How to make an arm rest with your own hands? How to make an armrest in a car?

Probably every car enthusiast thought about how to distinguish your car against the background of others with the help of various body kit, spoilers and other tuning elements. Yes, it is possible that these details will give sportiness to your iron horse, but comfort and power will not increase. Therefore, it is worth considering a more practical version of tuning, for example, an additional armrest.

Such a thing not only hides a lot of "little things" (keys, documents, etc.), but also makes the interior of the car more interesting and unique. And about how to make an armrest in the car, our today's article will tell.

Preparation for work

How to start making this element? It is best to start with the measurements and drawings of the car armrest. Before performing the work, carefully measure the distance between the seats in the front row, and then enter the data in the notepad. Based on the measurements, you will get a future picture (drawing) of your armrest. Remember that this scheme is of particular importance, since it is by these values that you will manufacture the part. Also it is worth considering that the distance between the seats can differ significantly even for similar brands and models of cars. Thus, if your friend has exactly the same car (by brand, model), then it is not necessary to make measurements in it. Be sure to calculate the distance only on your machine.

It is important to remember that in addition to the backs of the driver's and passenger's seat in the car there are such important details as the lever of the handbrake and the seat belt. When measuring, consider these features, because otherwise the armrest will not give you the opportunity to normally fasten the belt or turn on the "handbrake". After all this, you can safely get down to work.

How to start making a car armrest?

It's very simple - for work you need to take any sawing tool on wood (for example, electric jig saw) and wood sheet. The latter can be obtained from the old cupboard door from the chipboard. It should mark all important measurements according to the drawing and cut out the contours.

And now the assembly

A more complex process is the assembly of the armrest. To do this, you need to make a part marking and drill holes for self-tapping screws. Further in the drawer are made potayas. At the final stage of the assembly, the outer side of the structure is ground using a coarse-grained sandpaper. But this is not the end of our work on the armrest. We still have to sew the entire structure of fabric sheathing.

Decorative cladding

How to trim the armrest with your own hands? It's best to start with a choice of material. The final choice here depends on the brand and prestige of the car. For example, if you make an armrest on the "Gazelle" with your own hands, the most reasonable thing is to coat it with dermatome. The same is true for domestic cars. The made armrest (VAZ 2107) with their own hands is also recommended to sew with the cheapest material. For greater pathos and chic, you can use the Alcantra. Skin as an upholstery is not recommended - it's very expensive, and besides not every motorist copes with it, sheathing the armrest with their own hands.

As for the color of the material, for most cases the black armrests fit perfectly into the interior of the car. If you want to be original, experiment with the colors of the skin - most often in the elements of the car salon there are black and gray hues.

The same process of plating takes place along the contours with the help of an arched corner of PVC. As a rule, this work takes away from the car enthusiast no more than 20-40 minutes of time.

We make an armrest on the VAZ with our own hands: the manufacture of the lid

The whole design of the armrest is almost ready - there is only a lid left. She needs to pay special attention. The armrest should not be rigid, therefore for giving it softness it is necessary to apply foam rubber. If this is not at hand, then as an alternative, the usual sponge for the body. Only one armrest will require no more than 4-5 such loaves.

So, where to start? First of all, the glue is applied to the surface of the chipboard, after which a sponge or a piece of foam is placed here. After the adhesive has dried, the loofahs are sewn together, and the extra pieces are cut with the help of scissors.

In order for our armrest to be as flat and elastic as possible, it is necessary to cut out a rectangle from a thin felt and nail it from both sides of the structure.

At the next stage, the felt is glued to the sponges and sheathed.

How to install the hinges and furniture magnet?

To ensure that the lid during the ride is not always opened, you need to keep it something. We hardly install the lock in the armrest, but the furniture magnet is just right. After installing this element, you can start mounting the hinges. We fix them with the help of self-tapping screws.

Then all the elements go through the alignment procedure, and the lid is finally screwed to the main part of the armrest. But that is not all. In order for the magnet to hold the lid, a small metal element (plate) must be mounted on the back of the structure. We place it strictly above the magnet, otherwise it will not bring any functionality. At the final stage, sharp edges of the armrest are sharpened by a file. The same applies to the lid.

How to install the armrest yourself in the car?

This is perhaps the most important task for the car enthusiast, because the correctness of the box will determine the convenience of use and the duration of its operation as a whole. The task is complicated by the fact that when installing the car owner can easily spoil the interior details. It is also unacceptable to use the so-called "collective farm tuning" inside - this will only aggravate the situation.

How to mount the armrest yourself in the car? For the very installation of this element, you will need to have the following set of materials:

1. One polypropylene tube with steel interior.
2. Pin M8 length of 100-110 centimeters. We need it to fix the plastic in the cabin (in all the car under the decorative plug the plastic is kept on very short bolts, so we will extend them).

That's probably all you need to buy to install the armrest in the car. By the way, to achieve a reliable fastening under the decorative plug it is recommended to drill one more hole (in total you will have 3).

Stages of installation

In the holes are inserted cut pins. On the reverse side of the plastic put a metal plate and then the whole structure is twisted with a wrench.

Then a rectangle is cut from the plywood board, which is then covered with dermatome. It should also drill a few holes. We mount the part in place and put on polypropylene tubes. Then, on the box, a hole is marked and cut out, after which it is put in place. Fasten it with reinforced washers and nuts. Everything, at this stage, the question of how to make the armrest with your own hands, can be considered closed.