DIY leather arm rests

looks awesome... ever think about doing the seats in leather?

 

Great job! Now only if we could figure out how to replace the cheap top plastic part of the door panel with something that will not scratch!

 

looks really nice,i think i will give it a try

 

hey guys this is a great idea and looks nice but I just wanted to put it out there...instead of drilling the melt points, use a utility knife to slice them off. Its safer than using a drill and possible drilling too far. the end result is that with the knife u will definitely have some plastic there to tap your screws into. hope this helps.

 

Looks Great does anyone have a part # for the plastic
under the leather

 

Just got done doing my arm rests today in Neoprene and have to admit they came out really well. I have to agree with you, I used a scalpel to cut of the heads of the melt points and it seems to work allot cleaner as tried the first 2 melt points with a drill bit and didn't like the way they were coming out. Tried the scalpel and was much happier. Great write up though as it got me going in the right direction. Thanks

 

door panel with neoprene like material.

 

nice, im tryin it

 

Looks like you had a couple of screws try and push through. I did mine in Neoprene and had the same problem on the first panel I did, one screw tried to push through but I caught it and all it did was live a little dimple. I used 2 washers on the rest of the screws and had no problems. Now I just have to find a color that matches the door panel to touch up that small blemish.

 

Reid - I did this over the weekend. Followed your steps exactly but used Vinyl instead of leather. The Vinyl sucked up well to the plastic for the first night, next morning it seems like the adhesive vanished and now the vinyl is all loose and only being held in by the edges. Do you think the adhesive / vinyl combination is a bad one? I'm wondering if i did something wrong, or if i just need to do it with leather..

 

I'd really like to see the top part of the door panel covered in something softer than plastic. I rest my elbow there and it goes numb on long drives. Anybody done this?

 

I'd ike to add a little cushion to the arm rest under some camo print pattern that matches my seats, as that is where I rest my elbow, but I don't think I could get it to stay in place. Any idea'ers?

 

Cut the padding a little smaller, glue it on first then glue fabric/leather over it & wrap around on backside of plastic.

 

I am new to the site, and want to say thanks to all who contribute - there is some very helpful information on this site.

I am about to install a leather kit I purchased, and do the door inserts. I wanted to know if either Reid or julesbchillin or anyone else who has done this install has had long term success with the 3M spray adhesive? Based on the date of the posts, it has been some time now and thought I could get some feedback on the durability.

Thanks again for all the information out here.
Matt

 

Thats a great and seemingly easy DIY project... I am doing it! Thank you for the great step-by-step.

 

good joob

 

Wet Okole Neoprene, I ordered a whole extra sheet with my seat covers so i could do this mod instead of using leather.

 

good work brother, looks nice and thanks for the write up..

 

I would like to cover the upper portion of the door with leather as well as the arm rest. Does anyone know how the top part is attached to the panel. I have not taken mine off yet...

 

The top portion comes off by the same type of melt points mentioned earlier in the thread. The only problem i see with it may be the fact that the arm rest piece is completely surrounded by the door panel creating a nice snug fit and hiding the leftovers inside the door.