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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 07:25 PM
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Default Question on interior redo

Has anyone replaced the skins on the original dash, doors, ect. If so was it hard and how did it come out. Is there books or other information on the process. I ask, because I read on this form about the poor fit of after market interior parts so I thought I might give it a try.

Thanks

Last edited by Suncountry; Jan 28, 2005 at 07:27 PM.
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 07:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Suncountry
Has anyone replaced the skins on the original dash, doors, ect. If so was it hard and how did it come out. Is there books or other information on the process. I ask, because I read on this form about the poor fit of after market interior parts so I thought I might give it a try.

Thanks
I agree. That's the reason I'll watch this thread too ... looking at the results of the other posts and the hassles they had getting aftermarket ones to fit, makes me wonder.
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 09:39 PM
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never did the skins but just got thru fixing cracks and redying dash pad (reparing the speaker hole splits)-t top liners map pocket ect for the same reason-repo parts are not of same quality and fit and my interior looks new!-------

Last edited by carl a; Jan 28, 2005 at 09:43 PM.
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 09:40 PM
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here's finished map pocket-(got more picts if interested seeing before and after shots)---
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 10:01 PM
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Originally Posted by carl a
here's finished map pocket-(got more picts if interested seeing before and after shots)---

Yes, yes...would love to see 'em if you have 'em. Also, what sort of prep work did you do to those?

It seems I'm always asking about prep work...I guess I just don't want to do it twice. Kinda' funny that way I suppose!
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 10:13 PM
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How did you repair the dash splits-(speaker holes) I have them too....

Last edited by oregonsharkman; Jan 28, 2005 at 10:15 PM.
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:02 PM
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Hi Carl I finally got around to dying my dash. Here are my dash repair photos.

Before:


First failed attempt:


I didn't cut the plastic patch large enough. The vinyl adjacent to the initial crack was brittle and I added a couple more cracks when I drilled the holes out.

Here is the successful repair:

I cut a piece of 0.020 styrene and covered the entire speaker area. Smoothed the cracks with leatherique crack filler and drilled out the holes. Since I'm **** I did both sides, so now I know that there are 1102 holes in my dash.

Here is the finished speaker area, better than new:


And finally the underside with new 4x6 speaker:


I also have a couple cracks in my door panels. One on the drivers side arm rest. I won't buy replacements, I'll just repair and re-dye the ones I have. You just need to mechanically repair the crack by getting some vinyl or plastic glued behind it then fill the crack with leatherique crack filler, sand and dye.

David

Last edited by GATOR454; Jan 28, 2005 at 11:06 PM.
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:11 PM
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david ,,yours also turned out very nice, better than buying those cheap repos,,, any way heres some before and after photos-----heres the dash pad speaker tears like david was showing above---i took the dry rotted foam off(from the underside) and cleaned the glue off with goo gone--down to the bare vinal,,then glued plastic pieces of credit card like cards-- then once dried i flipped the pad over to the top and filled in all the holes,,let dry sanded re apply the filler,,let dry sand ect(i used leatherique crack repair)http://www.leatherique.com/ then i DRILLED the holes then dye/painted w oxblood dye and clearcoated-----BEFORE DASH PAD-----------
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:14 PM
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after dash pad repair-----
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:16 PM
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here's the cards glued in the speaker hole area ----------------
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:20 PM
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heres the before map pocket,,,the corner was gone so i glued in another piece of a plastic card between the foam and the vinal where the old plastic backing was gone---rebuilding it ,,the i filled in with leatherique ,,sanded and dyed------
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:21 PM
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here's the after map pocket ,,,after dye and clear coat-------
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:23 PM
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and heres the finished t top head liners which had corners scraped up and some tears--also the pillar post trim and windshield trim------
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:24 PM
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heres the t top liners after leatherique/ before paint notice the corners that i repaired and where the tears were in the centers-----------
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Old Jan 28, 2005 | 11:29 PM
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now the interior looks brand new because all cracks and corners were repaired and re dyed--so everything matches- the parts are the better quality factory parts---not the plastic re-po crap-that doesnt fit anyway! plus i must have saved over $1500.00 in interior parts--p.s. ialso fixed a tear in my arm rest that i must have done by shifting my weight in the car cracking the arm rest-the door panels were 5 yrs old so i couldnt see buying new one again over a tear- it also looks as good as new------------------

Last edited by carl a; Jan 28, 2005 at 11:33 PM.
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Old Jan 29, 2005 | 12:11 AM
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Thanks Carl,

You a great job on your parts. I admired them on an earlier post. Thought I might try and do what you did on a couple of my panels that don't seem brittle.

My 76 spent most of its life in a desert region so the panels are pretty brittle. It does not take much to crack the panels so I figured it was time to replace them. Some of the panels are ok but the doors, rear window trim, dash, "A" pillers and shift console should be replaced.
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Old Jan 29, 2005 | 01:00 AM
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I see there is a big diff. in the early C3's dash top/speaker area thna on my 82.Looks like mine would be way to easy.Does anybody make the top center piece for the 80-82?Mine is fine buy I would like to know there is something available just in case.I've looked in the catalogs but don't remember seeing them.I love they way your stuff turned out.I will allways repair before I get re pop,plus I like doing the repair,since of pride you know.Tell me about the leatherquie stuff.I suppose it's in the catalogs huh.I'll take a look real quick.Nice work.
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Old Jan 29, 2005 | 01:33 AM
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i dont think its in the catalogs ,here's the web site-----http://www.leatherique.com/
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