harveyf

I'm getting ready to redo the door cards in my 1984 944. I have noticed that there is a distinct break in the vinyl pattern between the curvaceous top piece that hooks over the window sill and the remaining flat area below. I have to assume this is intentional but there is a small question in my mind that someone at one time recovered just the flat area with a non-matching vinyl. I can't see any evidence of that but you never know. The upper area looks similar to traditional leather while the lower part looks like grains of sand. The difference is pretty evident. (I wanted to upload a picture but firewall at work is stopping me!) Can someone with a similar generation car please give me some feedback as to how the vinyl looks on their cars? Thanks in advance.

ealoken

I sprayed my vinyl with new paint.

V2Rocket

the break is normal, should have a bead/welting at the joint

harveyf

V2 understand but that is not really my question. I have the bead/welting at the joint. Does the vinyl material pattern change at the joint?

V2Rocket

yes that is standard.
upper material should be "smooth" looking with maybe a light texture and the lower portion has a grainy/bumpy sort of texture.

harveyf

Interesting!

So it appears to me that the 2 items that have a curvaceous shape, i.e. the dash and upper door card have the smoother material that you describe. And I would guess this is due to the fact that those pieces were produced in molds, versus more traditional upholstery techniques.

Thanks!

V2Rocket

The upper portion was (most likely) vacuum formed to take the complex shape of the door panel "bump". (like how they made the dash)

The lower portion as you can see is just stapled/glued to the panel since it is much simpler a shape.

mrgreenjeans

There are some other thoughts here:

the '82, '83 vinyls are a different grain and texture than the more fine, smooth, and less open graining of the previous years. The new change in '84 looks more like that which followed into the second series cars.

There was more than vinyl used. Series one cars also had cloth ( Pasha, pinstripe and berber )available, and the series two cars had optional leather added as well. Studio cloth came along in '88.2 Turbo S cars and early '88 Jubilee cars. Also, European interior fabrics were very different from offerings into our own market in North America.

Conclusion: the break separated by welting , gave the factory an easy way to incorporate all these styling differences into use with the same door card topper. I bring this up as a way to provide options to those today looking for alternatives to either restore our cars a different yet factory way and to spec, or to give a path to those wishing customization.

odonnell

Yes the pattern is different. Here's one of mine

mrgreenjeans

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

definitive

Great shot !