[horvath]

I want to do some custom panels in my truck interior ...

Re: Chipboard -- where do I buy this stuff? And do you ever use it to make panels? Or is it just for making templates?

Re: Panelboard -- could I just buy 1/8" plywood at Home Depot for panelboard ... is that the same stuff you use? Or do I buy something else?

Thanks, bro'.

Alan Horvath
<a href="http://AlanHorvath.com/54chevy/" target="_blank">54 Chevy Pickup</a>

 

[kristkustoms]

Chipboard - I dont even keep the stuff around the shop for templates anymore, so I wouldnt even recommend using it for panels. Cardboard works the best for pattern making (for me anyway, plus its free). I get at least a package a day from UPS or FedEx, so I usually have an abundance of boxes around. It stays fairly stiff for pattern making, and it can be cut easily with shears.

About my panel making...

There are a few different kinds of panelboard, each supplier will have their own. Number one, stay away from chipboard like I said, and stay away from some stuff called "cowlboard," this stuff will warp on a humid day. Then there are two kinds of good panelboard, or what some suppliers call "door panel board." There is tan and there is the stuff that 90% of upholsters use which is black. Miami Corp. out of Cincy Ohio sells the tan stuff which is water proof, it will not warp. The black will warp, but it will take a while for it to warp. Then there is Maxxion Moldable Plastic Panelboard, which comes in 1/8" or 1/4", but its pretty expensive (about $50-$75 for a 4x8 sheet). The Maxxion stuff can be molded and curved with heat, its too expensive to use for flat panels.

You could use 1/8" LuAnn Plywood, or masonite, but Im not a fan of masonite (seems brittle). I keep alot of 1/8" LuAnn plywood at the shop (bought from Lowe's or Home Depot), but MAKE SURE it is treated for outdoor use, or once again, it will warp. Its under 10 bucks for a 4x8 sheet. I use the LuAnn for my headliners and some other big panels (trunk sides and stuff like that). I prefer to use the tan panelboard for my door panels, you can cut the stuff with a utility knife, so you can cut perfectly straight lines with the knife and a straight edge or yard stick. With the LuAnn plywood, it has to be cut with a JigSaw, and Im pretty efficient with a JigSaw, but I cant cut a perfectly straight line. I double up the tan panelboard for my door panels to make them stiffer. And of course you need 1/4" closed cell foam for any designs and to add a bit of padding.

Let me know if you have any more questions......

 

[horvath]

You ARE the man, bro'!

That's great info and I sure do appreciate it. Now that my rewiring is done, and I've got the new shifter, hand brake, gauges and AC/Heat done, I'm starting to develop ideas for my interior. Sounds like the "tan stuff" is what I'm gonna want to be working with, for the most part. Can I buy some from you? Or can you direct me where to look locally or on the web?

It'll probably be a few weeks before I start digging in, but I'm definitely starting to head in that direction. I'm way more suited to doing interiors than I am to mechanical stuff, or wiring for that matter ... I know nothing at this point, but I promise you'll grin BIG time when you see my work.

PS - When do you do carpeting? Is it the LAST thing you do?

THANKS!

Alan

 

[kristkustoms]

The tan waterproof panelboard I buy from Miami Corp. Miami doesnt sell to the public, you need a business tax ID number to buy from them. The way that they talk about the tan panelboard, it is one of their exclusive products. If you cant find it elsewhere, I could sell it to you.

I usually do the headliner first, then the carpet would come next. Youll want to have the carpet/insulation/padding in the car or truck before you start building your panels for two reasons. It will add thickness to the floor, and youll want to build the panels accordingly, and youll want the carpet to pass underneath the panels. The door panels, I always do last. Even though they are the funnest part of an interior to do, if you do them last there is less of a risk of scuffing them up taking tools in and out of the car/truck.

 

[horvath]

I have a Tax ID number, so I guess I can buy from Miami Corp. -- do they have a minimum order amount or anything like that? How do I contact them?

Thanks for the instruction on installing-order.

Alan

 

[kristkustoms]

Is the tax ID number for an upholstery related business? Miami was pretty damn picky when I first signed up with them. There was no initial buy in, but on the application, I had to give them like 3 industry related businesses that I deal with. When I first started my business, I couldnt get an account with them for some of these reasons. They recently changed names (Used to be Miami Rubber), so maybe they re-structured.

Give them a call, there phone number is at their site

www.miamicorp.com

 

[horvath]

No ... it's my recording studio ... I'm incorporated under Smokey Mirror Studios, Inc.

Sounds like that ain't gonna work - they'd know I don't know my stuff in an instant, man.


I'll contact you when I want some and we'll work something out.

Thanks again.

Alan

 

[spika]

headliner panelboard

Hey, KristKustoms...you sound like the best to answer my question in this same area...
I'm in the process of constructing various interior panels on my Studebaker pickup, and am planning to use the black panelboard commonly used. What is the appropiate way to seam the various sections of the component where curvatures require a seam rather than just bending? Case in point...the headliner will have the main section, a small nearly vertical section above each door, and the section that rolls around the rear corners and covers the back around the rear glass. It looks like most of these can go into place as one component, but need to be fabricated in 4 pieces. Whats the best way to join them?
Attached is a pic of the beginnings of the templates...you may see what I'm talking about...
Any info is appreciated-
tjs

 

[kristkustoms]

Hmm, thats not the way i would construct the headliner, but i wouldnt try and join the pieces together, you would basically be creating a sort of dome with squared off edges, if that makes sense. This would make it hard to cover. I would try and make one main headliner board over head, two door frame panels like you have above the doors, and one (maybe two) back wrap around pieces (split at back window if need be.

Start with the main head liner board, cover and put it in the truck. Then have the other three or four pieces overlap the main head board a little. This way, every piece you are covering is a 2D shape, unlike the 3d "dome" you were trying to create. 2D shapes are very easy to cover, while 3D shapes require alot of stretching and some materials wont stretch that much.

Like i said this isnt the way i do my headliners (mine involve minor sewing) so this is the first idea that popped into my head.

 

[spika]

headliner

Yea, that makes sense. If the panelboard doesn't have the physical ability to conform to that shape in one piece, the covering material isn't going to want to either. That, however, means having a firm attachment point at the joined areas, something to attach the edges of each panel to...right? That will add a bit more prep work, but may be necessary.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Interiors by Shannon]

The Maxxion Moldable Plastic Panelboard that Miami Corp. sales is called Komatex. It's a expanded PVC that's for indoor/outdoor applications. It has an exceptional durability and can be shaped by heat, saw, router, knife or die. It comes in 1mm to 19mm thickness. 3mm being 1/8" thick. I live in Alabama so I found a supplier in Birmingham ( Grimco ) who sales wholesale sing supplies. I drove up there and picked up three 4X8 sheets for $58.00 they where on sale for $18.50. They are $22.00 each any other time there. I use it on panels that need to hold there shape.

I use 1/8" LuAnn Plywood the most. I just got 13 sheets for right around $100.00

 

[Interiors by Shannon]

Grimco

 

[Interiors by Shannon]

 

[kristkustoms]

Yeah, since i first wrote that message a year and a half ago, i found out Miami was just reselling PVC plastic sheets. Ive been getting them from a local plastic supplier for over a year now at the same price Shannon is getting.

 

[spika]

Thanks, guys. I'll do a search for a supplier that sells that product over the net, and see what more info I can get. I may even be able to get it from Interstates Plastics, my polypro supplier in Boise.
I don't know why, but I'm still having troubles with the basic stuff here...I believe that, in one material or another, I can construct the panels that will fit where I need them, but my i-net searches still haven't turned up the type of material that looks right for use on covering panels such as these. Seems to me that I have seen a material, it sticks in my mind that it was foam-backed, that is designed to have an unusual amount of stretch in both axis for conforming to complex contours such as what these might end up like. KK's advice to cover the panels individually makes sense, but there still will be a good deal of out-of-plane covering, and I want to find the best material to do that, and, hopefully, be able to do the covers with adhesives rather than having to sew it at all.
My searches have turned up several suppliers of seat upholstery and carpeting, but not a lot specifically for the headliners, door panels, etc. I agree with KK that one needs consistency throughout, not a hodgepodge of different colors, textures, etc., but the requirements of the panels, the seat covers, and the floor covering are all different, and I'm missing the concept of how those all get "tied together" without using different materials. Sorry guys, I'm not usually this dense, but for some reason I'm missing something here.
I'll do some searching for the Komatex, and anxiously await a response from two excellent resources here...you both do some beautiful work.
Thanks-
tjs