I want to get extra carpet for my interior plasticswhen i order my floor carpet, is it better to get poly, cutpile or latex backing for the extra carpet yardages for the plastic? Aslo what type of adhesive is best to use?

If you look at post# 152 member Jupiter used SEM satin black and he said it had less sheen then the Landau black. If you are just going for black, use the SEM. It is around 12 bucks a can and works great. I had to get a custom mix because SEM didn't have a color that matched for me.
The Landau black seems to match the dash very well. I haven't put it all together to see yet, but I have had unpainted parts next to those I painted with SEM and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

I have been thinking about this also, as I need to do the same thing. I think I am going to get the extra yardage with the same backing as the floor. It looks like a clear plastic back. I had to replace all my old plastic due to fading, but I saved them all to test fit the carpet. I also saved all the old carpet I took off the old plastics. I am going to use them as templates, but I think I am going to have to heat the new carpet slightly from the back to mold it onto the plastics. It is too stiff to put on otherwise. It is also made to be heated and molded.
I am undecided what to glue it with, but I might possibly use a hot glue gun. I want to be able to remove it if the need ever arises, and contact cement won't allow that. With the hot glue gun, you can glue it around the edges like they were glued originally.

Thankyou, I think I'll give the SEM satin black a try. I'd rather have my plastics a bit dull than too shiny.

so I can paint the center console using the same technique right?

Here's pics of the success I've had with the SEM paint. Keep in mind that each piece needs to be thoroughly washed first and a 'plastic prep' spray - also by SEM - should be used. Even though the black says 'glossy', it really isn't. I am very happy with the results I got. For the interior (complete dash, complete console, seat belts, hatch area, a-pillars, sail panels, sunvisors etc), expect to use at least 5 cans of black and at least 8 cans of your primary color. Pricewise, my source was a professional auto body supply shop which charged me about $13.00 a can.

Is the body harness easy to remove without destroying it?

The SEM Landau black is a great match for the dash plastics on most of these cars that were originally black. It has the right sheen to do a dash pad.
For the rear plastics I would go with their Satin black. It matches the original sheen more closely then the gloss.

Yes - same procedure. Make sure you clean and prep the plastics, and use an adhesion promoter.

primer as well? or is that overboard.

It won't hurt. I primered a few parts with SEM flexible primer. It will work fine without it though.

so ADH promoter, primer, then the paint/dye? I'd like to use primer on the center console cuz of it being soft and such

Yep - that should do it.

I didn't use any primer, as the 'plastic prep' will remove any marks, fingerprints or oils on the piece after you have cleaned it. I did everything in the early fall and everything still looks great today!

thanks and Majobis do you have pics?

I just updated my earlier post (#206 @ 10:38 am) to show pics. If you check out my album here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/album.php?albumid=4980 you'll see some before and after shots. The photo album here, unfortunately, goes from newest to oldest, which can't be changed, so start on the bottom right and once the photo is open, keep clicking LEFT to see the ongoing progress. I added captions to most photos as well.

I know this is an older thread but I have to say it; Hawk312, this thread is f***ing genius! Good work, and thank you so much! This is going to save me sooooooo much money when I get around to refurbishing my interior. Bonus points for the creativity and DIY factor too!

Thanks Seth! I appreciate it. Hopefully you find it useful for your project.
Apparently though, this thread isn`t f***ing genius enough to get a friggin sticky!!!!!

GET EM HAWK!!!!SHOULD BE A STICKY
Buy the way Hawk,hows the upholstery job coming along?

Thanks Manta!
I dont think this thread will ever get stickied! It`s only been a year and 3 months now.
Actually, absolutely nothing is happening with the upholstery. I have the seats completed, but I am really side tracked with body and paint issues right now. I just spent 4-5 hours wet sanding and buffing out the hood tonight. You are in NJ, so you know how much fun that would be in this weather!
How is your project coming along? Every time I look at your interior, it grows on me a little more and motivates me to get mine done.

You're welcome, and thank you. I have no clue why this isn't a sticky. I would think this would be a prime candadit for stickyness. Let's do the math:
easy + inexpensive + time saved from not needing to search for new interior panels = TOTAL AWESOMENESS
It even helps save neglected cars from being cannibalized when they should be saved/restored.

Thanks for such great info on refinishing the interior plastic! I'll be using the SEM Satin Black sometime soon. Has anyone used this on the vinyl seat upholstry? If so, does it wear OK, considering the scrubbing when getting in and out?

I cant seem to find any place near me that sells the Bulldog adhesion promoter. Is there another brand that is equivalent to it? I live in the southern US, where alot of these cars are getting VERY hard to find anymore.

I used Dupli-Color Adhesive Promoter from Advanced Auto,same thing.

I bought it at Pep Boys. You could also look up your local automotive paint supplier. If they don't have that brand, you can use another brand.

im trying to dye my cargo carpet and when i did it came out pretty hard and not soft at all. one reply said to brush and repaint and brush again? does this work and what kind of brush?

You need to brush it right after you spray it so the fibers don't get stuck together. You may be able to get it a bit softer at this point by brushing it, but you might have missed the opportunity to get it right.

I vacuumed mine in one direction, sprayed it, vacuumed it again in the opposite direction then, resprayed and, vacuumed one last time.

Obviously it gets stiff when sprayed, Brushing or vacuuming takes care of that. The reason i used a vacuume is because brushing the old carpet creates more 'fuzz'. PRIOR to doing all of this i used an electric razor and shaved the carpet to remove all the 'fuzz'. Using a brush would have just made the carpet fuzzy again.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...-exterior.html
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...ring-good.html
Why do these 4th gen topics get a sticky and Hawks topic does not

So I need to use the SEM adh promotor and then whatever color I want to dye my plastics with? Also, my interior is grey. What is the closest match using the SEM paint? I have a color chart the guy at he paint store gave me but GM 1986' year isnt on the listing.

You don't have to use SEM brand adhesion promoter. I used Bulldog. The paint match in the SEM is tough. I couldn't find something close so I had mine custom mixed in PPG Deltron DBI. It wasn't cheap but they matched it exact. If you can find a color in the SEM, go with it. That paint is good stuff and easy to work with.

ok, I bought the SEM dye, bulldog promoter and the SEM plastic and leather prep. So far, I have painted about 5 pieces and I can tell I am going to be VERY satisfied with the results. The warm gray color was alittle lighter than what I thought it was going to be but I am fine with it since I am redyeing the whole interior. now, I just need to find a CD installation kit that I like and my interior will be well underway other than searching for a few plastics that are broken. I am noticing these car are getting difficult to find where I live.

I'm going to be useing SEM satin black to dye my red panels. How many cans should I order of the dye, plastic prep, and adhesion promoter?

I will not be painting my console/dash. It will just be the plastic interior panels, door runners, kick panels, and seatbelts. I'm thinking 5 cans of dye, and then just one can of prep and promoter. does this sound right?

From grey interior to SEM-15173 (camel) plastics and ACC-9205 (cognac) cutpile carpet.

I like the result, for the great products and this tread.

I'm usually not a fan of color changes, but that looks awesome!

i had a interior in a older car that the previous owner had done a really crappy job of dying,so i wiped all the plastics down with nail polish remover,it took all of the old flaky garbage looking dye off,and did the panels just the way shown on here,it lasted for the 5 years i had the car,and probably still is on there, great thread!

Same here,not a fan of color change either,reason!!!if the plastics start to get scratched with normal wear and tare the old color is going to pop out, whereas if your covering it with the same color,it will not show as bad.thomas1976,you did a nice job there.

Yup. this the way I'm restoring the interior for my Indianapolis 500

So, I'm curious -- are you guys doing anything else to the panels other than cleaning them, hitting them with the adhesion promoter and then painting them? I have some panels with some minor scratches and I assume I can't sand them out without losing the grain on the plastic. In some of the pictures in this thread it looks like some of you started with panels that had minor dings, but afterward those flaws are gone. I can't believe the paint is filling in that kind of damage, or is it? Or is the paint hiding it better?

I just took a look at your pics of the interior panels you removed from your car. Mine were just like that. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be able to use those. I thought I would be able to reuse them also. The reason why they scratch so easily is because the sun faded parts are dried out. As soon as I tried cleaning the panels, those parts turned to powder. It took me a few months to find good replacement panels. The general rule of thumb is if it is faded, toss it.
Minor scratches on a good panel can be made less obvious by sanding them with 1000 grit sandpaper. The idea is to take the top rough, flaked portion off. The scratch can't be totally removed without removing the grain. If you use anything coarser then that it will be obvious when you paint it.
There are a couple of guys here who can help you get replacement panels for reasonable money. John in RI is reasonable and sells nice stuff. Also, Ray (RCAR3795) can also find you replacements. Just make sure to get pics of what you are buying and tell them to be sure there is no fading on it. You probably won't find any totally scratch free panels, but these guys have nice stuff.

Yeah -- I know they're garbage, except for maybe the kick panels. I figured hitting the plastic with anything less than 1000 grit wouldn't work. I picked up some panels from a local yard that are in pretty decent shape. As you said, not 100% scratch free but no giant gouges and not faded. Thanks for the lead on the guys here who might be able to help find me a nice set.

Or you could cover them with the carpet kit at ThirdgenRanch.

There are parts of those panels that fade that the carpet kit won't cover. Better off finding replacements.

I am actually considering these, but I am not sure if they are factory correct colors. Has anyone tried these with Carmine?

Here is a little helpful list of the SEM products I used and the results.

For cleaning everything, SEM 39362 (soap) and SEM 38374 (solve).
For the rubber "accordion" iserts SEM 39863 is a perfect adhesion promoter.
For hard plastics like door sills the SEM 38363 (sand free) and SEM 13023 (satin clear) works perfect.
Door panel vinyl, SEM 38343 (prep), SEM 38363 (sand free) and SEM 13023 (satin clear) works perfect.

For the cargo area and similar plastic I used SEM 39863 (adhesion promoter), it is ok but it doesen't melt the plastic anough, risult you can scratch the paint with the fingernail test.
I should have tried SEM 77723 (xxx adhesion promoter), but it was too late.
Decided to not use clearcoat, for easy fix in the future.

Paint color as already mentioned abowe is SEM 15173 (camel).

Need to finish the front seats (some parts missing), recover headliner, sailpanels, sunvisors and wait for the re webbed seat belts. Lots of work but I like the result.






(Edit: I prefer not to cluster this great plastic and carpet tread with upholstery details, but I also do not want to ignore justified curiosity. So with all respect I decided to add this little edit. Seat covers and door inserts from http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-1992-Pontiac-Trans-Am-GTA-seat-covers-in-correct-Beechwood-color-MUST-SE-/251020203182?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a71f854ae&vxp=mtr#ht_1806wt_1039
I may take some time some day to start an upholstery related tread)

Edit:
Tan interior https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/inte...-trans-am.html
Black interior https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...-interior.html

Where did you get the new seat covers?

82ta,get your car back yet??

Hopefully Tuesday - I am keeping my fingers crossed. She's almost done. Now my work starts.