Options to Restore Plastic Panels

[grannyknot]

You guys that have gone the SEM route, how is it with scratches/scuffs, any pics?

[gwri8]

I don't have any problem with scratches or scuffs, but I don't really haul anything other than some plastic bags on occasion. I had the same questions when I started the process and all I can tell you is that the paint is bonded well with the panels and the texture is still there. It's not going to flake off as far as I can tell. Here is one of my finished quarter panels. The second pic is a little blurry but you can see the texture is intact.

[Namerow]

23 hours ago, grannyknot said:

You guys that have gone the SEM route, how is it with scratches/scuffs, any pics?

Hi Chris:

You've seen my Z's interior panels, treated with spray-on 'vinyl dye' that I sourced from Parasol in Toronto.  Here's a picture (#1 of 5) I took of some oversprayed material that I peeled off a test surface.  It should give everyone a sense of the thickness and consistency of the 'dye' material after it's cured.  As you can see, it's not really a dye at all, but more like a flexible-vinyl coating.  I have zero concerns about its adhesion to the hard plastic parts, and the coverage (butterscotch dye applied over black plastic) was excellent.  A bonus was that Parasol were able to color-match the dye to my new (Banzai Motorsports) butterscotch seat covers (thank you, Mike).

The soft vinyl parts were a bit trickier, due to the challenges of fully removing years of ArmorAll applications.  It took a lot of scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad and SEM's vinyl cleaner product to get these pieces ready for painting.  For the most part, I'm happy with the end result (once again, butterscotch applied over black) and I do not foresee any application-related lifting or peeling problems. 

I would not recommend vinyl dye treatment for seat covers, though. That's just asking for trouble. 

As for resistance to scuffing and scraping (esp. in the cargo area), I think the first picture tells the story (i.e. it probably will tear if it's abused).

[Patcon]

Those turned out really nice. Much better than trying to source parts

[grannyknot]

John, I had forgot those, what is really remarkable is they started as black.

Talking about SEM products, a buddy of mine just re-finished a dash for me using the satin black.(I tried it doing it but it came out horrible)

He has the patience for that kind of work, here have a look.

[psdenno]

The wrap material mentioned earlier would certainly give various texture choices, like carbon fiber, but would not play well with the speaker holes on the rear side panels.  The sprays look nice if a good cleaning doesn't work.

Dennis

[Patcon]

37 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

John, I had forgot those, what is really remarkable is they started as black.

Talking about SEM products, a buddy of mine just re-finished a dash for me using the satin black.(I tried it doing it but it came out horrible)

He has the patience for that kind of work, here have a look.

That dash looks great! One of the best I have seen. I would love to know if he has any pointers for how to get the texture right and even and any other tips...

[grannyknot]

2 hours ago, Patcon said:

That dash looks great! One of the best I have seen. I would love to know if he has any pointers for how to get the texture right and even and any other tips...

I'm picking it up on Monday, I'll ask him.

[sweatybetty]

12 minutes ago, grannyknot said:

I'm picking it up on Monday, I'll ask him.

i would like a link to that stuff also. looks excellent.

[Namerow]

Re application tips:

I refinished my dash with similar results.  I'm happy with the outcome, even if the texture I ended up with isn't the same as the factory 'haircell'.  Based on the pictures Chris has posted, the final appearance I got looks to be about the same.  In my case, though, I used Dupli-Color's bedliner paint rather than the SEM texture product.  I found one curious thing during the spray application that may help others who try this repair-and-paint process with their own dash: The bedliner/textured paint tends to start 'spitting' out of the spray can, no matter how much you keep it shook up nor how well you keep the spray tip clear.  The result is 'blobs' of wet paint that appear to have ruined the finish.  Out of desperation, I tried lightly touching one of those surface blobs with my fingertip to see if maybe it could be smoothed out.  The result surprised me.  Just that light touch settled the blob right out.  I don't understand the mechanics, but the action was self-evident.  I ended up making this a standard part of my spray-application routine with this kind of paint.  The end result (three coats) was a nice uniform finish, with no 'blob residue' in evidence.   I covered the bedliner paint with a finish coat of SEM's 'Landau Black' to make the surface feel a little harder/smoother to the touch (the bedliner paint feels a little 'grippy').

If you decide to try one of these texturized paints, I recommend you experiment on a big piece of cardboard before you start on the actual dash.  In my case, I had a spare glovebox lid to play with.

You may also want to experiment with the different texture paints that are available to which one you like the best.

A difficult aspect of the paint application is getting coverage inside the instrument pods without accidentally over-applying to the surrounding areas.  Takes some practice and forethought to avoid problems.

BTW, I found that my B&D 'Workmate' folding bench was perfect for mounting the dash during both the crack-filling and the paint-application steps (see picture #3). Note the big C-clamps used to clamp the sheet-metal armature of the dash to the top of the bench.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Namerow

[psdenno]

Your dash looks like new!  Nice job.

Dennis

 

[gwri8]

Nice work! Question: Is the bedliner paint somewhat flexible and will it fill in small cracks?  I refinished mine last year with the Great Stuff and SEM bumper repair material. I also used SEM's Trim Black for the final stage. Since then it has developed small cracks (not wide ones) where repairs were done and I'm looking for something to conceal those.