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Door cards - Fabric coming away from backing

Started by brianh, November 14, 2022, 09:03:20 PM

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Has anyone tried repairing this - the fabric section on mine is coming away from the backing (the orange foam appears to be detorating behind the outer fabric). Having just repaired the drivers side door card (stuck several of the trim clip posts back on with impact adhesive and reassembled the handle section correctly and stuck rear piece of it back to the door card) to stop the annoying rattle, I've realised that even that one is coming away from the backing now.

I'm wondering if spray glue might work - I've used it on new headliner fabric before (not on a Galaxy though), but the headliner is much less tough and won't survive being peeled off the fiberglass backing, and without the backing I'd suspect the glue would also bleed through given the thickness of the headliner material

I'd like to seal away the orange foam if nothing else, though I know its likely a messy job!

Drill some small holes in rear of backing and inject some adhesive with a syringe. Work material gently so the glue spreads and material is glued evenly and wrinkle free?

That might work, will have a think about it, the passenger side likely to be easier as its come away at the top edge there, so access behind is fairly easy on that, the drivers side is still held on the edges at the moment so I've left that bit alone. Did discover that very little of it was still attached in the middle of the fabric though with the handle apart.

Interestingly, I've done just that repair myself this week!

Maybe it's the cold, damp weather that's set it all off?

I found my fabric coming away from the door card, and the back of it was covered with this horrible sticky orange goo.

I didn't even wipe the goo off, I just splodged a huge amount behind the back of the fabric and then squished it about so that it covered the whole thing.

Some of the PVA glue started coming through the fabric and I thought it was going to look ghastly once dried.

However, it's now dried and has done the job perfectly. No staining, and every last bit of the fabric is held down nicely.

The tricky bit was sticking down those bits of fabric which were a bit taut and raised from the surface of the door card, eg because of concave bends. However, I just gave it plenty of glue (bordering on the ridiculous) and pressed it down, and it seems fine! I guess in future I could even glue it back in stages, one patch at a time, to help with those bits.

I've no idea how the PVA glue will last in the longer term, but right now it looks great and seems like it will be just fine.
I drive a Seat Alhambra 1.9Tdi which has 115bhp and an automatic gearbox.

I am happy to help you with all your questions. I am not a qualified mechanic but seem to be better at fixing my car than even the most experienced garages.

I have lots of friends here and very much enjoy talking with you all. Always remember, a motor car is a serious tool and should be treated with respect. Put your safety first, always.

just to add, when I said I splodged PVA glue behind the fabric, I literally just pulled the fabric slightly away from the door card and then squirted as much PVA glue down the back of it as I could. Then I pushed around and splodged it about by wiggling the fabric around.

It took about five minutes per door and has come out perfectly.

Tip: once you've splodged the glue around, use a blunt kitchen knife to press the fabric back under the door trim around the edges. This holds it nicely in place, while it dries, and gives it a nice finish.
I drive a Seat Alhambra 1.9Tdi which has 115bhp and an automatic gearbox.

I am happy to help you with all your questions. I am not a qualified mechanic but seem to be better at fixing my car than even the most experienced garages.

I have lots of friends here and very much enjoy talking with you all. Always remember, a motor car is a serious tool and should be treated with respect. Put your safety first, always.

I tried spray glue, after I had taken the door cards off....it lasted a few months but needs doing again.  I even went as far as using Bostik impact adhesive plus a few staples here & there. but its one of he first MK2's so Its to be expected.   DO NOT use spray glue on the headlining as it bleeds through as looks a complete mess... :sad:

Yeah I figured as much with the headlining, spray glue is the correct stuff to use, BUT you need the foam backing to prevent bleed through. Theres a slight edge just behind the drivers visor thats peeling away on mine, its not bad enough that I'm going to mess with it at this point.

I have relined one of those on a Disco 2 with new material which suffer much worse with this problem and spray glue was what was supplied with new material.


I'd suspect the peeling problem on the door cards you have is down to the foam decaying, same as mine looks to me. Mine is a very early mk2 (2001) so to be expected.

The rattle in drivers door is also back annoyingly though not as bad as it was before. I think its down to the mounting posts detaching from the backing of the door card.

Think I might have now located another source of rattles. The top bit of the passenger side rear door card fell off today. Clearly the glue holding mine together is no longer doing its job.

On the plus side, that does look like it might make it easier to stick the fabric back where it should be.

Not sure if a useful tip or not but I found common PVA type wood glue
was useful for sticking material to wood and hardboard with minimal bleed through
it set quickly was easy to clean off squeeze out and spills when wet
and didn't stink like contact adhesive

Might be worth a try, its also more directable than the spray glue would be. Not got round to doing anything about it yet, as have discovered on driving home this evening that the lower engine mount has snapped its bolt again (a recurring problem which I don't understand whats caused it to happen in the first place!)

The PVA glue works wonders. Don't worry if it bleeds through - I put bucketloads of the stuff behind my fabric and it bled through like crazy, looked a right ruddy mess until it dried and then just one quick wipe down with a damp cloth and it looked absolutely perfect.
I drive a Seat Alhambra 1.9Tdi which has 115bhp and an automatic gearbox.

I am happy to help you with all your questions. I am not a qualified mechanic but seem to be better at fixing my car than even the most experienced garages.

I have lots of friends here and very much enjoy talking with you all. Always remember, a motor car is a serious tool and should be treated with respect. Put your safety first, always.