Refinishing interior panels.. Question

[GLHSKEN]

87 GLHS, refinishing the rear interior sail panels. Question concerns the "flaking" plastic. Heat does this to the panels, we all know that. Sander didn't want to remove the flaking easily, I don't want to scrape for fear of making it worse. Not sure if it will just continue to flake.

I'm using eastwoods plastic cleaner and prep kit. Softens the plastic for the paint application. Looking for any advice here. Making cars pretty is new to me... I usually just up the HP and run them

[GLHS592]

Ken, I would scrounge the junkyards for a dark colored interior. All the light colored interiors tend to get chalky. The darker colors tended to hold up better. I have a couple dark colored interior parts, that I dyed light grey, in my Shelby Charger.

I washed each part thoroughly (Simple Green) until there were no visible stains left. I wiped all of them down with wax and grease remover. If you go to the local paint store, you can get an adhesion promoter made for the purpose of dying interior plastic. Follow the instructions on the can. The brand I used said to spray the dye on when the adhesion promoter was still tacky. I also did the same thing to the metal trim that's around the headliner.

[GLHSKEN]

Thanks Kev... Much appreciated.

[Turbodave]

Like Kevin said, the darker colors are a lot less likely to chip apart, so I would go looking for the dark grey panels common in the turismos, or even red, then repaint or dye them.

[WickedShelby88]

Anyone know where a set of these darker colored interior cars is at? I would like to find a set. I remember my first car was an 85 SC and the interior was almost perfect except for the carpet and the rear panels were flaking as you guys have said is common in that color.

[GLHS592]

Just look for burgandy, blue, charcoal, etc. interiors. They can be found in Turismos, Chargers, Rampages, Omnis, etc.

[Wes85L]

Why would you get a dark panel if you're just going to sand it down to repaint it?

[GLHSKEN]

Because the sun does not flake them as bad.

[gkcooper]

Ditto... I just did this to my '91 DSM. I found several good dark-gray interiors. However, I needed brown parts. I used SEM brand colorants, plasti-prep, and adhesion promotor. The lighter colored interior plastics outgas at a much faster rate, or maybe the pigments act as a UV blocker. Either way, I was blotto on finding good tan and brown parts that weren't fried.

[DC Turismo]

Just be sure to use a plastic primer if you're going to dye a darker color to the lighter gray that the GLHS' came with. I'm sure you know that, but it was an oversight that I made years ago when dying the grandma blue panels in my Turismo to the GLHS light gray color. I still have to redo that set and put them in.

Ken, do you have the right color? If not, I can run out in my garage and snap a pic. of the can I used which was recommended by the our buddy who's a Chrysler rep.

[devlish]

i've used SEM in many interior applications now, and it's a great product! i also got some of the DupliColor interior paints for a recent project, and i must say it is no where near the quality of the SEM stuff. the SEM held better, felt more OEM, and looked it too. both were used on the same types of material as well. check local audio stores and Auto Paint supply, they usually carry SEM or can order it. it can also be found online. it's about double the price of the DupliColor stuff, but you really only need 2 cans to do the entire interior. and SEM is the way to go if you ask me!

good luck with your project. i have some pics of my SEM usuage on my webpage. http://webpages.charter.net/devl1sh

[gkcooper]

Nice web page (and Omni) devlish!

[Turbodave]

When I re-did the red interior in my 89 Shadow a few years back I wasn't able to get the correct color from SEM. I ended up using a PPG interior paint that was mixed to the right color. After about 6 years it has held up really well. So if the SEM paint in a spray can isn't available PPG may be another option. I sprayed this on with a regular gun, and I think a quart of the paint was around $50 back then, seems like a lot, but well worth it when you've got a new looking interior afterwards.

[gkcooper]

The SEM stuff I used came from the automotive paint store and I shot it with my HVLP gun and a 3 oz cup. I have done three cars now going back about fifteen years to my first. All of the paint has held up, even in the blazing Tucson heat.

[devlish]

thank for the props on the webpage. it hasn't been updated since last fall i don't think. the car is finished now, up and running... Koni coilovers installed.... but then i blew a ring or piston last week, so it's down again. my cardomain site has all the new pics with suspension & SLH2 etc...

however, yeah the interior is just a tad off in color. i used wedgewood blue from SEM, and it's definetely a little lighter than the stock color, but since i redid ALL the panels, it's ok by me, at least they are ALL a little light then. the only other blue was much darker. and yes, PPG did make the correct color for it, and sometimes i wish i would have gone that route.. but this did turn out nicely anyways. i'm happy with the finished product.

[GLHSKEN]

thanks I am using the SEM prep products and paint.

[DC Turismo]

What is the correct color name/number for the 89 Shadow/CSX interior? It's a darker gray than the GLHS'

[Turbodave]

What is the correct color name/number for the 89 Shadow/CSX interior? It's a darker gray than the GLHS'

The interior code should be on the fender tag.

[DC Turismo]

Thanks Dave. I'll check it out, the tags sitting on my dresser actually haha

[Dodgeglht]

One thing you may want to try f you haven't redone the panels yet is Wrinkle Finish. It's made by both Plasti-Cote & Dupli-Color and seems to work well. I used a can of that on the rear panels of my 77 Pinto Sedan that had the same issues you're describing. Made the panels look almost like oe, and the Wrinkle finish is paintable. I wanted black in my Pinto so I left it alone, but it'll take any color from what I read.
Matt