looking for a pair of good original door panels for a 70/71 in blue.

Have you checked with MSA? A couple of years ago they had 2 passenger side door panels brand new. I bought one of them. They may still have the other. Its worth a try.

Now if I could only get a drivers side panel. Those are impossible to find, so I used SEM to dye a black one. You can do that too. No one can tell mine was not originallly blue. I can post some instructions if you need them.

Marty

Yes, the dye sounds like the only alternative to purchasing new ones which don't seem to have the same pattern, at least the ones I looked at. Is the dye called SEM? I would appreciate any advice or instruction.

The product is called SEM Vinyl Dye. IF you follow these instructions, you will have good results. I took then new door panel I bought to an auto paint store and they matched the blue perfectly.

Marty

Instructions: Painting the vinyl and plastic in a Z is easy. There are 2 sources for the dye. If you don't have a paint gun, find SEM vinyl dye at a good paint store. SEM is the only way to go, and I have never found another product that works as well or lasts so long. It also looks totally natural. They have Satin Black for your 240Z, and Napa Red for your red 240Z. They have ZX colors, too. Please do not even consider any other brand. Been there, done that. In my experience, there is no other brand that has the correct gloss, durability, and chemical composition to bond to the vinyl. SEM is about $7/can. I use 4-6 for an entire interior on a 240Z. If you have a paint gun (door jamb gun is good, HVLP jamb gun even

better). Dupont has vinyl dye that is comperable to SEM. It is about $20/quart. Does one car.

Preparation is everything! Here's my process:

1. Remove seats and carpet

2. Use a couple of rolls of paper towels to clean all the vinyl/plastic (VP) with a water based cleaner (soap/water, ammonia, Mr Clean, Mrs Pineoil, ect). Let dry

3. Wet wipe the surfaces with lacquer thinner. Not Enamel or poly thinner, just cheap lacquer thinner. Wipe and scrub and scrub. You will notice the VP getting soft. Stop before you ruin the grain pattern.

4. Now shake your paint can. If using the Dupont, it is ready to spray. Mask off all the unpaint items. I use Big Gulp bottoms taped to the gauges.

5. Rewipe the surfaces quickly with a very wet paper towel, and start fogging on the dye. It is very thin. You may end up with 5-12 coats to

get good heavy coverage. Let dry, and you are done.

Note: DO NOT PAINT THE SEATS. IT WILL RUBv OFF EVENTUALLY ON YOUR 501'S.

The Napa red is a precise match for the Datsun red interior. Even a patch of paint will blend in to the existing panel.

The theory behind the lacquer is that it chemically softens the VP. When you apply the dye, it soaks in and grabs the substrate.

Dupont also has texture paint to redue the texture for Ford Bronco tops. It so happens to look like vinyl when it is dry. I use it to redue the sill plates... It also works for roll bars to spiff them up. The stuff is bulletproof when dry. It does not match the Datsun sillplate vinyl exactally, but it is a lot easier than trying to recover that rusty piece with contact cement and vinyl. This paint has to be applied with a non-HVLP gun (your normal old fashioned gun is not HVLP). It's the pressure that makes the spiderwebs as it comes out,

which then coagulate into the vinyl texture. This coating can then be recoated with black semi-gloss vinyl dye.

Bare metal prep 101:

The best metal prep for the average do-it yourselfer on bare metal is an epoxy primer. I use PPG DP series. DP40 is black. It gets mixed with

a catalyst (DP401 or DP402). They say if you don't sand it within 7 days...don't bother. It gets very hard. It is applied with a paint gun.

All modern paints with a catalyst have isocraynics in the cat. Use a respirator!

The epoxies do a great job of sealing off all the substrates. Modern paints are very hot and agressive. If applied over a old lacquer or

enamel job, it will likely cause the old stuff to bleed through. Smother the car in epoxy, then start the bodywork. Put more epoxy over the filler, then apply some K200 and K201 catalyzed primer. This stuff goes on thick, but sands wet sands like butter. The best way to wet sand is to apply a mist of black lacquer over the unsanded K200, then wetsand with 400 grit. The low spots will show up

as black. Reapply filler, and do it over again. Good luck.

read many contracts today?

Thanks for the detailed directions, I'll try it and let you know how it turns out.

I am picking up a 71 that is pretty much done but the interior is supposed to be nice. It has the blue door panels and seats. If you are interested I will give you a yell when I get it. It should be the day after Christmas when I get it here.

grunt 0311

72 awaiting pain

70 rhd drive uglee

70 parts

71 parts I guess

Yep, I am interested. I sometimes wonder if it is worth saving a blue interior but thats what I have. Let me know I may buy what I don't need just as spares.

Picked it up today. Let me pull them and see how they look on both sides and I will shoot you a pic.

grunt0311

70 rhd

71 parts.

72 awaiting paint

Thanks, anything else blue like the seats etc. I would be interested in as backup pieces. Take a shot of those also if you don't mind. You can use my email if you want.

sent you an email earlycanz.

grunt0311

70 rhd uglleee

72 awaiting paint

71 parts

grunto311...I sent you an email re the blue panels