My R32 Door Retrim

[mark32gts-t]

When I first bought my car there were a few little things that I wanted to fix. Things like the vents (like every 32), and the trim falling off. You know the small things that bother you about your car. The vents got fixed relatively soon after I bought my car but I just never got round to sticking the trim back on. At some point in time the passenger side door was glued back but not very well, and glue had come through the fabric. So there was a hard patch. I decided I’d have a go at re-trimming the doors myself as I didn’t think it would be that hard and money is pretty tight. Over the last couple of weekends I’ve stripped the back out and removed all the trims. Slowly I’m getting done.

As my 32 is the later model is has the blue/grey colour scheme. I tried to match the suede that I used as best as I could to the side colours of my seats. It’s similar to the R32 GTR trim but with more grey in it. Photos are somewhat in order with some notes on each.

My trim when I got my car, its been like this for over 2 years

the door panel removed

the rear semi stripped

the glue holding it on was relatively old so just peeled off

it looked like someone had tried to glue the material back on once before with the driver side as there were parts that were quite sticky

after cleaning it up with some turps and then metho to remove the oilyness

the material that I used and the GTR colour

using the old material as a template to cut the new material. This was an important step as the material has to line up in the edges on the trim insert

the material just placed over the door

this jumps a little as I forgot to take pics when doing the front doors, but mask the insert off with masking tape. Makes it easier when applying the contact adhesive

the rear material placed on the door

After this I used a plastic paint scraper to press the material into the corners to make sure everything lined up. Then put 10 or so pins into the door to hold it in place. Doing a small section first to line it up and then doing small parts until the whole thing is done.

the glue being applied

The finished rear door panel. Depending on the light, the colour of the material changes. With the flash on it looks really grey which isn’t really what it looks like. Its Platinum Suede that I used

The front door, sorry about the crap light and fuzzy photo

Whilst removed the back seat I managed to mangle one of the clips that hold it in place, it was definitely not going to hold the seat in once I was done. So I FASTED the part number and got some new ones from Nissan. Around $8 each.

When I got my car the A pillar trims had seen better days, all the vinyl was cracked and peeling off.

While I had everything apart I figured I’d fork out the $130 per trim and replace them both. My luck too, Nissan had them in stock as someone must’ve ordered them and never picked them up. The part numbers and new trims

I haven’t finished putting it all together yet as I still have one last rear panel to do. But I am pretty happy with how it’s turned out so far. One thing I can say is that contact adhesive is a bitch.

Edited July 30, 2008 by mark32gts-t

[Craved]

Very nice work mate, well done!

[Rekin]

Very nice!

My r32 had the same problem.

I just bought some spray glue and stuck back the fabric, a quick fix which will probably fall off in the future

I think all r32's have destroyed A-Piller trims. Thanks for the price/part numbers

[Mr. Keets]

... I think all r32's have destroyed A-Piller trims. Thanks for the price/part numbers

+1 Cheers

[ceedub]

Awesome job.

Question: where can one buy the material?

[CRoNic...]

Awesome guide. Mods, move this to the Tutorial forum?

Edited July 31, 2008 by CRoNic...

[infamous_t]

Top marks for adding part# & prices.

Good DIY

[Bonsai]

Mark good job. Want to help a bro out i need that work done to my gtr. I Just got to get around to it one day.

Where you get the cloth from and how much and what sort/color. How long did it take you?

[chrissyo]

That actaully looks really good

Tried doing this in my brothers old pulsar but it didnt look as neat and clean as your job.

Top marks

[H@ME]

excellent job is i keep my r32 i will do this to it aswell, however with my r32 mine came with no material at all!! Hame

[mark32gts-t]

Awesome job.

Question: where can one buy the material?

Cheers for all the 'good works'

the material/seude is manufactured by Fabtex. My bosses sister sells fabric/material to furniture upholsterers so I asked her if she could get some for me. I believe it is actually for automotive use so worked out well.

I bought 2 meters but only really needed 1. Considering I was paying cost price it was still expensive at $23/metre

The link and colours, although colours dont seem that accurate as platinum looks almost brown: http://www.fabtex.com.au/products/suede.php

Mark good job. Want to help a bro out i need that work done to my gtr. I Just got to get around to it one day.

Where you get the cloth from and how much and what sort/color. How long did it take you?

Not taking into account panel removal, the cleaning, cutting, masking, lining up, and slowly glueing probably takes around 3 hours per door. But in saying that I would consider myself a bit of a perfectionist.

excellent job is i keep my r32 i will do this to it aswell, however with my r32 mine came with no material at all!! Hame

I remember looking at some 32s before I bought mine that had the material already removed. I would say its virtually impossible to cut new fabric without the original trim cloth

If anyone is keen for the left over material after I'm done there should be enough to do all 4 panels. Will have to measure it exactly. Think the role is 1.5 meters wide

Edited July 31, 2008 by mark32gts-t

[dooky]

I'd be keen to take that extra material off ur hands

What sort of glue did u use?

[mark32gts-t]

I first tried water based contact adhesive. It didn't work as the glue on the material was taking too long to dry. So I just used Selleys contact adhesive, it said heat resistant on the tin. so if it stands in the sun they wont just peel off again

[mark32gts-t]

Well I fitted the new A-pillar trims today. Wasn’t much of a hassle. Took more pics of the steps. My old ones were pretty much wrecked and went straight into the bin.

To make it easier getting them off, remove the rear parcel shelf. It’s just got push in clips that hold it on

Next thing is to remove the seatbelt bolts so the trim piece can be pulled off.

The plastic part that feeds the seatbelt through the trim also has to be unclipped so the belt can be fed through once the trim is off. It unclips from the bottom.

Next step is to pull the trim off. You’ll be chucking it anyway so don’t worry too much about breaking anything. Some of the plastic broke out of mine when I pulled them off.

As you can see mine are brittle and falling apart

The new one ready to go in

The next step is to feed the belt back through the rear hole, line it up and press the trim back into place. There are a total of 11 clips that need to go in. You’ll know when all the clips are in as it sits nicely against the roof and rear window. I founding working from the rear bottom clip first worked the best.

The new trim looks good and doesn’t have any vinyl hanging off like the previous one.

Bolt the seatbelts back in and make sure they are done up tight enough. Dont want those coming loose.

Next step is to put the rear panels back on. But will have to wait till another day. Had some other stuff I needed to do.

Cheers, Mark

Edited August 3, 2008 by mark32gts-t