Interior Maintenance Restoration and Repair

Saw this thread right after seeing this video...

Wonder how well this would actually hold up, at least for quick touch-ups/ mud stain coverup like she uses it for.

 
@Ericict, thanks, but my question is "what kind of plastic is the door trim panel made of?" The doc you sent is a super description of SEM products to use based on type of material and I appreciate the additional info, but still looking for help with my question.
2nd or 3rd page tells you how to I’d the panel material.
 
I added some full doors for my TJ. They are in good shape, but needed some work.

I changed the locks and cleaned the panels. A couple of the interior door clips were broken and missing. I found that Napa carries the exact clips, NAPA part number 665-3282.

tj door clips napa.jpg
 
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Thank you for the link, there is no off the shelf Color Coat for dark Slate gray, but the custom Color Coat formula is 5379. I'm going to order a couple of cans for my half door panels.

@psrivats - might be useful for you.
Hey there. Just curious: were you ever able to get a can of the Color Coat code 5379? I called SEM this week and they told me they don’t do the custom colors anymore. Nor could I find any distributor that would do it. Kind of stumped at this point and I would like to repaint the dash. Curious to see how you made out. Thanks!
 
Hey there. Just curious: were you ever able to get a can of the Color Coat code 5379? I called SEM this week and they told me they don’t do the custom colors anymore. Nor could I find any distributor that would do it. Kind of stumped at this point and I would like to repaint the dash. Curious to see how you made out. Thanks!

I bought LVP. I have not used it yet because I've been busy with my other projects.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G6ILHSY/?tag=wranglerorg-20

 
I'm sure a lot of people have the defrost cover on dash with cracked and missing pieces. Well today I was putting leaf guards on my house gutters and had a piece left over. I broke out the rest of grill, cut the metal to fit. Drilled holes and screwed it down (needed smaller screws but this is what I had). I decided to paint it all. I love the way it looks now. Better than cracked for sure. Sorry didn't take before pics but I'm sure you know what it looked like.

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Finished a complete tear down, repainting and reinstallation. Came out great.

After cleaning and degreasing with alcohol, I used colorbond adhesion promoter followed by 5-6 very light coats of and their color 160. It matched the DV Dark Slate color code perfectly.
I know others have mentioned the SEM custom colors. However, after speaking with SEM and a few of their distributors, I could find no one that would actually mix it. However the colorbond is readily available on Amazon.

The only tricky thing about taking the dash fully apart was the rivets holding on the airbag cover. I did not have the equipment to replace the rivets so I put it back on without them. I fully recognize that this is probably incredibly dangerous if god forbid the airbag actually goes off. So I plan to fix them at some point. However, I would recommend leaving that piece intact and simply painting it in place.

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@TJRick Would you mind sending me the info for the paint you used to refresh your dash and panels? I’d appreciate it! If I’m reading the paint code correctly (AZ), I have the agate interior.
 
@TJRick Would you mind sending me the info for the paint you used to refresh your dash and panels? I’d appreciate it! If I’m reading the paint code correctly (AZ), I have the agate interior.

I went to my local PPG paint store and had them mix me up a batch of Chrysler Agate - code AZ interior plastic/vinyl paint. (The Mist Gray is code C3.) I used Bulldog Adhesion Promoter after cleaning the parts, and then used the Preval Sprayer to lay the color down.
 
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Annette Huizinga <[email protected]>​

Fri, Aug 7, 7:53 AM
to me

This is from Vinyl Pro, it matched the Agate in my 98 perfectly. Agate 17233 is the original chrysler color. Hope this helps!


Good Morning,
Your order shipped out yesterday.
Agate (17233) is a discontinued color. Although we can make this a custom color in color coat # 4608

Would you like me to ship you out a can of agate ?
 
Today I did my driver side door which has the typical crack that seems to happen in a lot of TJ's.

View attachment 177875

I started by cleaning the door panel with the SEM Plastic&Leather prep (38353). This product is also a mild solvent and will not only clean any surface dirt off the panel it will also take a thin layer off of the plastic itself. This helped eliminate a couple sun faded areas nicely.

View attachment 177876

I fixed the crack by drilling a small hole at the end of the crack and using an epoxy formulated for plastic to fill the crack/hole.

View attachment 177877

View attachment 177878

I then applied the adhesion promoter and 3 light coats of SEM Color Coat in Khaki (5545) over the entire panel.

View attachment 177879

The crack is barely noticeable up close. After the paint cures I will perform a very light buffing using my polisher. I found that this gives the coating a similar luster to the existing dash components when I did the defroster vent trim last week.

View attachment 177897

EDIT: Buffed the top out with "Shop Towel" (Blue paper towels) and my buffer with a very light touch. and installed.

I'm happy with it and vs the cost and difficulty of finding a Khaki intact panel vs $60 in materials and some time it's a great fix that I think will last.

View attachment 177949

The most difficult part of this whole fix was getting the retainer clip off the manual window crank. I didn't buy the tool and ended up getting it off with a left over angled wrench out of stamped steel that came with an IKEA bookcase I made several years ago. I suggest getting that tool if you try this.
Well.... crap!! I took my Jeep up into NE Arizona last week, where it got into the single digits overnight and "POP!" the crack opened up again... :mad:

The panel shrunk in the cold and it's not designed to "float" on the steel door pan so the stress popped at the fix. It did dawn on me that I fixed the panel when it was over 100° outside as well.

I used some mesh on the back to increase the area of adhesion but it looks like it came loose.

Back to the drawing board.....

IMG_2510.jpeg
 
Well.... crap!! I took my Jeep up into NE Arizona last week, where it got into the single digits overnight and "POP!" the crack opened up again... :mad:

The panel shrunk in the cold and it's not designed to "float" on the steel door pan so the stress popped at the fix. It did dawn on me that I fixed the panel when it was over 100° outside as well.

I used some mesh on the back to increase the area of adhesion but it looks like it came loose.

Back to the drawing board.....

View attachment 216610
I forget. Did you put mesh behind it?
 
Well.... crap!! I took my Jeep up into NE Arizona last week, where it got into the single digits overnight and "POP!" the crack opened up again... :mad:

The panel shrunk in the cold and it's not designed to "float" on the steel door pan so the stress popped at the fix. It did dawn on me that I fixed the panel when it was over 100° outside as well.

I used some mesh on the back to increase the area of adhesion but it looks like it came loose.

Back to the drawing board.....

View attachment 216610
I have this same Crack. On my list to fix...
Not buying a 300$ replacement haha

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image.jpg
 
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I have this same Crack. On my list to fix...
Not buying a 300$ replacement haha

View attachment 217774

View attachment 217775
I'm still strategizing the next steps for mine. I used a quality epoxy and extended the "patch" 6" on either side of the crack with mesh and it still opened up again.

I'll post an update when I pull the panel and see if it was the epoxy adhesion or something else that failed.
 
I'm still strategizing the next steps for mine. I used a quality epoxy and extended the "patch" 6" on either side of the crack with mesh and it still opened up again.

I'll post an update when I pull the panel and see if it was the epoxy adhesion or something else that failed.
Curious if the heat / UV made the epoxy to fail. Ive seen it yellow and crack over time (think fishing rod wraps). Ive seen people repair plastic fends on 4 Wheelers bu melting the two parts together. Thiking of doing something like that on the back side, Then filling and gap with Epoxy and repaint...

Here is a Link to the Fender repair ive seen..... (just a quick search for the idea, but not tried and true method... YET)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RG8K18D/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
Curious if the heat / UV made the epoxy to fail. Ive seen it yellow and crack over time (think fishing rod wraps). Ive seen people repair plastic fends on 4 Wheelers bu melting the two parts together. Thiking of doing something like that on the back side, Then filling and gap with Epoxy and repaint...

Here is a Link to the Fender repair ive seen..... (just a quick search for the idea, but not tried and true method... YET)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RG8K18D/?tag=wranglerorg-20
Interesting. The epoxy had very little exposure to the sun. It was all on the underside except for the little that came through the crack.

This looks interesting. I'd want lighter "welding rods" but this may work. The underside of the panel has a very smooth, almost glossy, finish. I roughed that up quite a bit to help adhesion.

I think the real problem is that the panel's attachments (bayonet pins) offer expansion and contraction play. The part that attaches at the top of the pan...right where the crack occurs clips firmly to the panel. So when the metal pan and the plastic panel expand at different rates under temperature variations they move independently except at that one point. The crack happens there on just about all of the TJ's at some point.

I may look into this kit a little further and give it a try once I pull the panel again and see if the epoxy fix can be removed entirely.
 
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Great thread! Anyone have any tips on getting out scratches off my dash? The dash is in great shape, I just need to get a couple scratches off one area.
 
Interesting. The epoxy had very little exposure to the sun. It was all on the underside except for the little that came through the crack.

This looks interesting. I'd want lighter "welding rods" but this may work. The underside of the panel has a very smooth, almost glossy, finish. I roughed that up quite a bit to help adhesion.

I think the real problem is that the panel's attachments (bayonet pins) offer expansion and contraction play. The part that attaches at the top of the pan...right where the crack occurs clips firmly to the panel. So when the metal pan and the plastic panel expand at different rates under temperature variations they move independently except at that one point. The crack happens there on just about all of the TJ's at some point.

I may look into this kit a little further and give it a try once I pull the panel again and see if the epoxy fix can be removed entirely.
I read all the posts on how to repair these common cracks in the door panels of Jeeps. I kind of concluded to go with an overkill (see photos.) I took my panel to a local Bodyshop and had them heat plastic weld it with backing. Same procedure as discussed here, but they used a space-age-looking machine that its primary use is for plastic bumper repair. I haven't gone through a summer with it, but it looks pretty stout to me. They charged me $50 cash, and it took 15 minutes.

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