Recovering old sunvisors has always been a problem for the trim shop. Trying to manipulate a big sunvisor through the sewing machine while binding an edge too thick to fit comfortably under the foot, has driven many trimmers to early coronaries. At Ron's shop they've come up with a superb method for sunvisors made before the early '60s.
The process begins
by removing what's left of the old cover and tracing its outline on a piece
of chipboard. George carefully removed the binding so the selvage
edge could be included in the outline. Unseen in this photo are the two
witness marks George made to indicate the location of the fold lines.
Using the witness
marks he made above, George draws a line representing the two edges where
the original covers folded. With a razor blade (or any sharp object) he
scores the top layer of the chipboard along this line. This allows him
to fold along these two lines, leaving a crisp, well-defined edge.
You can see how well
the chipboard folded along the scored lines. Now George carefully trims
the edges straight and square.
From the local
auto parts store, Ron bought a small mirror, designed to be double-taped
to a sunvisor or other surface. You see this in the lower right-hand corner
of the photo. This mirror will be installed into the sunvisor. George outlines
it on the chipboard, then cuts away the part that would cover the glass.
The plastic edges will remain covered.
He tests for fit and finds
his cutout is just right. Notice that it's about 1/8 inch wider than the
glass. When the fabric is applied, the wrapping around the edges will add
just enough thickness to bring it even with the glass.
Using the chipboard
as a pattern, George outlines the area of the mirror location within the
original sunvisor base. He makes another outline, a cutting line, a little
larger than necessary. This gives him a bit of room to adjust the mirror
for a perfect alignment with the cutout in the chipboard.
Although the saber saw is
almost bigger than the sunvisor, George skillfully removes the area in
which the mirror will sit.
As usual, everything
is test-fit before committing it to the finishing touches. Here, George
has the mirror sitting in the sunvisor with the chipboard wrapped around
it. So far, it looks good.
The next step
is to cover the chipboard with 1/4 inch closed-cell foam. To make allowance
for the extra radius of the polyfoam around the double-folded center, George
lays the chipboard cover over the edge of his bench- one side of the "wing"
on the bench, the other at a 90-degree angle to it. He then wraps the cemented
foam around the radius.
He reverses the chipboard
and wraps the other side.
Finished, the polyfoam covering
looks like this. Now, when it's wrapped over on itself, there won't be
any excessive stretching at the fold.
Trimmed and ready
to be covered. To cover the chipboard, George works as you've seen
him before. He sands the polyfoam, and in this case bevels the outside
edges. This removes bulk at this location. Cement is sprayed to both the
material and polyfoam, the cement is allowed to dry, and the material applied.
Finally, he wraps the material around the edges and cements it in place.
With the chipboard covered,
George wraps it around the sunvisor frame. He installs the mirror in the
cutout and begins cementing around all the exposed surfaces.
This is the backside of the
sunvisor. You see the back of the mirror with the cement sprayed over both
the sunvisor frame and the sunvisor cover. Now George will close it up
At the machine, Ron runs
a seam around the edge of the cemented "sandwich," about 1/4 to 3/8 inch
in from the outside edge.
Here's the finished sunvisor
seen from the mirror side. George will wash the cement overspray from the
mirror glass before he installs it in the car.
The view from the backside.
A very nicely done sunvisor-and no one had to struggle!
Stock #VB1710AUH 
|
1-55561-171-0
U.S., $19.95 Paperback 8.5 x 11, 232 pages, English 550 b&w photos Learn step-by-step how to:
Make and install interiors for any car, truck, van, RV or airplane
Author Don Taylor has spent a lifetime as a professional upholsterer.
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Custom Auto Interiors By Don Taylor and Ron Mingus |
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Stock #VB1400CAI
Tapiceria de Autos Customizados
|
1-55561-140-0
U.S., $22.95 Paperback 8.5 x 11, 192 pages, English
Expert trimmers Don Taylor and Ron Mangus share two lifetimes of
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