To cover the armrest I st art by cutting a piece of the dark gray vinyl that is slightly larger than the arm rest then add adhesive to both the arm rest and the back of the vinyl. Which adhesive? I use 3M 8090 (Eastwood # 520001zp).

Here’s a trick you can only pick up by watching the pro’s ply their craft. Before trying to cover the arm rest the edge of the vinyl is cemented to the work bench. It’s like gaining an extra hand when it comes to stretching the vinyl tightly over the arm rest. It takes a lot of stretching and pulling to get wrinkle free results. By the way vinyl has a grain that allows it to stretch more in one direction than in the other. Use that stretching action lengthwise on the arm rest to get a glove tight fit. 

To trim out the door panel I st art by covering the panel with ¼-inch thick foam. Notice in the next pic that I cut out the areas of the trim panel where the red stripe and armrest will be located then coated the entire panel with adhesive. You’ll have to pardon the absence of a pic of the light gray being added to the trim panel. Digital pics aren’t like 35mm. Sometimes they just go away and never come back. Anyway, on to the red stripe.

To make the red insert for the door panel. I st art by cutting a length of Lauan plywood to match the insert I drew on the door template pattern. I cover the piece of plywood with foam then cover the foam with a strip of red vinyl.

All that is left is to attach the arm rest and red striped panel to the door trim panel. I st art with a generous application of adhesive then screw and staple both pieces to the trim panel. The trick to stapling is in selecting the correct length staple, in this case half inch long staples work best. One inch long wood screws are used in the area of the arm rest where I added the scrap plywood for support. Finally both ends of the red stripe and the single end of the arm rest are wrapped around the edges of the trim panel and secured with staples. The result is a very nice looking door panel.

Be sure to notice that I added cut outs for the inside door handle and the power window switch.

The kick panels and the quarter panel trim panels are constructed using the same techniques used to make the door trim panel, with a template and a little Lauan plywood.  What are the holes for? The holes are for the speakers and the seat belt retractor. Yep, that’s what a little preplanning will do for you.