Kick panel hardboard/cardboard/fiberboard speaker hole repair

Bmachine

Bmachine

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Like many, in its previous life, my car had fallen victim to the stereo mafia in the 80s. Which means they cut the speaker holes in the front kick panels. I want to close those up. Since they are in pretty pitiful shape, I would have liked to make brand new ones and replace that cardboard/hardboard material with something more durable like you can do for the door cards. But unfortunately the kick panel is not flat. It has a wavy shape that conforms to the sheet metal behind the A post. This would be hard to replicate with a modern material so I’m thinking of restoring the original. This would mean cleaning up that circular hole and gluing a filler piece in there. Edge gluing is always pretty weak but since there would be no tension of any kind once it is installed I’m guessing this should be ok. There is also one crack at the top which needs to be glued back. Once the hardboard is repaired , it will be fairly easy to then recover the whole thing with new vinyl.

Cs-werk sells a replacement for those but it appears to be scored cardboard which is not as nice as the original

I did a search here but nothing came up under “”Kick panel repair“. Has anyone does done repair on this hardboard material? Which glue did you use? Epoxy? Wood glue? Contact cement? Gorilla glue?

Thank you

image.jpg
 
Hi Bo, when I went after this fix, I found my originals pretty tired. But the vinyl was still very good. I was able to re-glue the edges and clean up the outside, and they looked pretty good after some attention. What surprised me was how much the original panel actually "molded" into a shape to fit that kick panel space. I knew right away, I could not re-create something that I thought was newer and would still fit right. Anyway, hoping for another 52 years! Ha! Good luck with yours. I am sure you can cut inserts to take up the space of those speaker cutouts, and re apply your vinyl. Good luck! Mike
 
When I was done with my door panels, I used Minwax wood hardener for rotted wood. It is the viscosity of water, brushed on, soaked in and then bonds all the fibers together. Allows it to hold shape and really strengthens it up.

As an aside, since these panels don't take much abuse at all, I would try some MDF/HDF which can be molded when wet and held in place while drying. Use the original vinyl as a template because getting this covered nicely is not something easy to do unless you have experience.
 
Unless they are completely trashed and unusable, I think repairing is a good idea. It is not something that is stressed in any way so, as long as it holds its shape that can then hold the vinyl, that is all that is needed. I have a feeling that trying to mold something to fit that shape as well as the originals did would not be easy.

I like your idea of the Minwax Wood hardener. That makes plenty of sense to me
 
Another approach is to remove the vinyl covering, cut a 1/4 inch upholstery foam pad to shape and recover. This should cover the hole and add some tightness to the vinyl all without changing the thickness much. The rear hat shelf n my Euro is vinyl over wood with a thin foam in between.
 
if you do that, i would put plastic tape on both sides of the hole, otherwise the foam will just sink into the hole
 
Bmachine said:
Like many, in its previous life, my car had fallen victim to the stereo mafia in the 80s. Which means they cut the speaker holes in the front kick panels. I want to close those up. Since they are in pretty pitiful shape, I would have liked to make brand new ones and replace that cardboard/hardboard material with something more durable like you can do for the door cards. But unfortunately the kick panel is not flat. It has a wavy shape that conforms to the sheet metal behind the A post. This would be hard to replicate with a modern material so I’m thinking of restoring the original. This would mean cleaning up that circular hole and gluing a filler piece in there. Edge gluing is always pretty weak but since there would be no tension of any kind once it is installed I’m guessing this should be ok. There is also one crack at the top which needs to be glued back. Once the hardboard is repaired , it will be fairly easy to then recover the whole thing with new vinyl.

Cs-werk sells a replacement for those but it appears to be scored cardboard which is not as nice as the original

I did a search here but nothing came up under “”Kick panel repair“. Has anyone does done repair on this hardboard material? Which glue did you use? Epoxy? Wood glue? Contact cement? Gorilla glue?

Thank you

View attachment 186026
Click to expand...

yes of course,
 
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..did it

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post #195


using 4mm thick "carton piedra", a super hard cardboard that is easy to work with if you wet the material, then you bend the shapes and let it dry in place, seal it with latex or white glue
 
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Bmachine said:
Like many, in its previous life, my car had fallen victim to the stereo mafia in the 80s. Which means they cut the speaker holes in the front kick panels. I want to close those up. Since they are in pretty pitiful shape, I would have liked to make brand new ones and replace that cardboard/hardboard material with something more durable like you can do for the door cards. But unfortunately the kick panel is not flat. It has a wavy shape that conforms to the sheet metal behind the A post. This would be hard to replicate with a modern material so I’m thinking of restoring the original. This would mean cleaning up that circular hole and gluing a filler piece in there. Edge gluing is always pretty weak but since there would be no tension of any kind once it is installed I’m guessing this should be ok. There is also one crack at the top which needs to be glued back. Once the hardboard is repaired , it will be fairly easy to then recover the whole thing with new vinyl.

Cs-werk sells a replacement for those but it appears to be scored cardboard which is not as nice as the original

I did a search here but nothing came up under “”Kick panel repair“. Has anyone does done repair on this hardboard material? Which glue did you use? Epoxy? Wood glue? Contact cement? Gorilla glue?

Thank you

View attachment 186026
Click to expand...


what you have there could be repaired with patience, in any case first you have to remove the vinyl, those staples, then reinforce using carpenter white glue for example
in the case of the speaker hole, you should add material if possible a solid piece of cardboard, adhesive tape has flexibility that will be noticed

finally paint with latex to keep moisture away and put the vinyl in place again
 
Yes, that's what I have been doing. Wetting and clamping the hardboard is working well to bend it into a shape that approximates the original after 50 years in place

IMG_4311.jpeg
 
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