Thanks for that info. Never seen that product before.
Interior Maintenance Restoration and Repair
- Thread starter bedhed
- Start date
I've used it for casting plastic parts. I've seen it work as a texture stamp for everything from liquid vinyl to concrete.
When I do my door I may reverse cast a strip of my broken defroster vent trim about 1/2" wide and then tape it over the cracked portion of the door panel to get the texture in the epoxy fix.
I'll post that one as well.
I just painted some interior panels on my half doors based on the info in this thread and thought I’d update it with my experience. I have a 97 with a paint trim code of K5T6. Based off T6, I chose 15033 SEM paint called “Saddle Tan.” It wasn’t an exact match but it’s fairly close. It’s a 23 year old ride so I’m not too concerned with it being an exact match. They look way better than they did before so I’m happy with it.
Today I did my driver side door which has the typical crack that seems to happen in a lot of TJ's.
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.
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.
I then applied the adhesion promoter and 3 light coats of SEM Color Coat in Khaki (5545) over the entire panel.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I then applied the adhesion promoter and 3 light coats of SEM Color Coat in Khaki (5545) over the entire panel.
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.
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.
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.
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NyTj13
Member
I have that same exact crack in the same exact spot. The repair looks great, guess I know what I’m doing tomorrow afternoon! Which epoxy did you go with?
I did some research on this.... JB Weld makes a few epoxy products for plastic. There is a putty that has a 650psi or so strength and then there is the "Plastic Bonder" which has a 3,700psi strength. Both will stay somewhat "soft" in that they are not more rigid than the plastic. I chose the "Plastic Bonder" over the putty not because of the strength difference, 650psi is most likely stronger than the plastic itself, but because it mixed into a much thinner liquid and would flow into the crack easier from behind.
I put tape on the front side over the crack and then pushed the epoxy in from behind with a flat plastic putty knife to make sure I got in the entire crack. Once I was satisfied that the crack was filled I added a small strip of fiberglass fabric (bought at ACE hardware for $4) and a thin layer of additional epoxy over that.
Once it was fully set at about 30-45 minutes I pulled the tape and lightly went over it with a Green Scotch Bright pad (medium abrasive) to take any raised portions off and clean it up.
When you remove the panel you'll see why this happens. The black cap trim for that presses against the window to keep debris out of the door cavity has non-continuous clips that are stapled into the door panel. The clip stops at the front bumper side of the door at the exact spot of the crack. My theory is that the motion of window up and down torques the clip into the panel and as the panel ages it becomes more brittle and eventually cracks at the transition point of the clip to the panel. At least on mine the end of the clip and the crack were in exactly the same spot.
Let us know when you do yours if that's the case with yours.
I was wondering if you applied the epoxy from the back of the door panel and which epoxy was used. It was covered in your thread or pictures. Glad someone asked the same questions I was going to ask.
Man, that turned out great! Nice job.
I've got nearly the same exact crack on my passenger door.
Lowcountryearl
TJ Enthusiast
Morning,
New to the forum,,bought a 98 and would like to look into painting some of the interior plastic pieces. I read all the threads and maybe missed what I was looking for. My trim code says J6C3 which I cannot find any description of searching the internet. I assume it's the same as "mist gray" but not sure. There is a lot of talk about khaki on the threads but not much on the light gray. So looking to see if anyone has the SEM #'s for my jeep interior. Any help would be appreciated
New to the forum,,bought a 98 and would like to look into painting some of the interior plastic pieces. I read all the threads and maybe missed what I was looking for. My trim code says J6C3 which I cannot find any description of searching the internet. I assume it's the same as "mist gray" but not sure. There is a lot of talk about khaki on the threads but not much on the light gray. So looking to see if anyone has the SEM #'s for my jeep interior. Any help would be appreciated
The Khaki is a fairly uncommon color from what I understand. Finding replacement pieces for mine was nearly impossible so I went the Color Coat route.
Anything ending in C3 should be "Mist Grey"
Looking at SEM's site the color match for "Mist Grey" is #4940
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Lowcountryearl
TJ Enthusiast
Thanks for the reply. Anyone know what the darker shade of gray is in that combination of light and darker gray? Specifically talking about the grab bar, passenger side air bag and glove box. Again, thanks for any help, I know newbies can be a pain 
Thanks for the reply. Anyone know what the darker shade of gray is in that combination of light and darker gray? Specifically talking about the grab bar, passenger side air bag and glove box. Again, thanks for any help, I know newbies can be a pain
I don't know about the two tone interiors. On the first page there was some mention of it however.
Lowcountryearl
TJ Enthusiast
So, talked with Mark at Vinyl Pro and he sent me a chip chart. Looks like Rooscooter nailed it with the Mist Gray.
And, looks like the Agate will match the instrument panel. Will buy a couple of cans from Mark and give it a whirl
And, looks like the Agate will match the instrument panel. Will buy a couple of cans from Mark and give it a whirl
DariusRoch
New Member
bedhead, you said to use Windex and "be sure it contains Ammonia" but later on you say NOT to use Windex with Ammonia. I'm confused.
DariusRoch
New Member
The info you need is in this document.
https://www.semproducts.com/manage/...M RAP-1 interior_and_exterior_refinishing.pdf
DariusRoch
New Member
@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.