A pillar vinyl available by the yard?

[FABombjoy]

Does anyone know of a source / part number for vinyl that matches the A-pillar grain? I'm working on a new audio project and need about a yard of something that matches the A pillars. In grey if possible although I don't mind dying to match.

Plus I have a warped A pillar and figure its time to repair, reinforce, and re-vinyl the current cover.

[Mark D]

I'm pretty sure that matching vinyl with the correct texture is NLA.

Several years ago there were recover kits available for the center console though... I think these were OEM and the material is the same as what is used on the A pillars, but I'm not positive. You could cannibalize one of those kits for your project.

EDIT:

It looks like the console recover kits now use new material that doesn't have the matching pebble texture.
https://store.delorean.com/111446-console-recover-kit-gray.html

Another option may be to buy a used/damaged OEM center console, knee pad, etc. and harvest the material.

[FABombjoy]

A few are NLA, but I believe the windshield A pillar vinyl has been reproduced or a very similar texture is available. The pillars are a different grain from the pads/console "elephant skin" appearance.

DMCH is putting something new on their fiberglass pillars:
https://store.delorean.com/110455-lh-body-a-post-trim-gray.html

I have my old seat back vinyl which matches the center console but it's not a match for the A pillars. I'll call the vendors and see what they have.

The goal is to cut out & replace the warped section of the OEM a pillar plastic and replace it with something form-fit to my car, so I can snap it on to the underbody and not have to pull the :swear1: windshield.

[Mark D]

DMCH is putting something new on their fiberglass pillars:
https://store.delorean.com/110455-lh-body-a-post-trim-gray.html

This looks promising, I bet if you talk to someone at DMC Houston they might be able to sell you just the fabric. From the description on the store website it sounds like they have matching texture for the A pillars.

[cdrusn]

My "A" pillars were also warped and the material burned up by the sun. After trying different body materials to correct the warping, I gave up and bought new ones from DMCH for $116.18 apiece. DMCH Sturdy pieces with the prerequisite 3" of extra vinyl on each side to tie into the windshield and the outside going into the seal. After you contact cement the vinyl to the glass and the seal you can use a sharp razor blade and cut it so it looks like it is disappearing under the glass.

[FABombjoy]

Contacted 2x DMC vendors about purchasing vinyl but didn't receive a reply from either.

Strolled down to my local upholstery shop and picked up some of this new grey vinyl. Old left, new right. It's a miracle match, better than expected for off the shelf.
https://i.imgur.com/nxHjPEI.png

[FABombjoy]

Just a follow-up: This would be far easier to just buy, for sure. But the total cost was about $20

The only warped portion was the edge along the windshield. I cut this part out and used it as a template to reform the inner edge from metal/fiberglass.

This pic shows tabs on the metal portion. The idea was to make it snap-fit on the underbody. This wasn't really a time productive solution and in the end I cut them off.
https://i.imgur.com/sj9lQ5U.jpg


Inside of the pillar form before gluing the vinyl in to place
First time around I used the wrong type of contact cement, too thick, which showed through. This was removed safely using acetone of all things, no affect on the vinyl. You can see some staining, as well as the fiberglass portion of the repair. The numbers are depth notations, measurements of minimum slack to leave at those points to tuck the vinyl under the glass.
https://i.imgur.com/fdVrV6p.jpg


A LOT of heating & stretching to get to this point. Something about the lighting makes it seem like the surface is bumpy but it really is pretty good. I've only cut & tucked the edge around the inner door seal at this point. Once things have gotten through a few summer heat cycles, I'll see if any of the glass-facing areas need some helper adhesive, then glue this edge in place.
https://i.imgur.com/b3LeW2R.jpg


The edge isn't as tight to the glass compared to the original passenger side, but looks 100x better than before. From the top view the vinyl tucks disappears under the edge of the glass like it should.
https://i.imgur.com/DhLqwYY.jpg

[Mark D]

That turned out really nice, thanks for the update.

Do you have the specs on what brand/color vinyl you used? The color match looks great.

[FABombjoy]

That turned out really nice, thanks for the update.

Do you have the specs on what brand/color vinyl you used? The color match looks great.

Thanks!

The vinyl was from a random roll at a local upholsterer's shop and didn't have any markings unfortunately. I looked at a lot of grain pictures online but knew I had to see something in person.
The grey it came in seemed like a spot-on match but after applying it to the form & comparing to stock it was clearly off "a bit".

I redyed it using Dupli-Color HVP111 - Charcoal Grey. It's a really good match for the price and was on the shelf at Autozone. Very easy to apply, quite forgiving of technique, and dries very quickly.
Also it will stick to (at least) ABS plastic if you have interior plastic parts that you'd like to dye grey. The speaker pods in the photo were coated with it too.