Capri custom sun visors
Like almost everything else, car sun visors were in pretty bad condition, and since I have decided to go with a black headliner, these beige visors were no good.
First idea was to use some mint second hand black visors from some random car. That idea didn’t work because black sun visors you can only find in exclusive cars, and second hand can go up to 100$. So, making the custom one was much better option, it will cost me a fragment of price and a lot of work, but it will probably look better then store-bought.
I took apart the original visor – it was only a metal frame with some foam and upholstery plastic / rubber cover.
The pattern was traced on a grid paper, so I could digitize shape for cutting.
After digitizing, the shape was cut on CNC plotter / cutter, out of the thinnest Forex I could find.
For the round rear shape I cut a PVC pipe in half.
After gluing the pipe to Forex, I had the full frame so I could start the upholstery process.
At this point thin foam was glued and the Alcantara pieces where successfully recycled out of failed attempt of door upholstery.
Time consuming process of cutting, stretching, gluing the material so it would perfectly follow the line.
Did I mention that when I finished the first visor I was totally not satisfied with the result and decided to improve the design… So I ripped everything apart and started from scratch.
Anyway, after repeating the whole process with some tweaks in mind, it was time for the mirror installment for the passenger. But, as you can see, the mirror reflected the inner side of the visor so I needed to find a solution – and I found it. Black frame was created to eliminate the reflection of inner side and everything was glued with generous amount of glue.
Gluing two pieces with inserted original frame and pivot arms together before final sewing.
This was the first time I tried to sew layers of foam, Alcantara and Forex, almost one centimeter thick, pushing the limits of my industrial sewing machine. The whole sewing process was done by turning the machine manually, by hand, because the motor would only screw things up. Don’t ask me how I know that
Since I have reused the original visors, I needed to clean the only original visible parts. They where sitting in vinegar (yes, vinegar) for ten minutes, I use it for cleaning old greasy parts and it works for me.
The fully finished custom Ford Capri Alcantara sun visors can now be installed.
Here you can see the difference in quality and visual appearance next to old ones is…well, you decide for yourself.
For me, the most difficult sewing part ware the corners, corners since they need to follow the line perfectly.