How to smooth out wrinkles in door panel vinyl

[WissaMan]

I made a new door panel backer for my 68 New Yorker and I'd like to to put the original vinyl onto it. It has no cracks or tears but there wrinkles on each end of it. I have to be careful with it because it it does not feel super soft and pliable. It feel like too much manipulation will cause it to crack so I don't want to just try and stretch it. I'm thinking of gently heating it and using something flat and heavy to work out the wrinkles. But would love to hear if there's a more tried-and-true method than that.

 

[stubs300]

You should do this outside on a warn sunny day to help soften the vinyl when you do it. It's hard to tell if that area has been stretched by something, do you? If it is, it will be hard to get that out. That's another story and hard to report on till you get that off. Good Luck

 

[Davea Lux]

A lot of the time loose vinyl is caused by the cardboard backing having deteriorated from getting wet and the adhesive no longer has a good bond so the vinyl starts to pull loose from around the edges and sag. Most of the time there is not going to be a good fix. I tried to fix a problem like this by cutting out a new cardboard back to reattach the old vinyl but that did not work very well. It is really hard to get old malformed vinyl to attach to anything.

Dave

 

[WissaMan]

I wasn't clear in my original post, but the vinyl as you see it in the pictures has already been removed from the backing, so those wrinkles are it's natural form now. The backing was shot to heck from years of sitting in a damp environment. Here are some "before" photos:

 

[WissaMan]

If it doesn't work out, I could always go with some real leather. I was checking out this place and it doesn't seem terribly expensive Wholesale Upholstery Leather Supplier | Leather Hide Store
I'd loose the faux stitching but that's pretty minor

 

[WissaMan]

You should do this outside on a warn sunny day to help soften the vinyl when you do it.

Gonna be a while 'til I get one of those

 

[Joseph James]

Gonna be a while 'til I get one of those

Heat gun or hair dryer?

 

[CBODY67]

One issue can be that the original material has somewhat dried-out (the base oils in it) as it aged. This is normal. Gentle heat over a period of time, with possibly some good vinyl conditioner (NOT an ArmorAll-style lilquid!) could help restore some of the original pliability to the vinyl. This will take some time, so multiple gentle heat/conditioner applications might be needed. Of course, benign gentle in handling the vinyl is necessary, at all times.

Leather would have been only on the seating surfaces, NOT on the door panels. The vinyl would be grained to match the hides on the seating surfaces, typically.

Of course, you could also get some close-match vinyl from a quality supplier and replicate the original designs into it. The faux stitching could easily become REAL stitching, for example. This might be the easiest-to-do option. But it would be nice to restore what you have and reinstall it, too.

You might get some of the white polyester padding to put under the vinyl for a bit of pad. Just a thin amount, though, for a little additional "body" to the vinyl. Rather than it being glued to the board.

Of course, you can make new watershields out of some heavier clear plastic sheeting.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[WissaMan]

Yeah I'd probably use a hair dryer, I'd be afraid to use a heat gun. What would you suggest as a vinyl conditioner? I'm in no hurry so I'd be willing to give it several applications and let it soak in good. Do you think it'd be good to spray both sides with it so it can soak in more completely?

I was also thinking about putting a little extra padding under it (in addition to the white padding that's already there) but not so much that it looks puffy.

I idea of using leather would be to class it up a bit Not original, I know, but I'm not going for 100% original with this car. I imagine the guy that's going to be putting the new covers on our 300 seats probably has what it takes to do stitching on those panels

 

[WissaMan]

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this product? Vinyl Softener by Leather Magic! Restore Stiff, Brittle Vinyl Back to Original

 

[stubs300]

I have heard of Leather Magic but have no experience with it, or know of anybody that has. I don't know what to say? Good Luck

 

[HWYCRZR]

I used a heat gun to warm it up. A hair dryer would work as well. Don’t get too close and melt it. I also used a cotton towel and iron to smooth out even more wrinkles. I think I documented what I did in my restore link. May take some time to find.

 

[HWYCRZR]

68 Polara restore back on

Link to the conversation of when I did mine. I think there were about 5 or 6 posts on it. I Used a heat gun and iron with a towel to smooth out and then re-glued.
Finished product.

 

[Polara_500]

Pssst!!! Marty's (HWYCRZR) car looks even better up close.

 

[WissaMan]

Wow yours looked pretty darn wrinkly in the "before" picture, so that gives me some hope. But did you replace the backing panel or just smooth out the vinyl and panel together at the same time?

 

[HWYCRZR]

My backing panel was pretty straight, but had some warping. After I heated and stretched it, I clamped it tight to the edges to let it relax and cool. I re-sprayed the backer board and back of vinyl with adhesive and while drying, I re-heated and stretched the vinyl over the adhesive and clamped it.
It is amazing how supple warm vinyl is.
If you cannot touch the bare surface with your hands it is too hot.

 

[twostick]

I'd use a heat gun and be careful. A hair dryer would be hard pressed to deliver enough heat fast enough to have much effect on vinyl that heavy.

Kevin

 

[CBODY67]

Does anyone have any experience or opinions on this product? Vinyl Softener by Leather Magic! Restore Stiff, Brittle Vinyl Back to Original

Neat link! Thanks! Click on the Car Interior items link for a lot of other products related to automotive interiors. Just an advisory . . .

CBODY67

 

[WissaMan]

I started out last night by using a heat gun and slowly heating the whole vinyl sheet to "relax" it. Some of the wrinkle went away on it's own just by doing that. I then tried to use a warmed iron (could still touch it w/ my hand) to smooth out the remaining wrinkle on one of the edges. That didn't work out as well -- that just seemed to change the wrinkles but not remove them. I think I'll have to heat and stretch it while affixing it to the backing board.

Interestingly, the factory glued the vinyl only where the faux stitching is (and at the edges of course) which is why it got wrinkled in those specific spots. I was thinking of using a spray glue to adhere the the vinyl to the backer, but since it has that puffy backing I don't think that would work out too well. Instead, I plan to use hot glue in the same spots as the factory glue. I figure that will set up quickly while allowing me to move it around a bit w/ heat if I need to work with it. Thoughts on that plan?

 

[HWYCRZR]

Whenever you are stretching the vinyl you are also stretch the puffy backing a little. Keep heating and massaging by hand you will eventually get it smoother. My preference is the spray adhesive or contact cement. For me the hot glue is too localized. With contact cement or spray adhesive, if you just spray one side it can pull back apart until you get it right. Even if you doe both surfaces wit adhesive, when it is fresher and with a little heat you do still get some movement.