MUSTANG 2005-2009 CUSTOM DOOR ARMREST AND DOOR INSERT INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1) Remove the armrest from the door panel - it is heat welded from the back so you will have to cut the melted weld spots - X-acto knife works well for this purpose

 

 

 

2) Once you have the armrest off - the easiest part - glue the foam to the top of the armrest - follow the instructions on glue container to make sure the glue will bond properly. When the foam is glued and holds strongly, dry-fit the leather - in order to do so, remove the inner insert in the hand void

 

 

 

3) With foam glued properly and the cover test-fitted you can proceed with the glue - start with the outer armrest area - this way, when you carefully align the cover, you will have a comfortable basis to proceed - the cover will stay in place so that you can proceed with other gluing areas.

 

 

 

4) When the glue bonds there, apply glue to the bottom of the armrest and then to the inner edges. Remember to leave the leather for a few minutes after each stage for the glue to bond properly (refer to glue usage instructions), otherwise if you proceed with the following step before the glue bonds you may distort the work already done.
IMPORTANT: when gluing the leather to the inner edges of the armrest apply a decent aa mount of stretch to the leather so that you achieve a firm, not too spongy top part - otherwise, after some time leather may come loose so much that you will have nasty wrinkles

 

 

 

5) Repeat the same around the doorpull part - apply glue to inner and front edges and glue the leather applying the same stretch amount.

 

 

 

6) After you finish, install back the door pull insert and you can install the armrest back into the door panel. As you cut the weld spots you need to use 6 screws to secure the armrest back in place - you will find them at any hardware store - just regular screws for plastic fastening - around 3/4 inch long and around 3/8 - 1/2 inch head diameter and #6 or #8 thread size.

 

 

 

Door insert installation manual:

 

 

1) Remove the insert cloth from the door panel - just pull it away starting from one of the edges - it comes off pretty easily.
Tthen remove all the foam residues - sand down the whole insert surface and make sure you do not leave any tiny piece because this will be visible under the leather and will spoil the effect.
Clean the surface thoroughly with grease remover or alcohol. If your Stang did not come with any cloth/vinyl fabric on the insert, just clean the area.

 

 

 

2) After you achieve smooth surface you can proceed with applying the glue but first dry-fit the cover onto the panel to make sure you know how it should be laid and avoid making too much corrections when gluing. Ideally, you should try to just glue the cover without any corrections at all. Therefore you shouldn't apply the glue to the whole surface.
 
Useful tip: Before applying glue, protect the plastic door panel along the groove with paper masking tape so that you are not left with lots of glue residues there that you will have to spend long time cleaning once it dries.

 

 

 

3) Now the simplest part - apply the glue gradually to the insert surface - start with rear upper part of the door panel and apply the leather to no more than 1/4 of the area of insert above the armrest - this part is especially important due to recess there, you need to follow the instructions from glue manufacturer strictly and press the leather really hard against the door panel without stretching it too much - in fact do not stretch it at all here to make sure the leather will not delaminate in the future. Once you have this area glued properly, you can proceed gradually towards the front of the door doing it in stages - applying the glue and pressing the leather.

 

 

4) Once you finish the top part you can finish the edges - apply a decent amount of glue into the groove around the insert and press the leather there - you may find a wooden kitchen paddle useful here to tuck the leather into the groove and press it to make the glue bond properly. Do not use screwdriver as it may cause damage to the leather. But before you apply the glue into the groove, dry-fit the leather to see if it needs trimming - in fact it will surely need some trimming as there is always some oversize - the leather may shrink during transportation as it experiences great temperature and dampness differences and we need to make sure that the product you will receive is not too small.

 

 

5) Once you know how to trim the leather proceed with applying glue and tucking the leather into the groove.
Repeat the same all the way with the long narrow bottom part.

 

 

ENJOY YOUR NEW LEATHER INTERIOR UPGRADE :-)

 

 

 

 

Useful tip:

You have installed a product made out of genuine leather. As you know, to maintain a leather product in good condition, you should take care of it. We suggest occasionally (every 4-6 week for example) applying some leather conditioner/UV protector to keep your leather from drying up in the sun and cracking.

Redline Automotive Accessories Corp. will not be held liable for any labor, incidental or consequential damages of any kind. Proceed at your own risk.