[Feyr]

hi guys,

this is probably a bit unusual.

im trying to figure out how i could fabricate my own plastic pieces for some stuff in my ride. missing knobs, small trim pieces, that sort of stuff. i probably could buy them, the car is a 86, but spending the time to try and figure out the missing pieces, find them, and order them all is probably more expensive and more time consuming than just making them

one way would be with styrofoam and acetone but i really have no idea of the durability on that. it's also more of a "moldable" plastic than a pourable one.

as for the mold, i really have no clue what to make them out of. i seem to remember some kind of silicon that could be used to make a cast out of an existing part. any idea what it's called? or any other idea to make them?


the other question is for restoring faded plastic exterior parts. i was thinking of just sanding and painting them, but i'd have to do it for all of the trims (mostly black, it would be very noticable if i didnt). is there a better way to do it?

thanks

[DanTwoLakes]

There are all kinds of coatings that you can re-color your hard plastic parts with, and the process is simple and almost foolproof.
Making your own knobs and things seems to me to be a huge waste of time when you consider that you really don't know how to do it ( as is the case with most of us) or what to do it with. JMHO.

[eldoradoboy]

I have successfully used SEM colorcoat paints to paint my interior plastics on my 86 monte carlo.. you can even color fabric seats!!.. brush them out and they arent hard or crackly to sit on.. the finish seems durable and doesnt scratch easily... as for knobs and such on an 86 car I'd start checking into junk yards.. I replaced a couple cracked interior trim pieces with good ones from a junkyard car and then Painted them.. cant tell the difference...
-Christopher

[DanTwoLakes]

You can use SEM Color Coat or Sure Coat to color hard plastic. (Sure Coat is water based, and Color Coat is lacquer based.) It helps to use one of the SEM adhesion promoters when coloring the plastic.

SEM says you can "refresh" the color of fabric seats and carpet with Color Coat, but it is not intended to make a radical change in color, like from blue to red. If you try to do that you will have to almost soak what you're coloring and that would affect the texture of the carpet or fabric, probably make it hard and scratchy.

[Feyr]

thanks! ill look into those sem products. im keeping the original color for the seats: it matches the body that has just been repainted, so that shouldn't be an issue.