[BMM]

Hello. My 1981 Monte Carlo has some serious interior problems for such a 'relativley' new car. All the plastic panels in the interior are very brittle, and washing them removes the top "layers"; all the stuff with the texturized finish.

I was talking to a guy at a local car show, and he suggested a way of redoing these. Sand them down so they are smooth, than spray with some sort of undercarriage spray to get the texture. Than just use paint to match the colours.

Anyone know if this would, or would not work? Any suggestions on what brands work best? It would really help, as I can't take from my moving fund to redo my interior Thanks.

[roddinron]

I just suggested the same thing to LS1-Volvo (see my post), but I just kinda came up with it in answer to his question, I don't know if it would work or not, but it wouldn't cost much to try. Go to walmart and get a can of duplicolor bed liner spray and spray a few coats on until you have a nice buildup. Then if your interior isn't black, paint it with fusion or vinyl die, or use bulldog and paint. Again, I have never done this or even heard of it being done, but it seems like it would be a cheap fix for the time being anyway. Good luck.

[rj57]

If you really get stuck for the needed parts, contact Mike at Mike's Montes.

He parts out 4th generation (1981-88) Montes.

Real nice guy and great to work with. Tell him "RJ" suggested him.

[strummin67]

I would try to find some in better condition in my local wrecking yards.

Strummin

[Psychobilly79]

You can try SEM to repaint the interior. Make sure to prep everything right beforehand!

Eastwood

[fastwithclass]

I've ran into the exact same problem on my 79 t-type regal. What I did was scrub all the residue crap off and coat with a light layer of fleckstone from walmart and let it dry a few days and then coat it up really well with the color of your choice and then over that with some good quality clear coat looks very nice. I also let this sit under heat lamps for a few days to make it rock hard just dont let them get to hot. mine has been this way on a driven car for nearly 10 yrs with no problems. try it out on some scrap see what you think.

[BMM]

Awesome, thanks for the tips. When I get some time off I'll definetly give it a try.

[jimk]

My father has a 65 dodge coronet wagon,same problem.What we did was this.His plastic panels were cracked,so we superglued the cracks.Then we cleaned the **** out of it.Got the spray-on bedliner that you can color.We mixed in 4 oz. of paint(ferrari red,same color as his car) and sprayed it.It looks great.

[mhamilton]

I just did my '80 Malibu interior... same condition as you describe.

I sanded off the crumbly top layer, washed the pieces, cleaned with lacquer thinner, air dried... then sprayed with a bonding agent, followed by a couple coats of vinyl dye. The texture isn't quite the same as original, but nobody would notice on my car. I don't know how well the dye would stick to undercoat, but it seems like it would match the OE look.

I got the vinyl dye at a local auto paint store, they just looked up the color codes and made me a couple spray bombs. Perfect color match and has the correct gloss as original. The bonding agent was also a spray bomb, it was recommended at the store. Just put on a light mist right before the dye.