonna work. although i might buy some spray glue and test if this fabric will work, or if it'll bleed and look lame. i bought 2 yards of it, so i got enough to test. i might go get some here in a minute.. we'll see what happens :-/ just a sucky day for me.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Look at it this way: now that you've taken the door off once, you know how it comes off, so you know if something feels wrong when you go to pull it apart.

civicchick2001

that is very true. and i am glad that i decided to go through with it.. super thanks to gearbox and your DIY about how to get the panel off. i printed it out and had it with me while i was takin it off lol.. but hey, i did it!

GOOD NEWS though! after flippin out, i decided to go back to the JoAnn's store and look at the spray adhesive stuff.. and i found some that was "light" as in, not like silly string, and i came home, tested a piece of the fabric i was using on a piece of card board, and it works! no bleeding through.. good stick.. looks good! so thank god for that. I'm probaby gonna re-do my door, and also do the other 3 doors this weekend. It's gonna look good

But thank you everyone for the help and tips.. im sure ill have more questions later.. and sorry bout the complainin up ^ there.. hehe.. it happens

anyways, ill post pics when im done

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

you can also wait a bit after spraying the glue so some of it "dries" before putting the fabric. like at least 10 seconds. you dont want it to dry, and usually the can will give directions on how long to wait.

civicchick2001

AND I'M DONE!! Finally! I cant believe its finally done! And it looks great Here's the pics! Tell me what ya think.. The color looks a little funky from the flash, but its the same color as my plastic part above it, and the same color as my shift **** numbers that i painted (pic in that thread)..







I think they turned out good and keep in mind, the blue is not that light.. the flash made it look weird. ill take a pic of em outside soon so you can see.. BUT for now, its D.O.N.E!

On to the next project!

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Quite an improvement from your first attempt. I didn't notice the sail panel at first, personally not quite feeling it, but as long as you like it

Good job

civicchick2001

thanks! i like it alot! i know most people wont like that blue piece i painted.. but i think it looks pretty good i forgot to edit it out like i did the other pic.. oh well too late now.. lol.. anyways, im happy with the way it turned out. i also sprayed water proofing spray on it too, just for when the window is down, or door is open like in the rain and what not. didnt know if that would effect the glue behind it. but yeah.. happy with it!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

wow that looks great, nice and smooth