How to Repair Armrests in your Civic.


S

Skar

South African EK4
Joined
Nov 23, 2010
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380
How to Repair Armrests in your Civic.

[FONT=&quot]Materials Needed to Repair Armrest Plastic[/FONT]​

  • [FONT=&quot]Stanley/Craft Knife (Dremel Tool is better)[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Scissors[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Fibreglass Sheets & Polyester Resin.[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Fibral /Body Filler(filler of some sort) *Application Dependant*(Applicator will be needed to mix and apply, Applicator = Rectangular piece of plastic Ice Cream Container works perfect.)[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Acetone[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Paint brush(medium size)[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Containers/ empty yoghurt containers [/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Scale(needs to be able to measure grams)[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Super Glue[/FONT]
  • [FONT=&quot]Sand Paper and Block(80 Grit, no lower than 60.)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]How to Repair Armrests[/FONT]
​
[FONT=&quot]1.) Remove the door panels from the car door. There are 3 screws at the bottom corner behind the speaker cover, one in the armrest itself and another behind the inside opening handle. Remove handle and armrest plastic piece (with window control) and inside mirror plastic cover. There are only clips holding the panel on now, a simple pull will free the Panel(do so with care so that you don’t pull so hard and damage the door panel plastic)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]

2.) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Depending on state of damage to the plastic which can be viewed now from the rear of the armrest one can determine if simple fibre-glassing can be done without removing the armrest from door panel. Remove the small ‘L’ shaped plastic piece on the armrest. If plastic is cracked and missing, clean the area then take Sand paper and sand the plastic area and area around it that will have fibreglass put on. If not missing but broken off (as was my drivers side) try best you can to superglue the pieces back together before reinforcing. It is easier to reinforce than to try and ‘create’ missing plastic. Do not sand heavily, just enough so that the fibreglass has a better surface to bond too, you will be fibre glassing soon. ( i left the armrest on the door card for better stability and placement while fibre-glassing)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] As you can see my armrests where in pretty bad shape...

Passenger side.

Drivers Side

Prepping passenger side for fibreglassing.


3.) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Take fibre-glass sheets and cut out sizes that will be needed for ‘patching’ and reinforcing.(I had the door panel lying flat on the floor sitting in front of it for better and easier application) Get Ready to mix Resin (follow instructions on Resin tin. Less hardener means longer drying time, too much hardener means more heat and risk of damaging/warping plastic and may even cause flame. They recommend 20-40 drops per 100grams... I went by guess as I did not have a measuring container, and had a 250g tin of resin. I used +- 75grams per application, I used 30 drops to lessen waiting time DO NOT EXCEED limit specified on tin, and if you have never dealt with any sort of fibreglass/filler before I suggest you experiment first before attempting this.)

Fibre-glass sheets

Cutting to right sizes

Getting Resin ready to Mix.


4.)[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Make sure armrest plastic is clear of dust etc, then mix resin(follow instructions on tin) and ‘paint’ a layer of resin on the sanded area to be repair/reinforced. Then take fibreglass cut out pieces as in pic before and place on painted resin. Paint over the sheets with resin. Once done, leave to cure. Placing a fan in front of the area helps speed the process up. Heater fans do too but I wouldn’t advise it (it may make it brittle.). [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]

Prepped with resin

First layer of Fibreglass on.


5.) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Once Cured, if you feel that another layer is needed that repeat step 4. I only used one layer (but generously applied resin lol about 2 coats). When done, take Dremel tool/Stanley Knife and remove the ‘plastic welds’ holding the armrest on. I had a Stanley knife, be careful when cutting into the plastic, its fairly hard and requires a fair bit of applied pressure/force. Heating the knife/blade can be done however I wouldn’t advise is as the armrest is plastic as well and may be damaged.[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Don’t do what I did and cut half you thumb off in the process. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]

Cutting the plastic welds off.


6.) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Once all have been removed, armrest should come off relatively easily, but may need a bump and a tap to help it on its way. However, care is required as the plastic on the edges of the ‘securing’ holes may be brittle from age and crack or break off. This is where superglue is your friend
icon_biggrin.gif
Superglue them back/the cracks. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]

Armrest removed.


7.) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Once removed, proceed taking the Old leather/material off. Again proceed with caution as it is not exactly that easy to pull off, and one must be careful not to undo the fibre-glassing etc that has been done by cracking it. Also any hairline cracks in areas not reinforced may become worse. The ‘securing’ holes again will be at risk of cracking and breaking when material is being pulled/removed. If this happens, don’t worry, just superglue them back on. Obviously be careful to crack/break as few as possible as unbroken ones are stronger than super glued ones lol. Once the material is off, you now have a template for replacing material. Or just replace good material once done. I decided to cut piece off the armrest at the point of repair as the plastic was missing. (made it easier to take off as well)

Area repaired.


8.) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]The top half of the armrest plastic will most likely need to be filled as the cracks/missing plastic will have made ‘indentations’ or if plastic was missing, the fibre-glass will need to be smoothed/filled with resin/body filler but I recommend Fibral (like body filler but has fibre-glass strands in the paste and turns a pinkish colour when hardener is mixed. It is stronger than body filler and more durable.) Tape off areas of the armrest that don’t need to be filled as this will save unnecessary sanding and work. Rule of thumb when mixing Fibral is to lay down and equal length of Hardener and mix thoroughly with applicator. Again, if you have not used this before, experiment first on something else! Once mixed and the armrest taped off to only the areas that needs to be filled, apply to area that needs to be filled with applicator. Do so as neatly as possible to save work in sanding smooth. As soon as you have applied Fibral, remove tape from the armrest while it cured else you wont get the tape off! this will leave only the areas that needed filling. Leave to Cure, once hard, use 60/80(rather 80) Grit Sandpaper with a block and sand smooth. You may need to sand with no block for certain raises and depressions, but generally keep to a level surface with the block. Dont sand too hard as you just want to make the Fibral smooth so it looks as if no repairs took place. Once the Material is put back on it should look good as new. (provided it has been done right lol) Your old Covering will fit right back on, it just needs to be glued.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot] Mine needed to be filled as the plastic was missing.


After Fibral Filling and sanding smooth.


[/FONT]
 
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[FONT=&quot]Voila! the repairs on the armrest are done. all that needs to be done now is recovering with the old material or another material of your choice.. In the next post there is a DIY that is not mine, its was Originally Posted by DMH Ericon www.digmyhonda.com, and was forwarded to me by Smuts. My Layout on my DIY Guide was based on his. I have copied and posted his guide here as it follows on from my guide.


//EDIT... the above pictures are just thumbnails..click on them to view the full size.

If anybdy wants the DIY word document, i have created on that will be available on request.[/FONT]
 
Materials Needed to Reupholster Door Panels


  • Razor blade
  • Scissors
  • 3M Spray on adhesive 90 Hi strength
  • Sheet metal screws and washers you will need 32 screws and 32 washers
  • Fabric of your choice make sure that the fabric has some thickness to it so the glue dosn’t soak through. Get at least 2 yards so if you mess up you have more to work with.
  • Dremel tool preferred
  • Philips screw driver
How to Reupholster Door Panels


  1. Remove the door panels from the car door. This is easy, but for detailed instructions consult a service manual.
  2. Remove the 3 screws pictured below which hold the plastic storage pocket to the door panel, once you remove those 3 screws you will be able to remove the backside of the pocket.
  3. Now remove the 2 screws on the inside of the door pocket to remove the other side of the pocket from the door panel. Once you remove the door pocket you will be able to see all of the heat pressed posts that hold the door insert to the panel itself.
  4. Grab your dremel with the grinding tip and grind the plastic around the melted circles which are holding the door insert and door panels together. Be sure not to grind down the post itself but to grind around it you dont want to shorten the post.
  5. Once you grind around the post it should look like this continue till you have grinded around all 16 posts.
  6. Remove the door insert from the door panel its easy just pull them apart if you grinded around all the posts it should come apart with little effort.
  7. Remove the old fabric from the door insert. Clean old adhesive off if desired I didn’t.
  8. Lay out the old fabric on top of the new one so you can cut out how much you will be using.
  9. Lay the fabric on top of your door insert to make sure you have cut enough and start smoothing it out on the top you will be glueing very soon.
  10. fold some fabric to the left you will start on the side where the window handle would be. Spray adhesive on the plastic, then some on the fabric make sure you do not get any adhesive on the side that will be showing. Let the glue sit for 30-60 seconds and depending on how much you sprayed the glue should be tacky. Once it gets tacky fold back over the fabric on the glue and smooth out make sure you have no wrinkles.
  11. Now that the section you have done has sat for about 5 mins fold the cloth to the right side and do the same steps to glue it into place. I recommend you glue the top first get it smooth and wrinkle free then glue the sides, and do it in sections it much easier.
  12. Once you have glued the top portions of the fabric to the door insert now do the sides make sure you work out the wrinkles around the curves so you job dosnt look like a noob did it.
  14. Now that you have glues and smoothed out the new fabric to your door insert you can reattach it to the main panel. First you need to put the insert back into place on the panel and cut X’s into the fabric where the posts are so you can pop them through the fabric.
  15. Take your screws and washers and uses them to secure the door insert back to the main panel. Like so.
  16. Once you have secured the door insert back to the main panel with the 16 screws and washers the rest is self explanatory cut the excess fabric with the razor blade, Reinstall the door pocket and then put the door panel back onto the car enjoy.
 
when i was looking for a DIY, i couldnt find 1.. onlt the material replacement. so i used that as an semi guide and created my own so that if anybody needs to do this they can do it themselves and have a step by step guide to help them along.
 
Thanks mate that answered my question on how to re-attach the arm rest ;)

Just got to find some suitable black material now.
 
no worries man, just be careful as i havent got that far yet. im still in the process of recovering mine (been busy with work).. to make sure that the armrest holds firm when screwd back in(dont get screws that are too long and go trough to thee other side!) and that any stress they come to doesnt crack the plastic 'holes' im going to superglue the screws in + onto the armrest(the washer) and the armrest onto the door panel where/if possible. thats just me lol want to make sure its not gonna break etc...(my paranoia:nerv:) but yea will let you know hows it goes :)
 
just finished my recovering, its not that easy lol.the corner tips are especially difficult.

 
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Looks like a good tidy job from here bud :)

Just need to get my arse in gear and find me some material to get rid of the stock, gay black n pink crap
 
bikerben said:
Looks like a good tidy job from here bud :)

Just need to get my arse in gear and find me some material to get rid of the stock, gay black n pink crap
Click to expand...

shot man took me like 4 hours per side at least lol.. theres only two very minute mistakes that are not visible(i call them mistakes lol cos i know i can do better if done again:angry:).

i would think using a softer material such as suede it would be slightly easier, however one must be careful then not to use too much glue as it may go through the fabric.
 
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