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Re-did my leather armrests today. Learn from my mistake

Discussion in 'Detailing' started by macgyver, May 30, 2010.

  1. May 30, 2010 at 9:24 PM
    #1
    macgyver

    macgyver [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2009
    Member:
    #21173
    Messages:
    3,577
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Brad
    Canton, GA
    Vehicle:
    '13 Tundra double cab SR5 4x4
    So I decided to re-do my leather armrests today. I installed my leather back in november and the everything looked awesome until it started getting hot outside and the leather I installed on the armrests started separating from the door panel. My guess is the glue I used wasn't strong enough to hold the bond in the heat. (dont use the permatex headliner spray adhesive like I did)

    Today I pulled the door panels off, peeled the old stuff off, and re-did them. I actually wanted to try something else this time by adding a little padding. I went to Jo-ann fabrics this morning and bought a yard of black vinyl/pleather and a yard of headliner foam. I also went to home depot and bought a can of 3M Super 80 spray adhesive.

    Here are some of the steps:

    Here are a few pics of the leather peeling off the door panel. Quite embarrassing because I'm very much a stickler for doing something right the first time, I blame the shitty glue. (yes I followed the directions on the glue, I have done contact cement and spray adhesive a thousand times before)

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Here is the shitty glue that you shouldn't use because it looses its bond when it gets hot.
    [​IMG]

    Here's the good glue I have used in the past for all sorts of projects...should have just bought this in the first place :(
    [​IMG]

    Door panel removed
    [​IMG]

    Headliner foam
    [​IMG]

    Headliner foam bonded to the door panel insert and excess material trimmed off with a razor blade
    [​IMG]

    Then spraying glue on the insert with foam already glued and spraying glue on the back of the vinyl. Let it sit for 4-5 minutes then bond the two surfaces together. Roll out bubbles with your hand and a roller starting from the inside curve outwards. Be careful and bond the inside curve first, keeping the vinyl off the foam then working your way outwards.
    [​IMG]

    Finished product of new vinyl with foam padding and the good 3m glue.
    [​IMG]

    Notice the padding :D
    [​IMG]

    Driver's side rear door done.
    [​IMG]

    My helper for the day, my golden retriever Chewy. He basically just layed on the cool garage floor all day with the fan blowing on him.
    [​IMG]

    So the moral of the story is...don't buy the shitty permatex glue. Also I probably should have done this originally which is to not trim off all the excess. This time I left a good 1" of material on the insert piece to allow any expansion and contraction of the material and not show a seam.
     
    Sasquatchtaco and theolee like this.
  2. May 30, 2010 at 9:35 PM
    #2
    tdels14

    tdels14 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2010
    Member:
    #34015
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    oregon
    Vehicle:
    2010 crewcab longbox trd sport
    looks good man, well done, hopefully doing mine in a few weeks. did you do the center consol as well?
     
  3. May 30, 2010 at 9:39 PM
    #3
    macgyver

    macgyver [OP] Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2009
    Member:
    #21173
    Messages:
    3,577
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Brad
    Canton, GA
    Vehicle:
    '13 Tundra double cab SR5 4x4
    I will be doing the center console next weekend. Its gonna require a little sewing to get the seam right. My mom has an industrial sewing machine and I will be down there visiting for my little sis' graduation so hopefully I will have time to make the center console part too.
     

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