Anyone ever make a new door panel plate, or paint their interior?

[87Chief]

I'm trying to decide if I want to paint my interior. I went to the junkyard today and some nice grey interior pieces. Well I got home and it looks like one side say outside in the rain for a day or two and got soaked. Is there anyway you can make a new door panel piece (hard cardboard)? I guess you can by tearing down the old door panel to bear bones and tracing the existing piece. I just want to know if someone has done it and how it turned out.

 

Same with the painting the interior. I have a few pieces I still need, big piece being a dash. I saw the duplicolor vinyl and fabric and want to know how that turns out over time. I have a few pieces of black interior, although I love the black interior it would be hard to clean. I might go to gray and keep the black pieces I have for the future. I just want to get rid of my butterscotch interior. Any help will be appreciated! 

 

Here are some pictures of what I'm dealing with.

The passenger side wasn't soaked like the driver's, here's the front

Last pic of the black interior - I guess I got some of the rare pieces..

[Tex06]

While I haven't personally done it start to finish I have seen upholsterers do exactly what you're describing when making custom interiors.  Go to the art store and find a suitable cardboard (maybe even hardboard should work....think like the stuff that has holes in it but without the holes....I've seen it in varying thicknesses). 

 

Carefully take apart one of the panels and trace it out as best you can and cut out with a dremel, or similar small power tool.  I'd pull your (good) panel off and lay it out nex to your workspace as a guide and so you can double check distances to holes, etc as you go. To reattach the vinyl (or leather or whatever you go with) use a good quality spray adhesive like 3M 90 (Upholstery Adhesive spray) and start at one side and slowly work your way across making sure to keep everything straight and watching the edges/corners.  You could even fasten with staples (get a pneumatic model from HF or whereever http://www.harborfreight.com/air-tools/nailers-staplers/20-gauge-wide-crown-stapler-68029.html, I prefer narrow crown staples but they cost a little more).  

 

Basically it's a matter of jumping in and doing it....upholstery isn't hard.  Just takes good attention to detail (and hence why most of mine is done by chicks, lol)

[ComancheKid45]

I used a spray dye to paint the interior of my J20 with great results.

[schardein]

For painting interior plastic pieces, SEM products are worth the extra money and effort to locate.  I have used them on extensive interior restorations.  The three products I used were Sand Free, Adhesion Promoter, and Color Coat.  I once repainted the interior of a K5 Blazer, and the color was a perfect match.  I couldn't tell where the old paint ended and the new paint started except there were no more chips.  It held up extremely well also.

 

https://www.semproducts.com/refinish-flexible-coatings/color-coattm-aerosols

 

As for rebuilding door panels, I've done that also.  I've built up sun damaged plastic pieces with texture coat, and then color coat over that.  Looked pretty good and cost WAY less than new "replacement" door panels (again this was on a Chevy).  On the other hand, I've also handbuilt them from cardboard/hardboard/foam/automotive vinyl material.  While I was initially happy with the results, over time I wished I just had the stock pieces. 

[1stDeuce]

I used duplicolor plastic paint on my Comanche.  (See build thread in sig.) The Charcoal is almost a perfect match for the Jeep charcoal interior.  The panels you got look to be the lighter gray though. 

 

If the panel isn't literally coming apart, I would let it dry completely and install it.  Once it's installed, you'll never know. :)

 

If your current dash isn't cracked (badly) I would suggest just painting it.  If you do all the recommended prep, and use duplicolor's adhesive promoter before painting, it'll be better looking than a factory gray dash.   Plus, the colored part of the dash is part of the whole dash, with the VIN tag rivited to it...  Swapping it is so much work that I'll never do it again unless I have to.   I found a beautiful dash in the JY with no cracks, and painted it, and put it in, and six months later, it's split.   I'm sure NM sun did it in.  IMO, they're all going to split, and the only fix for that is an overlay of some kind.  :(

 

Good luck!

[Tex06]

For painting interior plastic pieces, SEM products are worth the extra money and effort to locate.  I have used them on extensive interior restorations.  The three products I used were Sand Free, Adhesion Promoter, and Color Coat.  I once repainted the interior of a K5 Blazer, and the color was a perfect match.  I couldn't tell where the old paint ended and the new paint started except there were no more chips.  It held up extremely well also.

 

https://www.semproducts.com/refinish-flexible-coatings/color-coattm-aerosols

 

As for rebuilding door panels, I've done that also.  I've built up sun damaged plastic pieces with texture coat, and then color coat over that.  Looked pretty good and cost WAY less than new "replacement" door panels (again this was on a Chevy).  On the other hand, I've also handbuilt them from cardboard/hardboard/foam/automotive vinyl material.  While I was initially happy with the results, over time I wished I just had the stock pieces. 

 

X2 on SEM for any interior dyed pieces.  I've used Duplicolor and another brand and neither matched as well initially nor do they hold up to UV as well over time.  It costs more for a reason here.  Now, if you're changing the color of the whole interior (esp to black) you can use whatever, just know that the colorfastness isn't quite what SEM is.  But the price isn't either!

[87Chief]

I think the panel is coming apart. I can't get the little Christmas trees to stay in the hole on the back so I might try and do the thin peg board way. I do have a couple panels to test with..

 

Thanks for all the advise! I believe the dash will be easier to paint when it's out of the truck, so here goes nothing..

[87Chief]

I used duplicolor plastic paint on my Comanche.  (See build thread in sig.) The Charcoal is almost a perfect match for the Jeep charcoal interior.  The panels you got look to be the lighter gray though. 

 

If the panel isn't literally coming apart, I would let it dry completely and install it.  Once it's installed, you'll never know. :)

 

If your current dash isn't cracked (badly) I would suggest just painting it.  If you do all the recommended prep, and use duplicolor's adhesive promoter before painting, it'll be better looking than a factory gray dash.   Plus, the colored part of the dash is part of the whole dash, with the VIN tag rivited to it...  Swapping it is so much work that I'll never do it again unless I have to.   I found a beautiful dash in the JY with no cracks, and painted it, and put it in, and six months later, it's split.   I'm sure NM sun did it in.  IMO, they're all going to split, and the only fix for that is an overlay of some kind.  :(

 

Good luck!

 

How hard was it for your 97+ door panels? I haven't searched yet, but I wonder if there's a build thread on them..

[SBpunk]

I'm doing mine now with the dark forest green camo spray paint and plastic primer. Biggest issue so far is painting the center console cushion on the 98+ XJ console. Ended up putting on a couple light coats and putting it in the oven for a few hours. Turned out pretty good. Not sure how long it'll last but I like the color and couldn't find it in any other spray paints.

[DirtyComanche]

One of my J-truck piles had them made out of 1/4" ply that was then covered.  I think the concept would have been fine IF they had actually done a somewhat decent job of it.  They did not.  They also welded a craftsman screwdriver to the window regulator to act as a crank, just so this is all in perspective.

[1stDeuce]

 

I used duplicolor plastic paint on my Comanche.  (See build thread in sig.) The Charcoal is almost a perfect match for the Jeep charcoal interior.  The panels you got look to be the lighter gray though. 

 

If the panel isn't literally coming apart, I would let it dry completely and install it.  Once it's installed, you'll never know. :)

 

If your current dash isn't cracked (badly) I would suggest just painting it.  If you do all the recommended prep, and use duplicolor's adhesive promoter before painting, it'll be better looking than a factory gray dash.   Plus, the colored part of the dash is part of the whole dash, with the VIN tag rivited to it...  Swapping it is so much work that I'll never do it again unless I have to.   I found a beautiful dash in the JY with no cracks, and painted it, and put it in, and six months later, it's split.   I'm sure NM sun did it in.  IMO, they're all going to split, and the only fix for that is an overlay of some kind.  :(

 

Good luck!

 

How hard was it for your 97+ door panels? I haven't searched yet, but I wonder if there's a build thread on them..

 

How hard to swap to newer door panels?  Impossible...   I swapped the whole doors, and the panels were a bonus.  Painting the carpet on the original panels, and your seatbelts, will prove difficult if not impossible to make look good.  There are door swap threads, and I covered some of it in my build thread.   Basically, you have to change the door striker.  Other than that, they bolt right on, and fit fine so long as you get manual window doors. 

[87Chief]

 

 

I used duplicolor plastic paint on my Comanche.  (See build thread in sig.) The Charcoal is almost a perfect match for the Jeep charcoal interior.  The panels you got look to be the lighter gray though. 

 

If the panel isn't literally coming apart, I would let it dry completely and install it.  Once it's installed, you'll never know. :)

 

If your current dash isn't cracked (badly) I would suggest just painting it.  If you do all the recommended prep, and use duplicolor's adhesive promoter before painting, it'll be better looking than a factory gray dash.   Plus, the colored part of the dash is part of the whole dash, with the VIN tag rivited to it...  Swapping it is so much work that I'll never do it again unless I have to.   I found a beautiful dash in the JY with no cracks, and painted it, and put it in, and six months later, it's split.   I'm sure NM sun did it in.  IMO, they're all going to split, and the only fix for that is an overlay of some kind.  :(

 

Good luck!

 

How hard was it for your 97+ door panels? I haven't searched yet, but I wonder if there's a build thread on them..

 

How hard to swap to newer door panels?  Impossible...   I swapped the whole doors, and the panels were a bonus.  Painting the carpet on the original panels, and your seatbelts, will prove difficult if not impossible to make look good.  There are door swap threads, and I covered some of it in my build thread.   Basically, you have to change the door striker.  Other than that, they bolt right on, and fit fine so long as you get manual window doors. 

 

 

I wasn't planning on painting the carpet, I know that would turn out too rough and ugly. I thought about swapping doors awhile back, but since my truck is a Chief, the stickers on the bottom of the door will be gone and it will ruin the whole look of the truck. I wanted to keep the Comanche Chief ever since I got it. I guess I can look into some sign shops and see if they can make some new stickers.

[Kheltic]

Just stumbled on this old thread. I'm also looking to paint my dash and interior trim on my 88 Comanche Chief. Currently it's this maroon red color and I want to paint it black. 

Also going to be painting the whole truck in monstaliner.

Out of curiosity, has anyone tried to paint the dash with monstaliner? If so, how does it hold up?

I bought some SEM spray cans with all the prep cans also but I think I'd rather paint the dash to match the exterior if I could.

[Kheltic]

On 4/15/2016 at 7:55 AM, 87Chief said:

 

I wasn't planning on painting the carpet, I know that would turn out too rough and ugly. I thought about swapping doors awhile back, but since my truck is a Chief, the stickers on the bottom of the door will be gone and it will ruin the whole look of the truck. I wanted to keep the Comanche Chief ever since I got it. I guess I can look into some sign shops and see if they can make some new stickers.

I've also been looking for the chief stickers for the sides of the truck. Did you have any luck finding them? I'm thinking about making a stencil and maybe permanently painting the comanche chief stripes.

[Pete M]

how are you going to apply the chief stickers on to the liner?

[Kheltic]

1 hour ago, Pete M said:

how are you going to apply the chief stickers on to the liner?

IIRC I saw it done on youtube. Not sure how well they held up but I assume the 3M adhesive should still hold. 

 

I'd rather paint it on, was going to make a stencil and roller black monstaliner on once the other paint is done. I'm just hesitant because I know this stuff likes to bleed under the masking tape.