Interior panel resto

[Capsule]

Hi guys,

in my quest of fixing up my '71 RR interior I have a question regarding the interior panels. They are in quite bad shape, it's as if the surface of the panels have crystallized, dunno if it's the chemical softeners that have vapourized from the plastic.
Anyway, I thought I might try and save them before I go and buy new ones.
Have any of you guys experience in restoring those old panels? I thought mayby giving them a slight sanding, then a few layers of spray-filler, sanding and finally paint.

What do you think?

Btw: Does anyone reproduce the inner rear 1/4 panels for our cars?


Capsule

[landon1]

well, if u do some sanding, make sure not to sand off the grain too lol...i'd recomend the krylon fusion paint, unless you use some primer for plastics, cuz otherwise, the paint will flake off....what do u mean inner rear quarters? like the interior plastic ones?...those yes legendary and paddock have em.

[scottish440]

Your interior is probably white or light color...they tend to break
down the fastes from mostly exposure to the sun.....

The panels have a polystyrene base that has a low melting point
but easy to form panels from back in the day but difficult to keep up.....

There is alot more pigment or color in the darker panels and this
helps block the suns deadly rays and last longer.


To paint the panels you will have to remove all of the bad(dusty stuff)
and get down to the good.....this will involve removing th grain....
I tried spraying a "dusty" set and after a few days of warm weather
the paint crawled.....

The fusion paint does work well...this is what I use.....

They have a really nice "Satin Black" in the fusion line that is the best
for hard plastic....has the sheen of the original stuff. (seems like there is
a flat off white if that is your color)

I have a white set that was sanded down smooth....nobody has yet to
notice them....kinda freaky looking to me though.....good luck....scott

[Capsule]

Hey Scott,

exactly, my interior is white. Im changing to all black and thought I would start of by painting my seat backs and A-pillars black as a temporary sollution. I will get new or good, used panels at a later point.

Ill just give it a go with the paint, cus right now they look horrible!

Capsule

[scottish440]

if any of you white interior pieces are in good condition.....keep them....surely somebody would be willing to trade fo a darker color....like the gobs of green charger interior that they made!!!!!!!

only if it is really good shape otherwise....BLAST!!! away with the paint...

Another tip.....a dose of lacquer thinner will help a bit in adhesion....make sure it is fully dry before you spray though......scott

[BuckNeccid]

I was just out in the garage messing around tonite, and had half a can of black wrinkle finish paint, and a sanded down seat back...... Hmmmmm. I just wiped the seat back down, put a light coat of the wrinkle finish on it, and put it near the heat. Not a factory grain, but a pleasing grain, and it hid all kinds of imperfections in the seat back. Cheap way to diguise a bad cover.

[billzilla]

Look into surface preps from SEM for plastic surfaces (there's a couple of different kinds, so be sure you're using the right one by doing some forum searching), but I can't recommend the usual SEM paints for plastics - I found that it comes right off. I had similar 'luck' with Krylon Fusion, actually, although you never know. Your mileage may vary -- but Fusion didn't work for me, even with thorough cleaning and surface prepping (SEM makes a plastic cleaner to use before the prep, too).

What I have found works pretty well is BUMPER BLACK. That stuff, seemingly regardless of who makes it (although I suggest Eastwood, SEM or Krylon) just adheres to just about everything, including painted metal. For soft surfaces like the pads of your horn buttons or similar stuff, don't use Bumper Black - use SEM Trim Black or vinyl paint. Bumper Blacks seem to have their own surface prep built in that reacts to softer plastics and it doesn't seem to dry.

OK, about sanding and resurfacing powdered panels: It's a PAIN IN THE ASS. Unless you're 1). good with sanding and have a DRILL based sander, 2). lots of time to sit with the pieces in good light so you can sand and then check for more powdered areas, 3). willing to spend money on paint and surface prep, I strongly recommend scanning ebay, here and moparts for dark colored panels. They come up frequently and even if you don't get the right color (black), painting a non-sunbaked/powdery green or blue panel is much easier than sanding/refinishing/prepping and then hoping the texture paint looks right and stands up to scuffs. I did my A-pillars and they look pretty ratty. My lower door panels look OK but the paint does come off and I'm always touching them up. Eventually I'll do what I did for my rear lower panels (the ones with ashtrays), just find some decent used pillars and lower doors for sale and replace the old ones. Used black panels look better even if imperfect, won't scuff to reveal a 'rattle can job' and aren't that much more $$$ than you'll spend on paint cans, surface prep and your time put into sanding/refinishing.

Also - Eastwood sells a pretty good interior trim puller tool, I doubt I'd have been able to do my work without it, actually.

[landon1]

well, here's my experience...my interior was originally blue - someone changed it to black long before i got the car. i dyed teh seats, door panels, headliner - everything except the dash white...i really liked the look of the white interior and it seemed to hold up pretty well, but when i painted the car blue, i dyed it back to black. it's been a never-ending battle on some panels, but others are just fine. for everything, i used the cheap .99 spray can gloss black - didn't prep, sand or anything and in most places it looks alright, but on the passenger door panel, it got gouged, showing blue from the window crank handle. i tried Krylon Fusion on the seat backs (these are where i have all my problems with flaking and peeling) and it seemed to work pretty nicely. still have a bit of a problem with the kich panels, but i haven't tried Fusion on it yet. when i get to it (haha)i think i'm going to lightly sand down the panels and use a primer, paint them, and maybe even throw on some clear for some more protection - also think i'll go with something less-glossy.

i used wrinkle paint on my guage cluster, dash vent insert, and console plate - i love it. i set mine out in the sun to get LOTS of BIG wrinkles. quite a few people are doing flat black with aluminum trim, but the wrinkle finish really gets me goin. i thought there would be a problem with keeping it clean, but really it doesn't look dusty even if it is and definitely stands out. another project i have planned is sanding them down and re-painting in wrinkle black, but this time masking off the "trim" areas so that they can be painted in a flat aluminum color to give some contrast - however, on the standard cluster there are too many of these "trimmings" and would look too busy imo, so i may just leave the panels all black, but trimmed in gloss black for an accent

vinyl dye works pretty well on seats - the only one i have a problem with is the driver's seat, but it's because it's pretty well worn out. but the vinyl/cloth dye doesn't work on seat belts really - i tried it on a couple and they looked good freshly sprayed, but it would absorb so much of it, that they came out a dirty blue color. currently i have replacement seat belts (non retractable 3-point, metal buckle-style), but i will be going to retractable lap belts only (front and rear) to clean up the headliner and window/door opening area - i wanted to go with retractable 3 points, but i don't really like the way they look and though not "safe" in modern terms - that's my choice