Black to White Interior

[kurtwwalters]

Its almost time to do my interior on my white 72 Z. After sitting outside in the desert for 10 years there wasn't much left of the interior. Its interior was red originally, but I have all the interior plastic parts in black from my two parts cars. I still haven't bought the vinyl and headliner yet. I'm considering going with white. Has anybody ever painted the black interior panels white? In Phoenix it gets sooooo hot with a black interior. I need carpet too - I know datsun had any color carpet you want as long as its black. Does any company make a repro in any other color? thanx in advance guys...

[v12horse]

My 260z came with a white interior and the carpet is brown. To my knowledge, the carpet is factory original. I am not sure that is the case with 240z's, but I am sure someone here knows.

I think the hardest thing finding in white would be the door panels. I have heard of the vinyl/plastic paint, but I have no experience with it.

Where I live it gets pretty hot, but when I am not in the car during the day, the sunvisor goes up to protect my interior and to keep it cooler. It seems pretty affective.

-Ben

[Arne]

I have used a vinyl/plastic paint called SEM on hard plastic trim, with excellent results. It requires a special cleaner for prep, and bonds very well to the plastic. Don't know if they make white, however. Look for it at upholstery supply houses, or automotive body and paint supply houses.

[lonetreesteve]

Kurt,

My son and I are changing our interior on our '72 White 240z from the original red to black. Red interiors were fairly rare to begin with and are next to impossible to find in good condition today. I know how hot it gets down there in Arizona, but I would try to retrofit an A/C system and install the black, rather than changing to white. I use to have a '72 240Z when in was in college and I hated the white interior. It shows all the dirt and to be honest, it looks kinda cheap compared to black or the other available colors (at least on 240s).

[Marty Rogan]

Kurt,

Why not paint the panels red? Like you said, the red ones are fairly rare. SEM's Napa Red is a perfect match for the Nissan red panels.

SEM is fantastic stuff. I used it to paint a black door panel blue to match my interior. You would never know it was not original by looking at it. Never tried to paint white though. SEM does come in white.

If you PM me with your email address, I will send you some good instructions to follow.

Marty

[MikeW]

I used SEM to go from black and tan panels to a light gray (both plastic and vinyl) with excellent results. Since it comes in white I'm sure it will work just as well. I have some interior shots in my gallery.

[bob m]

I have a 72 that has an original white interior. I ordered a new plastic panel and it came black so I had an automotive paint supplier match the interior color and repainted everything. It looks great and wears fine.