Basketweave door panels on a '57 Chevy
A ‘57 Chevy gets a complete interior makeover with extra-special side panels.
Upholstery Journal | June 2010
by Kelly Frush
Daniel Salinas of Hot Rod Heaven in Nampa, Idaho, wanted to turn heads with a custom interior for a customer’s 1957 Chevy Bel Air 210 post car.
“I wanted to come up with a design that would complement and bring additional value to the car,” Salinas says. He also wanted a design that other upholsterers and designers would appreciate.
Salinas drew his inspiration for the design from the dash on the ’57 Chevy’s original interior.
“It has a checkerboard design,” Salinas says, “so I wanted to tie that into the door panels.”
Salinas tested his design using a thin cardboard template. He traced the design, cut it out and made a tool to keep the design consistent. Salinas employs this template process for almost all jobs that come his way.
He also designed the oval-like lift surrounding the basketweave to capture the center point of the door panels. He created a 1-inch lift with a flat ridge closest to the basketweave design, then sloped the design and created a gradual 3-inch radius to flow into the remainder of the flat panel.
Salinas then created an accent bar, which took the place of an armrest.
“It follows the curves throughout the door panel with the basketweave in the background,” Salinas says. The 3-D high-density foam shapes were hand-formed by Salinas to mimic the basketweave.
Salinas used leather, closed-cell foam, board panel, hidden fasteners and adhesive to create these removable, fully functional door panels for the ’57 Chevy. His customer was impressed with the work and so was Salinas.
“The satisfaction of seeing how it all fits together with clean, straight lines was fulfilling,” Salinas says, “and knowing that it enhances the beauty and value of the car.”
Do you have a project you'd like us to feature in Save My Seat? Send details of your project, along with before-and-after pictures in the form of print photos or electronic images (tif, eps or jpeg of 300 dpi or greater) to Kelly Frush, Editor, Upholstery Journal, 1801 County Road B West, Roseville, MN 55113, or e-mail them to krfrush@ifai.com. All images become the property of Upholstery Journal and cannot be returned.
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Daniel Salinas of Hot Rod Heaven in Nampa, Idaho, hand-formed this multiple-section design to flow and fit with the integrated lines in the door panels. -
He hand-carved the radius crown and included a hand-cut basketweave pattern for an eye-pleasing look. The arched centerpiece accent achieves a 3-D look. -
Salinas used thin cardboard as a template to cut his pattern onto 1/8-inch thick water-repellent board panel. -
“I always use templates,” Salinas says. “The idea is to make it easier to cut, tape and shape thin cardboard, as opposed to cutting a large, thick panel.”
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