How to make new door trim panels for your Fairthorpe.

Last summer I made a pair of new door trim panels for my Electron Minor, as anyone with a Fairthorpe will know the originals were just made from cardboard covered in vinyl material and after a few soakings on rainy days out in the car with the top down they would become all buckled and out of shape. I have owned a number of Fairthorpes over the years and have found the best solution is to make them out of fibreglass as they are light, waterproof and easy to make, here is how to do it:-
I start off with a flat sheet of glass that is big enough for one door panel and wash it off, once dry give it a coat or two of mould release wax, car polish would probably also do the trick. Buy some fibreglass resin and hardener plus enough F/G matting (chopped strand mat) to make a couple of panels, You can buy this in various thicknesses. I usually just make the panels from one layer of CSM, coat the glass with your resin / hardener mix then lay the mat onto it and stipple with a brush till it is well soaked in. This will then need rolling with a fibreglass finned roller to remove any trapped air and give a more even surface finish. When dry you can remove your sheet from the glass with a wood chisel or some thing similar, once you have an edge up it will come away very easily leaving a smooth finish on the side that came from the glass. Now you need to make a pattern from card or paper from where the panel will fit on the door, this then needs drawing round with a felt tip on to the fibreglass sheet, I do it on the back as the felt tip works better on that. I usually add a pocket slot in the middle as well as it is a handy place to store stuff  in the car, you can see the cut out for the pocket in the pictures. The best way to cut the panel is by using an angle grinder with a cutting disk fitted (make sure you ware a mask). Once you have your panel cut it is ready to be trimmed, choose your covering material usually leatherette or vinyl and cut it so it is 1 1/2" larger than the panel all the way round then lay the panel on it with the smooth side facing the back of the material.

Draw the outline of the panel and the door pocket onto the material then lift the panel off. You will now need to cut slits in the material from the outside up to the outline anywhere where there is a curve, the sharper the curve the more slits necessary or you will end up with a series of straight edges round the curve rather than a flowing line. The corners will need cutting up to the line and remove them as marked in picture 2 so you don`t see an edge from the front once finished. The door pocked needs marking and cutting as shown by the pen marking in photo 2 also. 

 When cutting to your pen marks use a sharp pair of scissors and do not over cut the pen lines or it will show on the front face of the door panel when finished. Now lay the door panel back onto the material and coat the area of the fibreglass where the material will be folded over and also the material to be folded with Evostick glue and wait for it to go almost dry to the touch (follow the glue instructions and use a well ventilated room). The material can then be folded over on to the back of the panel, once you have the first edge done stretch the material when doing the other sides so it is pulled tight or you will end up with a saggy covering! Lastly do the door pocket, again pulling the material before sticking it to the panel. Any bits of material that end up on top of another piece will need some extra glue to stick them. Et viola one door trim panel made, when doing your second one make a fresh template because the doors on Fairthorpes are not exactly the same shape...........
Also remember that you need the covering material on the opposite side of the panel to the one you have just finished otherwise you will have made 2 for the same side of the car, yep no need to ask how i know!
Your finished panels can now be fitted to your car, best to use cup washers and countersunk self tapping screws which are available from any car trim suppliers, try to fit them close to the corners and then space them out evenly round the panel so they look neat.

The third picture is a Blue Peter `here`s one i prepared earlier` shot, i think it looks quite professional and was a lot cheaper than getting a trimmer to do the job, also a lot more satisfying having done it myself.