Restored my interior door panels

Bionic_Scorpion

Bionic_Scorpion

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 29, 2019
Messages
292
Location
Tennessee
When I got my jeep last year, the interior was in excellent condition minus a couple things but what bugged me the most was the fading on top of the door panels. Seems like this effects most jeeps so I researched how to fix it. Most recommend painting but I didn't want to go through the hassle and figured it would be difficult to find a perfect paint match.

So I found a YouTube video of using water, baking soda, a brush and a lot of elbow grease. Today I took my door panels off and scrubbed them with the baking soda paste and a brush. It removed quite a bit of the fading but it was still there. So after drying the panels, I applied some penetrol to the top edges, let it sit a few minutes and buffed it off. Its not exactly perfect now but there is a huge difference. Im very happy with them now and I think it makes the interior look much nicer. The little details can make a big difference.

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Looks good! The whole interior looks great.

I have contemplated on trying the same with my door panels before spraying them. The tops of mine look very similar to yours. This does help. Thanks!
 
Never heard of penatrol. What is its intended purpose🤔? Or is it basically an 'Armor All' type product?
Regardless, excellent job🧐. And appreciate the knowledge 👍
 
I've seen/heard of the baking soda/water thing. I'm no chemist, so I'm just wondering what happens when you do this to get these results?
 
Thanks guys. Its takes some elbow grease but its well worth it.

Yes I just scrubbed the top of the door panel only and then used penetrol on the top edge down to the line through the middle of the door handle. I did that in case the penetrol made it shinier than the rest of the panel and the line would break it up and make it less noticeable but after buffing it with a microfiber cloth, there was no shine and it matched the rest of the door.

Penetrol is a chemical which can be added to paint to help level brush or roller marks. I believe it's like a paint conditioner.

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Yes the baking soda is kind of like wet sanding with water but its extremely mild. It made me wonder if a person could soda blast it on a light compressor setting and get the same results but it would be easier.
 
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Mike_H said:
The baking soda acts as a very mild abrasive to remove a layer of oxidation from the plastic. Its mechanical, not chemical. The water is only to carry the soda.
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Oh, I see. Makes sense now.(y)
 
I've got a khaki interior and I will be replacing my defroster vent trim and repairing the crack in my drivers door panel this weekend. I've ordered a grade A defroster vent trim piece in dark slate and will be using the SEM Khaki paint along with the prep products from Vinyl Pro.

My driver door panel has a hairline crack that is fairly common to the TJ. I'm going to remove it and drill a hole at the end of the crack and fill it with epoxy from behind then repaint the panel. I'll post before and after photos when I get it done.
 
Rooscooter said:
I've got a khaki interior and I will be replacing my defroster vent trim and repairing the crack in my drivers door panel this weekend. I've ordered a grade A defroster vent trim piece in dark slate and will be using the SEM Khaki paint along with the prep products from Vinyl Pro.

My driver door panel has a hairline crack that is fairly common to the TJ. I'm going to remove it and drill a hole at the end of the crack and fill it with epoxy from behind then repaint the panel. I'll post before and after photos when I get it done.
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Can't wait to see the results. By the way, is that Rough Country nerf steps on your jeep? If so, how do you like them? I was thinking about adding those to my jeep.
 
Bionic_Scorpion said:
Can't wait to see the results. By the way, is that Rough Country nerf steps on your jeep? If so, how do you like them? I was thinking about adding those to my jeep.
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Not sure... They were on it when I bought it a couple months ago. As for the function, I don't like them. The step is too far forward it seems. They were actually on the list to swap out.

After looking at Quadratec they appear to be these: https://www.quadratec.com/products/72702_901X_PG.htm
 
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