Plastic door panel - thoughts / what I did

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SirRobyn0

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I'd like to do something with the door panels in my truck. I work in a shop and that black stuff you see is just a little black from the cars I've worked on and brought in on my arm. That'll clean up with a little interior cleaner and a brush. I'm not concerned with that. I'm concerned with areas at the top that have deteriorated due to sunlight I'd image. Pictures and then I'll talk about my thoughts and ask for yours.

Both sides look about the same:
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It's that top area by the glass I'm mainly concerned with. Below is a close up. To me this is the worst looking part of the interior.
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That scratch out triangle has been there as long as I've owned the truck.

So one option would be to hide it. Take that black carpet for speaker boxes, wrap the panel in it and glue it on with contact adhesive. Or tan, I could use tan carpet or even brown, the floor carpet is brown, and have the arm rest still the door handle and chrome trim still, and even the black strip could stay. I know I could do this and have it come out looking good, but before I do that I'd like to try something else.

What would happen if I scrapped all the loose dead stuff off, hit it with a heat gun lightly and then treated it with a protectant. You think it would come out looking decent? I can still wrap it if it doesn't. Keep in mind this is a work truck I like to keep looking nice and in good order, not a concours restoration project.

You got another idea I'd like to hear it, but I'm not really interested in buying new reproduction panels.

Thanks.
 

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I should mention I've read about using fine grit sandpaper as well, to remove the damaged layer, but no idea how much work that would entail to end with a decent finish. It's also just the tops of the panels by the windows that need help.
 

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A friend of mine decided he wanted to freshen up his interior and used spray adhesive on the plastic panel and then stretched some cool looking black suede material over the panel. It looked amazing and you can use whatever you like from denim to leather or anything in between. Somebody most likely makes a product that looks like carbon fiber if you like the look of it. Carpet is way to thick and stiff to LET you work it enough to use on a curved surface like the damaged part of your panel.

A light media blasting will remove the loose stuff and leave a texture behind so it looks close to original after paint, is another method of restoring the area. We have a huge fabric store here that has everything you can imagine to cover the panel with, petty sure you are closer to a big enough city to have something similar. Just walking around the store might give you an idea you might like, they have black and white cow pattern leather, to keep with the farm theme?
Doing an internet search for something about " covering automotive interior pieces with ???" might show some videos of great ideas?

If you sand it, the hammered finish type paints might be a close enough replacement texture?

A nice thin stainless steel trim to cover that area would look really nice, until you laid your arm on it on a sunny day. LOL
 
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SirRobyn0

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A friend of mine decided he wanted to freshen up his interior and used spray adhesive on the plastic panel and then stretched some cool looking black suede material over the panel. It looked amazing and you can use whatever you like from denim to leather or anything in between. Somebody most likely makes a product that looks like carbon fiber if you like the look of it. Carpet is way to thick and stiff to LET you work it enough to use on a curved surface like the damaged part of your panel.

A light media blasting will remove the loose stuff and leave a texture behind so it looks close to original after paint, is another method of restoring the area. We have a huge fabric store here that has everything you can imagine to cover the panel with, petty sure you are closer to a big enough city to have something similar. Just walking around the store might give you an idea you might like, they have black and white cow pattern leather, to keep with the farm theme?
Doing an internet search for something about " covering automotive interior pieces with ???" might show some videos of great ideas?

If you sand it, the hammered finish type paints might be a close enough replacement texture?

A nice thin stainless steel trim to cover that area would look really nice, until you laid your arm on it on a sunny day. LOL
Thanks for the ideas Mike, I went out early and started work on it before your post which I'll get to in a minute. If I cover over the panels in the future I'd likely use that thin speaker box carpet IDK, if it's really carpet, but that's what they call it. It's pretty pliable stuff compared to regular carpet, but less pliable than fabric. Whatever I did I'd want to keep a traditional look so no carbon fiber.

I like the media blasting idea and if what I did today doesn't last I'll try that if the panels will fit in the blast cabinet.

So I discovered that I didn't have any fine grit sand paper but I did have steel wool. I start with spraying foaming interior cleaner on it and rubbing with the steel wool. To much dead plastic to remove that way, so I scrapped it with a blade, just a light scraping to get most of the dead stuff off.

Below scrapping off the dead stuff:

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Below: After the scrape
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From there it was apply foaming interior cleaner, and scrub with steel wool. I did this many times. I choose to use interior cleaner over water because I figured it would do some cleaning, and the soap might help buffer the steel wool a little bit. Plus it's easy to use and I like easy.

Once I was done with that I applied the cleaner to the entire door panel and hit it with a scrub brush and wiped it down. Then I applied interior protectant. I was hooked a few years ago on chemical guys silk shine protectant so that's what I used. I sprayed a liberal amount on the area I worked over and let it sit, which gave me time to wipe down the door jams, and treat the seals with silicone. After a few minutes I wiped off the excess protectant.

Below, while not perfect, it's a lot better.

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Here is a close up of the same area in the first picture.
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So we can play comparison below the picture on the left is during the scrapping process in the begining and the on the right is the finished product.
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Scrutinizing the finished product. There is some color change from the top of the panel to the rest of the panel. Working this area over with the steel wool blends it and makes in less obvious. The grain is not completely gone but is definitely much lighter than it was. This is not a good method for a concours restoration project, but for a nice old daily driver and work truck it's just fine. I think most people will just see door panels in good shape, where as before I think most people saw door panels in poor shape.

I did both doors and took pictures of both sides so I'll post the passenger side in the next post.
 
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SirRobyn0

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Passenger side:
Below: Before, not as bad as the driver side but not good either.
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Below: Doing the scrape
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Below: After the scrape
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Below after the scrape and a few rounds of steel wool.
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Below: the finished product.
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Comparison: Below Left before, Right after.
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Note: For some reason the driver side came out a little better than the passenger side I'm not really sure why.

Tips: If your going to try this yourself wear chitty cloths and a mask, during the scraping bits of plastic get everywhere. Be careful with the blade. I used a utility knife blade and it worked really well, but it would be super easy to gouge the plastic. My basic method was to take the top flakiest layer off with the knife and then use the steel wood to get the rest of the dead stuff off down to good plastic. So basically I used the blade to save me many rounds of steel wool. I'd read about using a heat gun after steel wool (or wet sanding), the idea is that the heat gun will draw some of the oils from the plastic to the surface. I didn't have any luck with doing that and chickened out thinking that I'd melt the plastic first. So the instructions I read online the guy wet sanded his plastic using water and fine grit sand paper. I didn't have any sand paper I felt was fine enough, so I used steel wool and for me at least that worked just fine. Instead of water I used interior cleaner, I choose that because I figured the soap in it would buffer the steel wool a little and the foamy nature of that stuff tends to keep it where you spray it since I did not remove the panels to do the work. If I had to do it again I would use this very same method as it worked well and I'm happy with the results.

Feel free to ask questions if your curious about anything.
 

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Comparison, LOL. That looks 100% better. If it doesn't retain the sheen you can always spray if with a satin clear coat. Way less work eliminating disassembly. The speaker box carpet would have been irritating to rest your arm on, that stuff is itchy, my sub is covered in it and I've used it on projects several times. Looks nice but does not feel nice.
FYI, as far as the media blaster goes sometimes you have to think outside the box, literally, take the nozzle out of the cabinet and blast it where you can sweep up after or the lawn where it mixes with the dirt. As long as your not blasting lead paint and it's a small project, doing it outside is possible. Just something to keep in mind for future projects.
 

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Those turned great.

My new old panels were very sun faded aswell and I danced with the devil and tried the torch method and turned out pretty good. Heck of alot better then it was for sure. Only picture I got but the top on is first run with the torch and bottom is the sun faded one. I cleaned and went over it again and looks little better.
 

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SirRobyn0

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Comparison, LOL. That looks 100% better. If it doesn't retain the sheen you can always spray if with a satin clear coat. Way less work eliminating disassembly. The speaker box carpet would have been irritating to rest your arm on, that stuff is itchy, my sub is covered in it and I've used it on projects several times. Looks nice but does not feel nice.
FYI, as far as the media blaster goes sometimes you have to think outside the box, literally, take the nozzle out of the cabinet and blast it where you can sweep up after or the lawn where it mixes with the dirt. As long as your not blasting lead paint and it's a small project, doing it outside is possible. Just something to keep in mind for future projects.
Thanks, good idea on the clear coat, that would be my biggest concern is if hold the sheen.

So IDK like in the early 2000's I think it was I had a 77 Toyota P/U that the interior was done on. The whole truck was done really, but the PO had removed the door panels and carpet and hosed everything down in bedliner. It was awful. I used that speaker box carpet to make door panels for that. If I did it on the square I'd pull the arm rest off, trim, the window crank, and the handle. I'd put the carpet on the panel and then cut out the areas for the arm rest, trim ect. So you wouldn't actually rest your arm directly on the carpet, but it would be up against it. Regardless it doesn't look like I even need to be considering that anymore.

It wouldn't be practical for me to take the blast cabnet out of the shop but I might be able to get creative with cardboard or something. Again doesn't look like I'll need to do that for this project.

Thanks, I agree. 100% better!
 

SirRobyn0

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Those turned great.

My new old panels were very sun faded aswell and I danced with the devil and tried the torch method and turned out pretty good. Heck of alot better then it was for sure. Only picture I got but the top on is first run with the torch and bottom is the sun faded one. I cleaned and went over it again and looks little better.
Thanks, I think they turned out great too, and judging by your picture it looks like your probably looked great after the second pass, as the progress is obvious in the first.

Glad to know those methods work. I didn't elaborate in my post, but I read a how to somewhere and the guy basically recommended a torch if the panel was off the door, or a heat gun if it's on the door. I just didn't have balls. By the time I'd scraped and steel wooled them they were already looking so much better I was afraid of melting them or some nearby plastic. So I did a little more work with the steel wool, cleaned and put the treatment on them.
 

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I had a Datsun 208z a good 12 years ago (still have it as a parts car, long story) and the entire center console/seatbelt buckles/door handle pockets/a pillar trim/back of the rearview mirror/etc was this dusty consistency you have shown, but the Puerto Rican I bought the car from thought it was a good idea to spray paint over everything (including the carpet, I hit that with degreaser and scrubbed it bringing it mostly back around but that's a different story). I used to get bored on my 1hr lunch break (way too long IMO, I can eat in 20 minutes, let me go home a half hour earlier please...) and would sit in the car and scratch the paint off with my fingernail. A few months later I started taking my pocket knife and shaving everything down smooth. Sure the parts got a little "smaller/thinner", but then I was able to hit them with either clear coat or epoxy depending on how bad the degradation was, helped smooth it out and build it back up in the areas that had really crumbled down to almost nothing. Lost that cool fake leather look, but whatever it was better than chalky sh!t. The trim panels in the cargo area of my 'burb have the same thing going on, and that was gonna be my plan when I get it all back together. Crappy old plastic is crappy. If you don't wanna replace, just work with what you got.
 

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These turned out great. I’m thinking you should be taking a bow. That’s a really great outcome.
Thanks for the compliments. Given your user name I think you'll appreciate my next comment. A pair of new reproduction door panels is about $220 at LMC. I'm not opposed to putting $200 into the truck, and while I like a nice truck I do use it for work, and on the farm, which can get quite dirty. I'd be pretty upset if I damaged a new door panel.

Same thing with the carpet. Which would now be the worst part of the interior. Once that's done the inside will look as good if not better than the outside. The carpet was coming apart a little when I bought the truck 4 years ago, now it's to the point every time I vacuum it I see little bits of it come up. I really need to replace that stuff, but getting $200 worth of carpet muddy and dirty does not excite me. At least it's brown carpet.
 

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I had a Datsun 208z a good 12 years ago (still have it as a parts car, long story) and the entire center console/seatbelt buckles/door handle pockets/a pillar trim/back of the rearview mirror/etc was this dusty consistency you have shown, but the Puerto Rican I bought the car from thought it was a good idea to spray paint over everything (including the carpet, I hit that with degreaser and scrubbed it bringing it mostly back around but that's a different story). I used to get bored on my 1hr lunch break (way too long IMO, I can eat in 20 minutes, let me go home a half hour earlier please...) and would sit in the car and scratch the paint off with my fingernail. A few months later I started taking my pocket knife and shaving everything down smooth. Sure the parts got a little "smaller/thinner", but then I was able to hit them with either clear coat or epoxy depending on how bad the degradation was, helped smooth it out and build it back up in the areas that had really crumbled down to almost nothing. Lost that cool fake leather look, but whatever it was better than chalky sh!t. The trim panels in the cargo area of my 'burb have the same thing going on, and that was gonna be my plan when I get it all back together. Crappy old plastic is crappy. If you don't wanna replace, just work with what you got.
I can't image what spray painted carpet must be like gee..... IDK why I feel like I should relate this story but about lunch breaks. I've had both 30 minute breaks and hour long breaks. I like the hour long break because it enables me to do something else too. Eat lunch and pick up groceries (I hate grocery shopping so use curbside) or go to pharmacy, or whatever. I'm really disenfranchised with the auto repair business at this point and by lunch time I'm shot and need the hour to get my chit together so I can get though the afternoon. At 5pm you can bet the front door is locked. It isn't all bad there are certain customers and vehicle types (like squares) I enjoy seeing. Anyhow I let the guys decide if they want to take 30 minutes or an hour for lunch or if they want to change it up from time to time. I don't really care. They are still working the same number of hours and everyone's needs are different I figure.
 

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Thanks for the compliments. Given your user name I think you'll appreciate my next comment. A pair of new reproduction door panels is about $220 at LMC. I'm not opposed to putting $200 into the truck, and while I like a nice truck I do use it for work, and on the farm, which can get quite dirty. I'd be pretty upset if I damaged a new door panel.
For sure. I'm not opposed to buying new / repop stuff for the truck in the right spots, but I'm all about cheering on ideas to bring old stuff back to life with a little elbow grease and creativity.

I also think tastefully restored old stuff has more character. Now, things that are beyond repair need to be replaced. I could poke my fingers thrugh the dash pad on my truck...it wasn't going to be repaired.

You nailed it on this one, my friend.
 

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I can't image what spray painted carpet must be like gee..... IDK why I feel like I should relate this story but about lunch breaks. I've had both 30 minute breaks and hour long breaks. I like the hour long break because it enables me to do something else too. Eat lunch and pick up groceries (I hate grocery shopping so use curbside) or go to pharmacy, or whatever. I'm really disenfranchised with the auto repair business at this point and by lunch time I'm shot and need the hour to get my chit together so I can get though the afternoon. At 5pm you can bet the front door is locked. It isn't all bad there are certain customers and vehicle types (like squares) I enjoy seeing. Anyhow I let the guys decide if they want to take 30 minutes or an hour for lunch or if they want to change it up from time to time. I don't really care. They are still working the same number of hours and everyone's needs are different I figure.
See, that's cool and you're right there are definitely some days where I would gladly take the hour if I have stuff that needs to be done. But 95% of the time I just want to stuff some food in my face and get it over with. Hell sometimes I eat while working and make them get rid of the 30 minute deduction, I'm fortunate that where I currently work I have that flexibility. But back then it was an hour unpaid, no ifs ands or buts. So it just turned my 8 hour day into a 9 hour day regardless of what I wanted to do. Most of the time it ended up me and the other guys in the shop drinking or getting high somewhere to kill the time, then the rest of the day was interesting. We were in the middle of nowhere, not like you could run errands, there was nothing reasonable to do to kill a whole hour we almost all brought lunch because there was nothing else around. Only plus side was that I was in my early 20s so if I was up partying all night at least there was some time to catch a nap. But that sucked in a 2-seater Datsun and honestly I would have just rathered continuing to grind on and leave at 3:30 instead of 4.
 

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