After I got burned on the pistons, I needed to make some real progress on something so today I dove in to the interior panels. Almost all of the original plastics were destroyed by the sun over the years. GM apparently did not use any UV protection on the plastics and they more or less turn to dust.
Like most things thrid-gen, nobody makes replacements, so I have picked up various panels through TGO members and a local yard. I sent BAPS in York, PA a piece of non-faded plastic from the back side of one of my panels and they did a custom mix for me.
The results were perfect. Take a look below. One of these kick panels is original, and the other one started life grey. Can you tell which one was painted?
Hint -- it's the one on the left. The driver side is original to the car and was, unfaded. The BAPS color match is beyond perfect. The panels look brand new again.
Check out the Interior Panel Refinishing photo page to see more before and after examples.
Here is the procedure and products I used to do this:
- Clean the panel with dish soap (Palmolive, in my case) and hot water to get rid of any dirt and oils. I scrubbed the panels with a large bristle brush and allowed them to dry completely in the sun.
- Very lightly wet sand the entire panel using 1000 grit.
- Clean with Eastwood PrePaint cleaner
- Apply a very light coat of SEM Adhesion Promoter
- Wait 10 minutes
- Apply the paint in light coats
Initially, the finish seemed pretty soft but after the panels had a chance to cure for three or four days, the durability appears to be there.
I am extremely happy with results. The dark blue is stunning and, IMHO, is very classy. The interior guys at GM made some really nice color choices for the pace car.