New life for old door panels

[gchemist]

Here is a picture of my refinished old door panels. You guys should see the whole interior. New dash, new bezel, refinished panels and new headliner. Headliner only cost $39.95 in Austin!!!

Old parts can have new life with a little paint.


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Gerardo
1983 Custom Truck
TX Plates: "BAD BOW"
http://www.geocities.com/abetterchemist/

[DBLSPRT68]

THOSE LOOK GREAT! I WILL BE RE-DOING MINE SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE. MY INTERIOR IS BLACK, SO IT SHOULD BE VERY EASY. GOOD JOB. DAVID

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1970c-10lwb 350 3spd project: 65 bel air 2-door 350 700r4 NEW TRUCK: 1982 3/4 LWB CHEVY 350-TH400-2WD W/89 SUBURBAN FRONT CAP.
DRIVE TOYOTA DAILY.

[Leon]

Those look really nice. Did you do the panels yourself or have a shop do it? If you done it, I'm very interested in the materials and methods used. I'm getting ready to redo my whole interior and have been getting a slight bit of sticker shock for replacement pieces. My original color was charc gray but has faded to a dull blue/black.

[gchemist]

Leon,

I painted the door panels and trim myself. It took some little preping to get the look you see in the pic. First I used a solvent based cleaner to remove all the grime and grease on the panels. You can buy solvent based cleaner at any parts store. They are similiar to carb and engine cleaners just not as harsh. You don't want to disolve the plastic.
After the solvent cleaning, I used some dish washer soap to finish the cleaning the panels. The panels have the origininal texture except the top portion. The panels were uneven and brittle so I used some sandpaper to smooth just the top portion. After cleaning the parts you want dry them well. I did it over night. Next I used a platic based gray primer. This primer will not stick well to areas not properly cleaned. Each part was primered with two coats. Each coat allowed to dry one full day. Next came the paint. Each part was sprayed lightly for the first coat and let dry. Sequencial coats were also thin. If you over spray the paint starts to run and ruins the overal finish. Some of the interior pieces are actually metal. These are prepared the same way but more care must taken when painting. Paint did not stick to them very well. A second cleaning and several coats the metal pieces matched the plastic very well. The paint I used is also vinyl. I used Plasticoat primer and paint. I only found these two products at Pep Boys and Parts America. Other places carried different brands. If you stay with the same manufacturer for the primer and paint you should not have any problems.
The same proceedure was used for my new dash, except the solvent cleaning. The primer portion took more coats since the dash was black.

The original brown "carpet" portion of the door panels were also replaced. Since I used gray paint, I went down to the local stereo place and bought some speaker box fabric. I trimmed a small piece to fit the panel and then used some glue to hold it firmly in place. I have not replaced the door pockets and propably will not. Replacements are pricy too, but speakers may look better there or some other "bow tie" emblem.

Paint the screws too or they will look really ugly. All I need now is the door handle strap.

I'll be taking pictures this weekend to post on my web site.


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Gerardo
1983 Custom Truck
TX Plates: "BAD BOW"
http://www.geocities.com/abetterchemist/


[This message has been edited by gchemist (edited 02-01-2001).]

[Fast68Chevy]

Did you have any scratches or gouges to fill ??
If so, how did you go about fixing those?
Those look way better than my 81's panels, nice !

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'68 C-10, '81 C-20, '79 CM-400 '72 Blazer,
'79 Caprice,'77 Electra,
'76 C-20, '78 C-10, '83 Caprice
"How do you want to crash today?"
-- New Microsoft Slogan for Windows
Lincoln, IL, 30 Mi N of Springfield
r72k5@hotmail.com

[gchemist]

Fast68Chevy,

My door panels were pretty much just sun rotted. Minor pealing but nothing major. If you use enough plastic primer you can easily cover up small scratches and some very small holes. If the scratches are too big, I'd suggest to buy some old panel at the local salvage yard. Any nonbroken panel should look like mine after they are painted.

One note I did not mention on my other post. Becareful when removing the "window" wiper off the door panel. You can easily break all the holding slots. If you been wanting to replace those old "window" wipers on the doors now is a good chance to do it.

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Gerardo
1983 Custom Truck
TX Plates: "BAD BOW"
http://www.geocities.com/abetterchemist/