Want o change interior colour - what should I do?

[Darkstar]

Hi guys,

I've decided to change my Zed's interior, because the original plastics were showing signs of wear and were simply to tough to clean up - it seem that the previous owners left it as-is from the factory. I heard that there is someone who makes reproduction plastics, vinyl and those funny rivets, but I don't know if it's true or not. Maybe I should search for such kits on eBay? Any piece of advice would be great.

Thanks in advance,

Tony.

[Montezuma]

http://www.classicdatsun.com/

Would be your best bet. I know a guy in Huntington Beach CA that has a brand new right hand drive dashboard.

[MikeW]

You might be surprised at how well SEM vinyl and plastic dye works on an interior. You mentioned wanting to change the color but not necessarily that you also require all new pieces. Unless you have cracks or tears you might be able to keep what you have and make it look much better.

If you're missing rivets they are still available from many locations including eBay, MSA, and the Nissan dealer:

http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CP&Product_Code=90909-E4100_10PAC

The rivets do come in colors to match the interior but you could probably dye them as well if needed.

[MarkDixon]

Mike got it right on the money.

He changed his interior colour to grey using the SEM vinyl dye. It looked so good I sprayed mine with the original black colour. Mine look like brand new. No reason to spend hundreds on something that can be fixed easy. Save that money for bigger and better things.

I also fixed a few cracks with a little fiberglass on the backside of my panels.

Mark

[Victor Laury]

I too am a happy SEM user. Yes it does cost more than most vinyl paint/dyes. But it's on there to stay and looks like the part was manuafactured that color after painting. I use their Phantom White for Datsun truck headliners and sunvisors. As an unconfirmed side note, if you order a set of red or butterscotch plastic trim from CDM, they spray it that color with SEM brand dye.

[Arne]

Another vote for SEM, it works is great! I haven't used it on a Datsun, but I have used it on other car interior parts (both hard plastic and soft vinyl) with great success.

[Darkstar]

Some of my panels (especially the one behind left rear strut tower) are cracked, which leaves me with two possibilities - 1) repair them, 2) throw them out and buy a nice black interior. I will change the exterior paint from original 113 green to racing green, which means that the correct interior will be black. Thanks for your suggestions, I'll write to ClassicDatsun.com to find out if they can ship a full interior package to Europe.