I'm back from the upholstery shop...(and the more fun stops later)......and got a couple questions hopefully someone will know the answers to.

First, for the black leather seats I'm planning on taking the center panels out and having cloth diamond-pleat bright red material put in. I got a price of under $400.00 out the door if I remove and re-install the seats which is the plan.

I also wanted to ad a touch of red on the door panels. I was thinking of the small panel that is kind of like an arm rest above the chrome strip, 22 inches by 8 inches that has the two mirror adjusting switches in. I first thought about covering that with the same material as I'm doing the center of the seats in...but now I'm thinking about painting it with vinyl paint. I've found two different types on e-bay....

59 88 GM Interior Recondition Spray Paint '62 Bright Red 63 Vinyl Plastic | eBay

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161818141545?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&var=460825837221&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
Does anyone have experience with either of these two products?

Also...and here is the BIG question...does that small 22X8 piece detach from the rest of door panel? The upholstery guy won't do the R&R himself but gave me a price of about $40.00 a panel to cover with the cloth that matches the seat centers, either plain or diamond-pleated. The difference in price isn't an issue...what do you all think would look the best? Is it even possible to cover that piece and get it all back together? I'm going to have a body shop do the R&R on the door panel.

 

The door panels are thermal welded (melted) together. It would be possible to drill out the melted part from the back side, but it would be a ton of delicate work.

As far as the vinyl paint goes, I would only use SEM brand stuff. It is by far the best in my humble opinion.

 

Looking at the back side of the door panel, it looks like that section is actually upholstered with vinyl already, then plastic welded into place. So it *may* be possible to remove it by cutting out the plastic spot welds, but I have not tried it.
I have tried another brand of 'vinyl paint' but it was not very durable and would flake off under use.

edit: post ninja lasater beat me to the submit button :p

 

I too have had good results using SEM interior paint.

 

I'm assuming this is the plan for your door panels. These are out of an SS Panel.

 

The "Plastic Weld/Nubbin" cutting bit from one of the Dorman interior door handle repair kits will make fairly short work of the plastic "Spot Welds".

If someone has one of those bits they'd be willing to part with, I think CorvetteMongo would be "cookin' with gas" as they say.

 

Yes, that's exactly what I had in mind.

I'm probably going to be to chicken to remove the door panels myself, think I'll pay a body shop to do it and have the peace of mind that goes with giving someone else the responsibility for broken or damaged parts...Or mask them very carefully where they are...????