Sun Visor Restore

As you can see the visors are a bit destroyed.  Clearly a cosmetic issue except for the few days I might need a visor that works.  But I decided that in between the other projects I could work on the visors.  Option 1 was to buy reproductions at a cost of $50, yikes!  Option 2 was to do it myself.  I'm not an auto upholstery expert but I figure how hard could it be.

I started with as much YouTube video and other "how-to" websites as possible.  The good news is that this is a fairly simple job and I was not going to need special tools.  A visit to the local fabric store resulted in a dark blue vinyl material that was a remnant.  That means that it was half off so I was able to get more than I need for less than $8.   I also decided to buy some batting material to give the visor a padded look.  Using my coupon I purchased a can of high strength adhesive spray for $6 and some upholstery thread in black for $2.  So far I have $20 in materials because of the batting.  Turns out my wife already had some batting.  

The first step was to remove the visor from the truck.  Three small screws came out, with one snapping half way.  The second step was to remove the current cardboard visor material to make a template.  This thing was dry as a leaf and just as fragile.  Now the chipboard material is attached to the rod with metal sleeves.  It took some strength and patience to slowly move it off the rod.  Once off I took some steel wool to clean the rod and test fit the visor back on....seems to be better.

I took the cardboard visor material and sprayed it with water to soften the material and was able to unfold the cardboard without falling apart.  Laying it on a piece of drawing paper I was able to make a fairly good pattern.  Mostly the rounded edges were copied then I used a straight edge to connect each corner instead of trying to trace the edges of the cardboard visor.

Next I test fit my paper template over the visor insert. It seemed to be fairly good and allowed about a 1/4 inch reveal so as to attach a trim piece which I will sew to keep it all together.

Tracing the paper template onto the vinyl was pretty easy.  I then cut and trimmed and again test fit onto the visor insert.  

Following that success I did the same with the 1/2 batting, but trimmed that closer so there would be no overhang from the chipboard.  I assembled all the parts and created a visor sandwich.  The batting was too thick so I split it apart and reassembled the sandwich, reducing the batting from a total of 1 inch to only 1/4 layers for a 1/2 total.

Using the adhesive spray I started with the chipboard then the batting and finally the vinyl and put them all together.  Once it was all together my wife and I decided that the puffy visor look was not appealing.  So I opened the sandwich and cleaned off the batting and decided to go with a thin functional look.  This looks more like the original visor.

After the sandwich was made I trimmed a 3/4 inch wide strip 28 inches long so I could trim the edge and fold it over each side.  The intent is to clean up the edge of then sew it for a finished look.  I will also use the original metal dog ear clips where the trim piece ends.  Spraying the trim piece with adhesive I started at one edge and slowly folded it over the edge of the visor and every so often I would use binder clips or clothes pins to keep it tight.

A day later I removed the binders and found the result to be fairly good.  Next, I needed to sew the edge to make it permanent as well as "professional"  The question was do I do this by hand or with a sewing machine.  My mom was not so sure that the machine would work on the four layers of vinyl and adhesive, so I did it by hand.   The secret to a good stitch was to practice first on some scraps and take your time on each stitch.  I discovered that the angle of my needle was very important as to the pattern of stitching I ended up with.

As you can see its all finished and I have extra material just in case the long-term abuse of sun and temperature requires me to go back and make it more robust. 

The most difficult part of this project was the slow going with needle and thread.  I also made sure my thread was long enough to go through the entire edge without running out.  Since you double the thread to start that meant it was about 60 inches long.  I then doubled that for a total of 120 inches of thread.  In the end I had about 18 inches left over. 

If I was to do it again, I might try a dense foam about 1/8 thick instead of batting.  I Might also consider a lighter thread for a contrasting color, I selected black to hide my mistakes.