[Xris]

For all of those people who have been following my restoration thread I posted an update of some interior work I have done as sort of a pilot project in converting the interior over to the same color scheme. I thought I would copy that mini-write up and post it hear for ease of reference and searchability.

Follow along as I take you on this exciting journey!

1) Since my door inserts were already off from this whole restore process, I will not go over how to take them off. Since there is chrome trim on the inserts I next bent the tabs up and pryed the trim tags off. There are two types, round tags and rectangle tags...use a thin head screw driver to pry them up and a needle nose to pull them off. Keep them for reinstall.

2) Next you can pull off the fabric insert by removing the arm rest (4 screws) and then bending the tabs up. Simply pull the fabric insert out.

3) Next wash the plastic door inserts thoroughly with soap and water. After doing a little follow-up, many people will also use a cleaner of some sort to get any wax, dirt or armor-all off. Any other pieces I do I will use some Xylene. I did not shoot any pics of this...just use your imagination.

4) Your panel is now ready for paint. I went with the Krylon Fusion paint, which according to the manufacturer bonds to plastic:

I painted the foam/rubber armrest with the same stuff. After a week it was still a little tacky...it has since started to dry even more...just a precaution. If I find that I am not happy with it, I will reappolster the arm rests with the same fabric used below.

5) Once dry the chrome trim can be installed...this is the opposite of tear down. Remember to use your round and rectangle tags.

NOTE: when painting your plastic door inserts, don't forget your speaker vents and power window/lock trim.

6) Next is reappolstering the fabric door insert. You will need some adhesive (Crafters Glue or Spray adhesive) and a good stapler. I went with the Stanley electric stapler/brad nailer. $30 at your local home depot

Here is the fabric I decided to go with, along with an example of how the black trim pieces will look with it:

7) I decided to keep the old fabric on the old insert and layer the new fabric over the top. Simply lay the insert over your fabric and trace a line around it. This will help center it later on. Then draw another line around out to create a 3/4" to 1" border. This overlap will glue/staple to the back side of the insert:

Opposite side:

8) Simply glue the face of the old fabric and the overlap points and start folding the new fabric over the edges. Use your stapler to staple the overlap in place.

9) At this point you can install the powerlock/window trim pieces and speaker vents...this will help in holding the fabric down. Then insert the fabric insert into the plastic door insert...bend your tabs to tighten.

10) Once the arm rests have dried add them to the plastic door inserts. I then added my speakers.

11) one other detail I worked on was adding the new weather stripping to the door insert. Simply pull the old staples out with a screw driver and needlenose, use the 3M weatherstripping adhesive and clamp the new weatherstripping down. I used small screws to pull the stripping tight to the insert instead of staples.

Final results:

As you can see there is plenty of Blue still left in the cab...that needs to go! I am going to buy more material to reappolster the headliner and possibly the radio and gauge cluster...not sure about that yet.

 

[Xris]

Progress is going ok...starting to make little tweaks here and there.

I started to paint the rear inner panels and plan to reappolster the arm rests. I need to get some more paint as I ran out and still have more to do. This time, I cleaned the panels with soap, water and then Xylene to strip any wax, dirt, etc.

Before you paint make sure to take off the arm rests. You will see two pinch clips for each arm rest. They look like pieces of wire hanger. Push the tabs in (squeeze them) and pull on the arm rest as you slide them out of the round retainers:

Here are some pics of them painted, I have one more coat to apply:

I hope to reappolster the arm rests and get them back together maybe this weekend...we'll see if time allows as I am also rebuilding our deck!

 

[MajSuckelton]

Looks good. Now get that headliner done and post up pics. I need some ideas. :thumbup

 

[Xris]

Looks good. Now get that headliner done and post up pics. I need some ideas. :thumbup

Maj - I'm going to use the same material I am using for the rear arm rests, and cloth panel inserts in the front doors. I gotta hurry up and get some more of that material before it is gone!

 

[yoomooman]

hell ya, looking good, this restore is deffinetly coming along nicely, keep it up xris

i also seen my same ring on your left thumb

 

[Xris]

hell ya, looking good, this restore is deffinetly coming along nicely, keep it up xris

i also seen my same ring on your left thumb

Yep! Things are going good! Five minutes here, five minutes there and I can get this thing done. My biggest project is yet to come. Still need to install all of my front end steering components...that'll be an all day project! Also discovered that with the install of my Sag PS pump, they tend to blow the lower Steering Box Seal. I'll replace that once I start the steering project. As always, I'll take some good pics and provide a write up on all of it!

Yeah...my wife bought the ring for me as a vacation momento.

 

[Mr. Cardholder]

Now when you painted the panels with they Krylon, does it look just like it did before, but simply in a different color? Or is it shinier than it was originally? I'm looking for that (VHT I think) plastic and vinyl dye and would just get Krylon if it colors it well enough.

 

[Xris]

Now when you painted the panels with they Krylon, does it look just like it did before, but simply in a different color? Or is it shinier than it was originally? I'm looking for that (VHT I think) plastic and vinyl dye and would just get Krylon if it colors it well enough.

Since the panels are original, they looked dull and faded the Krylon has brought new life into them. Some of the other guys who have done the krylon Fusion... years after applying the stuff say it looks as good as when they first sprayed.

 

[Anvil Crawler]

I am resurrecting this thread to pose another question(s) about restoring plastic trim.

1) All older plastic trim gets aged/scratched - so do you sand on it with some really fine sand paper or scotch pad before painting ?

2) If you have to paint to match anyway, knowing what you are painting is still not going to match because of the age/faded all the other is shouldn't the logical thing to do is go ahead and paint it all?

 

[BigBlue 94]

I am resurrecting this thread to pose another question(s) about restoring plastic trim.

1) All older plastic trim gets aged/scratched - so do you sand on it with some really fine sand paper or scotch pad before painting ?

2) If you have to paint to match anyway, knowing what you are painting is still not going to match because of the age/faded all the other is shouldn't the logical thing to do is go ahead and paint it all?

1) red scotchbrite #7447

2) ideally, yes.