interior plastic texture crumbling + vinyl repair

billzilla · Post by **billzilla** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:27 pm

Many of the interior textured surfaces of my Satellite are crumbling or at least too easily scuffed off (like the inner A pillar covers, kick panels, rear lowers). Do I need to sand all that off before SEM coating, or what? Is there a special texture spray you can use, or does it really show on black?

I'm trying to avoid paying for repop panels...

And speaking of that, other than the little multi-color vinyl repair kits that come with the little circular heating iron (I've never had much luck with those), is there a truly pro grade vinyl repair kit out there? I'm not going to try to fix my cracking dash, but I'd like to put some repairs on my rear bench seat and on a few nicks in the vinyl panels...

linemup · Post by **linemup** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:07 pm

Bill, the stuff is dry and chalky. If you dye or paint it now it would only flake off...........or fall off. If your not going to replace it I would sand it completely down.............taking off all of the grain and then paint,dye it. Otherwise, the paint/dye wil not stick. The material came with a grain and it is simply falling off.

ryangtogtx · Post by **ryangtogtx** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:09 am

I agree. You can always look for good used interior pieces if you don't want new.

Smellslike1974 · Post by **Smellslike1974** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:30 am

Most of my interior panels are molded textured,so sanding wouldn't be an option for me.i guess i have to find something to soak them in that eats paint and not plastic..

Or i could just wrap them in white leather

moparmodeler · Post by **moparmodeler** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:21 am

The plastic that was uses was not the best. UV rays from the sun have destroyed the plastic. There is no " Like New " fix. Yes you can sand and redye then armor all, but you lose all the factory texture. Re-pops are good, just stay away from white. White deteriorates faster then darker colored like Black and Blue. And always keep protected with a UV blocking conditioner such as Armor All.

I have seen custom touches to old pieces were they sand them down and glue on vinyl to match there upholstery.

billzilla · Post by **billzilla** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:00 pm

So then I guess I should replace the chalky plastic and re-dye the vinyl (and make spot repairs). Ugh, those repops aren't cheap!

linemup · Post by **linemup** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:18 pm

Hey, the chalky stuff will sand off.....then re-dye it. I promise it will work. The only drawback is that when someone looks at it, it won't have the grainy textured on it..............I am talking about hard plastic stuff like lower door panels, bucket seat backs, etc. If it is a driver, that is better than repro's................up to you. You amke the money at your house, not us.

billzilla · Post by **billzilla** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:20 pm

LOL - right. I was thinking maybe using textured paint, but the orange peel effect doesn't really seem to mimic the texture (alligator?) on the original plastics.

Either way, I'm sure it'll look OK. Black doesn't show detail like that as much as the other colors, anyway.

linemup · Post by **linemup** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:45 pm

if it makes you feel betterm I dyed/painted my a pillar moldings with SEMS white and it looks fine for a clone.........for now...........until I can run across a good deal on some nice ones. I sanded them and if you don't know they came textured, then they look fine.

billzilla · Post by **billzilla** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:36 pm

Thanks, that actually DOES make me feel better!

moparmodeler · Post by **moparmodeler** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:36 am

I am cheap, sand and dye, or paint, Hmm.. the wait lose may add to my track time!!!

billzilla · Post by **billzilla** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:28 pm

This sounds like I'm a total ignoramus, but what grit sandpaper, and did anyone use anything else, like a drill and attachment or wire brush? I'm finding it tough to find a middle ground between stuff that gets the chalk off effectively but doesn't score the plastic too deeply.