Aluminum door panels can be super cool looking on hot rods, race cars, street machines, and trucks alike. From simple to complex, we’ve seen all kinds of them on all kinds of applications. The most basic flat panels can look great in the right application, but sometimes some bead rolling can really make a difference. We’ve seen plenty of door panels featuring bead rolled details ranging from simple straight beads to logos and more, but when we saw this video from Make It Kustom we knew we had to share it because this is something special. I don’t own a bead roller, but seeing this makes me want to get one and some sheet aluminum to play with. I’d totally rock these door panels.
As is typical with most sheet metal work, the layout is key and that’s one of the things that is very specific for both patterns on these door panels. With that said, there are no trick tools used for the layout, just a square, ruler, straight edge, radius guide, and a Sharpie. He makes it look easy laying this out, but it matters to make them look right.
The actual bead rolling doesn’t look easy, but I really do think that if you pay attention to what he’s saying here and make some small test pieces to practice on then you could end up with something to be proud of. Check out the video and be inspired. I sure was.
