Interior Restoration: a guide

[80CobraKid]

So today we received our shipment of interior paint from NPD. Here is a guide to dyeing your interior panels and what you'll need to do. oh boy, this is gonna be interesting.

Prep:
This is VERY important. just like exterior paint on a car, prepping the interior panels is the key to getting a good finish on your panels.
Step 1:
The first step is to sand any areas with scratches or gouges. This is in order to eliminate any loose plastic that can become more apparent after you have painted the plastic. The recommended sandpaper is 400 grit.

We also used a foam sanding block to wrap the sandpaper around, this keeps your sanding nice and flat.


Step 2:
The second step is to clean the plastic. I recommend using dawn dish soap with a scotch brite pad to really clean the plastic well. Another Cleaner that works well is citrus cleaner.
Step 3:
The next step is to use SEM Plastic and Leather Prep. With this you simply spray it all over the plastic, and then wipe it off immediately.

Step 4:
The other can pictured is SEM Plastic Adhesion Promoter. THIS IS ONLY FOR PLASTIC PREP. With this stuff you have to apply a light coat on the panel, and then let it dry for 5 minutes, and then apply a second, slightly thicker coat, and let that dry for 15 minutes.
Painting
FINALLY! Its quite the long process, painting these pieces.
Ok, this is the simplest part of the process, simply apply the dye in the number of coats needed. Trust me on this: this dye is AMAZING. If you complete the process right, it turns out incredible. MAKE SURE TO USE NATIONAL PARTS DEPOT LOW-LUSTER FOR BASECOAT, SEMI-GLOSS FOR FINISH COAT

[Mustang Kid]

Great job! Good write up, any pics of the finished product or comparison shots of new to old?

[80CobraKid]

PICS:

Before: a good stress mark

After the dyeing:

See that sun baked kicker panel on that top? this is before:

This is after the magic, same panel, just dyed:


this is the other kick panel, dyed.

Really nice finish when it dries, also a perfect match to the real caramel color.

Here is the smaller piece of the two- piece lower hatch panel, has some big scratches on it, but it looks better than it did:

Remember to do nice, light sprays of the dye back and forth and get a nice few coats down.


and this is what it looks like after:

Perfect caramel:

Thats it for now! MOre pics to come when we make more progress!

[WHTLTHR79RS]

Very nice Cobra kid, but I got to mention that on my white interior panels, the surface is turning to powder, and ANY scratching or sanding will remove all traces of the orginal texture. I will be facing that dragon soon.

Neil

[80CobraKid]

Some of my panels are starting to crumble too, but at your stage, I suggest going to a junkyard and looking for your pieces, otherwise you might be able to find some pieces on FEP, EBay, or craigslist. Thats about it. sorry man!

[WHTLTHR79RS]

I have a test piece and will try spraying a light fog of MEK to try and weld the plastic again...hoping...

[80CobraKid]

I have a test piece and will try spraying a light fog of MEK to try and weld the plastic again...hoping...

Good Luck!

[Kerry]

nice work, looks great. I've done a couple pieces in my 86 this way. unfortunately between the orig red int, the replacement arm rest and the couple pieces i have painted, I now of 3 different shades. Fortunately they are not is places that really stand out.

[Curtis]

Good post and nice work, thanks for sharing.

[mustangxtreme]

I have a test piece and will try spraying a light fog of MEK to try and weld the plastic again...hoping...

Neil, make sure you're in an open area or wear a respirator. MEK is nasty stuff.

[DOUBLE8]

Thanks for the info. Good before and after pics.

[kbrandt]

NPD lists both a "semi-gloss" and "low luster" option for their interior paints. Which are you using? They both claim to be for specific interior codes, so I assume the color is the same. I'm not sure which finish is closer to the original.

[dburdyshaw]

Do I see caramel (chamois)???

Man, that is lookin' soooooo purdy.

I haven't even read this entire thread ---- but you can bet that I'll be putting it in my "How to Paint" binder.

Sweet! Thanks!

[Gemini1999]

NPD lists both a "semi-gloss" and "low luster" option for their interior paints. Which are you using? They both claim to be for specific interior codes, so I assume the color is the same. I'm not sure which finish is closer to the original.

I contacted someone at NPD about this. The person exchanged emails with said that the low luster paint was for the plastic surfaces and that the semi gloss was for vinyl. I'm just going by what he relayed to me. I was a bit confused myself, but from an appearance standpoint, it seemed to make sense.

[80CobraKid]

NPD lists both a "semi-gloss" and "low luster" option for their interior paints. Which are you using? They both claim to be for specific interior codes, so I assume the color is the same. I'm not sure which finish is closer to the original.

We used low-luster, But Semi-Gloss is the correct factory finish.

NPD has these in stock, it is they're policy to have every part in stock.

[83GTRAG]

I will be doing the same this weekend, thanks for the tips! Nice job.

[86GTConv]

WOW! Looks great! Good to know...thx for the tips thread.

[wraithracing]

We are using low-luster, which I believe is the closest to original, but I'm not entirely sure. But here what were using:

We bought 4 cans and it took 10 weeks to get it because SEM only wants to do big orders, instead of ust having it in stock, so NPD had to have enough orders of all the interior paints in order for SEM to agree to make all the different paints.

The SEM color coat is a custom mixing aerosol product. NPD is having SEM custom mix these spray cans for them. These are different than the standard mix "Color Coat" lines that SEM offers also. This is part of the reason you get the different color names and or sheen descriptions. Alot the name variations come from Ford's own literature in that the Sales Department and brochure calls the color one name, but the Service Department called it by a different or slightly different name. I personally had this issue many times when I worked in the Parts Department at Ford many years ago when it came to getting the correct touch up paint for customers.

Trey