Where to source interior plastics

[Greg 85]

Looking for either places to get the blue plastics for the interior of my truck or possibly advice on how to make mine new again. Both rear pillar covers and trim around the wido has been sunfaded from blue to light brown. I would like to either replace them or if need be restore them, any suggestions? I can add a picture of what mine is doing later today.

[1986F150Six]

Others can share their personal experiences, but the general consensus is that SEM paints are quite good and preparation is the key.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, SEM makes the paints that should be a good match.  HOWEVER, as explained here (Documentation/Specifications/Interior Paint) those paints are not off the shelf.  You have to have them mixed.  And, as there were something like 5 different blues used in the 7 years of Bullnose trucks, even buying used is no guarantee they'll match.

But, you may be able to bring them back to life somewhat by a good scrubbing.  Big Blue's trim was untouchable.  It really looked that gross.  But I scrubbed it with a good stiff brush and GoJo with pumice in it and it got less bad.  Not good, but less bad.

[FuzzFace2]

Other than door panels and some of them are not that good, all other plastics you will have to find good used stuff.

As been said if chalky you can sand them with 40 grit then 80 & 120 so you get to a good solid base.
Wash them really good with soap & hot water to get the rest of the chalk off.

Use SEM products, they make a prep you spray on first then the color.
I would spray all the plastic panels so they all match but that's me.
You can also use it on the dash frame & pad so they match the rest of the plastics.

My door panels were pretty bad but wanted them to look some what good till I have money to by new ones and did the sand paper and a few coats of SEM. They are far from show but they don't look to bad for a driver. I also need to fix some of the other plastic and paint them yet.
I painted the dash frame, pad and kick panels and am really happy the way they came out.



Dave ----

[Greg 85]

Pic 2


Everything else is perfect.

[Greg 85]

[Gary Lewis]

By golly, those are BROWN!  That's the worst "fade" I've seen.  

That plastic is somewhat flexible, kinda like the door panels, and on them I've been fairly successful sanding and scrubbing.  I've used 40 or 60 grit wet/dry paper and kept it wet or it loads up pretty quickly with the dead plastic.  Scrub down until you get to blue.  And then you can go to smoother paper if you want.

The dead plastic on mine is kind of mealy and I don't think it would be good to paint it, so it really should come off first.

[Greg 85]

I have never seen blue turn brown, when I first seen them I thought they were from a brown truck but behind the seat they are blue. So I will try the sanding trick and hopefully they come back to color!

[kramttocs]

That's crazy. I have a blue interior parts truck with brown panels just like yours and I also thought someone had swapped them from another truck.

[NZCOBRA]

I ordered 4 cans of SEM  regartta blue , the first can i used wasnt the best color match,  the second was great .looks so good on the dash , that the door cards look really bad . Has anyone covered their plastic door card with vinyl or leather ? .Cheers

[Westerj]

How about plastic trim parts? Is that a salvage yard source any more? Long ago (1980-1990) I used to hit a nearby salvage yard for small parts - it was a lot of fun trudging thru the (toxic) glop and finding gems.   Those have since closed down in hte NJ/NY area. :^/

[Gary Lewis]

All I know is to get them at the salvage.  But maybe someone else has other sources?

[mat in tn]

Actually one of the best tips i have is brillo pads. Soapy for the grime and fair cutting to remove the dead plastic. Wash thoroughly and dry and the sem products do the rest. Unfortunately not much truly bonds to this plastic.
I did attempt to vinyl wrap a door panel once. Very frustrating with all of the molded contours. B pillar panels i have never found new.  

[NZCOBRA]

I was hoping to paint or cover mine not sure how this will go now,  did you use that special plastic  primer stuff ? I have even thought that moulding some with fiberglass  ,  could be an option .,  I haven't done any work on my truck for a while,  it's been reliable
!  . cheers Vaughn.

[Gary Lewis]

Haven't tried Brillo pads, but have used 60 grit wet or dry - wet.  You need the wet to carry off the dead stuff you remove and to keep from clogging the sandpaper.

But you wind up with a smooth piece of plastic, so you need to put some texture back on.  I haven't tried it, but I've read good things about SEM texture coating.