(how to) Padded armrest write up (REVISED)

[le_ryan]

I had to redo this since the pics were all deleted, while i was at it, i rewrote it to make sense and corrected ALOT of spelling, also added a few better pics.

Tired of that uncomfortable plastic armrest? Not anymore ..

oh so soft now..

Here's how i did it.

1. Get your self some:- foam of your choice (fabric store) the stuff i used is a very firm type of foam, and is only and inch and a half thick- vinyl, leather, or material of your choice ($10.oo per yard at a fabric store)- Razor blade- office stapler, or an actual staple gun, but use only 1/4 inch staples or they will go through.- A heat gun or a hairdryer work too

2. Pull off your arm rest by removing the two screws at the bottom holding the hinge on. and wiggle the arch out carefully.

3. Remove all the screws, including the one hiding under the latch.

4. Trace the top of the lid with against the foam, give yourself about a half inch extra on all sides, you will be trimming some off later on .

5. Cut it out, then trim it at an angle, with a downward slope, your razor needs to be sharp for this. You dont have to trim it off at an angle but, it looks nice under the vinyl if you do..

6. place it on top of the lid now, and make sure theirs not any hanging over the edge, any protruding bumps or deep grooves will show through the vinyl, so cut it at clean as you can,.

7. Lay the foam and the lid down onto the vinyl, and cut an over sized square around the lid, to make it easy to work with.

8. now fold the vinyl up to the edge, and roughly measure an inch to two over the edge, what your doing is cutting enough to fold, and stretch into the lid so that you can staple it in there, later you will trim off the extra.

9. I have no pics of this part because i only had two hands .. Once you have cut your pattern out, you can begin the folding and stretching process.What you do is gently heat one side up, pull it into the lid, and staple it in, then go to the opposite side and do the same, then the other, and the the remaining side.Once you have a staple in all sides, work your way around heating and stretching the material into the lid and stapling it in.It wont look like its gonna work at first, dont be discuraged, It will work and the payoff is sooo nice.

When you have it all nicely stretched and stapled in and your satisfied with the look, screw the liner back on, this adds more strength to holding the vinyl together, as you can see.

Re-install the armrest into the car, and admire your own handy work.Black vinyl matches almost perfectly, see you cant even tell, you can use any material you want..


Modified by happy240 at 5:32 PM 3/26/2007

[SketchyRollin564]

Hehe, saw this thread a lonnnng time ago when it first came into theatres. Probably the first mod ill do to my car (if i get it before i turn 16). Looks pretty fun.

[anti_flag_army]

im unclear as to how you stapled it?

[srpowered240sx]

matching oem colors is for sissy girls. jk ryan!

[le_ryan]

yeah the first one totally sucked, after doing three more S13's i relized there were things that needed to be added.

[le_ryan]

im unclear as to how you stapled it?

once you get the lid off, its very clear how you gotta staple it, (fold the material in, and shoot a staple into it. roll the lid onto the side to get leverage onto it.

[le_ryan]

matching oem colors is for sissy girls. jk ryan!

Hey now . . Yours matches your interior alot more than you wanna admit .

[SketchyRollin564]

matching oem colors is for sissy girls. jk ryan!

Yours looks like a big fluffy pillow

[srpowered240sx]

Hey now . . Yours matches your interior alot more than you wanna admit .

damnit, hes on to me. the secret cant get out, gonna have to kill you now.

[srpowered240sx]

Yours looks like a big fluffy pillow

dude, it so is.

[le_ryan]

damnit, hes on to me. the secret cant get out, gonna have to kill you now.

2

You gotta get past my army first.......

[Driftless240]

Nice, are you still taking orders?

[xdarkrune]

sign me up for one as well!

[le_ryan]

Nice, are you still taking orders?

I looked into it for you guys, for the cost to ship it to me and the $20.oo i would charge, Its much cheaper to have a local upolstry shop do it for ya, But i dont see what you guys just dont give it a try, its soooo easy, REALLY it is, just try it.

[Edub1]

Instead of carving the foam to round the edges, one could use a thin sheet of foam covered with a sheet of Dacron - or just use Dacron.

[le_ryan]

Instead of carving the foam to round the edges, one could use a thin sheet of foam covered with a sheet of Dacron - or just use Dacron.

Whats that?

[Driftless240]

I looked into it for you guys, for the cost to ship it to me and the $20.oo i would charge, Its much cheaper to have a local upolstry shop do it for ya.

Yea but I know you do quality work, I don't think shipping would be that much from me to you, I am just up a little north and most likely willing to pay the dues... Think about it, Redlinegoods offers just a cover for like 30 bucks, so what the hey yah know?...

[le_ryan]

But you would be paying shipping here and back ... If you really want to, ill do it, But i have no pay pall cause its all outta wack, so Ill need a money order , Email me if you really [email protected]

[Edub1]

Whats that?

Dacron is like polyester stuffing only in sheet form. It is used in upholstery to make the edge of foam cushions round. You know how the front of a sofa cushion is round instead of square.

Actually, that arm rest could be done in Dacron alone.

[thenillaz]

once you get the lid off, its very clear how you gotta staple it, (fold the material in, and shoot a staple into it. roll the lid onto the side to get leverage onto it.

Yeah, that makes no sense. If I stample it on the outside of the lid the stamples will be visible, if I stample it on the inside the stamples will stick out and thus poking you. What do you mean when you take out the lid its very clear, theres nothing clear about it. Frustration!

[le_ryan]

Yeah, that makes no sense. If I stample it on the outside of the lid the stamples will be visible, if I stample it on the inside the stamples will stick out and thus poking you. What do you mean when you take out the lid its very clear, theres nothing clear about it. Frustration!

- office stapler, or an actual staple gun, but use only 1/4 inch staples or they will go through.

You cant use long staples, I used regular office staples, and when pressed all the way down, the WILL go through, you gotta use a shorter staples, or just try not to go all the way through.

[anti_flag_army]

really weird, i was just gonna dig up this thread to ask a few q's, and then there it was in my recent topics!

First off, did you do your door panels too? If you did, how did you get the fabric to go around the edges? the panel doesnt come off like i thought it did.

Did you do your glovebox as well? how is that done?

I plan on going to the fabric store to get some black material to do those things, i may do the arm rest while at it.

[le_ryan]

really weird, i was just gonna dig up this thread to ask a few q's, and then there it was in my recent topics!

First off, did you do your door panels too? If you did, how did you get the fabric to go around the edges? the panel doesnt come off like i thought it did.

I didnt do my door panels yet, but i plan too, but i though there was a write up on it here somewhere.. if not ill make one when i do.

Did you do your glovebox as well? how is that done?

I did my glove box too, its pretty much the same process, but here an article someone made on that.

http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=167288

[anti_flag_army]

i found the write up on the door panels. Thanks for the link too.

[thenillaz]

I think I understand now. What you're saying is when you put pressure against a table or hard surface when stampling the surface doesn't allow the stample to go all the way through, only poke out a little(maybe a mm if that). It doesn't even break through the fabric when you try it. I just finished my shift boot and e-brake boot in black suede, I can't wait to finish the armrest tomorrow and show pictures.

[le_ryan]

yeah , and if you do happen to go through, use a Knife or something with a Point on it to push the staple back in.

[thenillaz]

Dood. I'm sitting here crying in the corner because I cannot get the fncking material on the cover. I try to stretch it out and work it, then stample it, then fight with it, and fight with it some more. I give up. I'm gunna see if my dad can give me some help. Do you still offer to do people's armrest for them? I'd be willing to pay for everything and have already cut out the foam, just need someone to do the fabric. I fail at upholstery.

[srpowered240sx]

once that stample (by the way, its spelled staple) punchs through, you say a mm, push it through the rest of the way with your finger, or a butter knife. then fold the staples over, so it hooks on, then wiggle the material back off the staple so you cant see the two ends of the staple.

[thenillaz]

No, I mean the stretching and the folding is driving me nuts. The, stapleing, is something I've figured out, its just the whole putting the thing together nicely is whats not working out.

[srpowered240sx]

what i did is lay the fabric on the ground, pattern down. then tape the padding to the console, so it wont move. then put my knee on the back of the console and press onto the fabric, then while the padding is compressed, start pulling the edges of the fabric up and stapling.