Plans include sanding all plastic pieces smooth, and painting them black.
I also plan to dye the cloth door inserts black as well as dye all vinyl pieces.
In the door pockets, black diamond plate. (I'm a HUGE fan of diamond plate)
I may also eventually shave the rear child seat hooks, and fiberglass the rear deck, also painting that black.
If the black dye works well enough on the door inserts to leave them still soft (feeling like cloth, and not hard) I will also do my front and rear seats, headliner, and carpet.
Center console will be done black as well.
Basically, I'm going to black out my entire interior.
I will be sanding, then priming all plastic, then using Autometer's plastic paint.
All interior cloth AND vinyl (such as the arm rest cover and dash pad) will be dyed using VHT's spray on color dye.
I'm starting with the doors today, and from there will do the rear panels, center console, kickplates, then the dash.
I'll do my best to take pics to share my progress with everyone, and although I'm sure it's been done countless times before, hope my work can help, or inspire someone else.
Mmmmmmmm paint fumes
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
good luck, Just get some pics
I just finished spraying my headliner with dye the other, all tho it did turn out great, I don't know if that would be the best choice for the seats. You might be better off to get seat covers or reapholster the seats.
But hey if you dye them and it doesn't turn out, you can still re-cover them.
Good Luck
JESUS.
That's all I can say.
So far I have the door panels off, and managed to do the sail panels, power lock housing, and I'm trying something with my HVAC knobs...
The plastic welds on the door are a big PITA to remove. I got them off, but they most likely won't be re-usable, so I'll have to figure something else out.
If anyone has tips, feel free to post up.
I'll get some pics soon, so far all I have is 3 knobs, 2 sail panels, and 2 power lock housings in primer.
This is gonna take longer than I had originally anticipated.
And this is using 60 grit to cut down the grain, followed by 100, 120, 150, 220 and a finishing pass with 600.
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
Hey....I have an idea. If you aren't gonna use the rear child anchors, how about a trade?
My rear dash doesn't have them, but it does have the hump where the brake light is.
Lemme know if you're interested, and maybe we can work something out.
My Cars slower than your Car!! wrote:Hey....I have an idea. If you aren't gonna use the rear child anchors, how about a trade?
My rear dash doesn't have them, but it does have the hump where the brake light is.
Lemme know if you're interested, and maybe we can work something out.
Hmm You talking about a deck swap, or just taking the anchors, and trim pieces off my hands? (3 total anchors, 3 total trim pieces)
I'd check under your rear deck to make sure you have the bolt holes for the anchors though.
If you prefer to use your own deck, I'd be more then happy to make a template for you out of posterboard for the hole sizes. (I cracked the right seatbelt slit on my deck anyways so it's a bit floppy now)
I planned on fiberglassing the rear deck anyways.....
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
My Cars Slower than your Car: My interior color is that Bluish/Grey kinda color for reference purposes. The actual metal clips are flat or satin black.
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
sounds like it will be nice. ive been working on my interior for like 2 months now, and still gotta do my spare door panels and rear panels. only problem i have is the new door panels are for power windows, and i have manual. so i need some power window motors.
sanding sucks.
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My peice is the same color (at least it seems by the description). I have the same problem with the floppy seatbelt holes, but both of mine are like that. Not a big deal if it's getting glassed. I am gonna either glass mine, or dye it black to match everything else.
The reason I'm interested is cuz I have a little girl, and her seat kind of moves around a little. I'm still gonna use the seatbelt to hold it in, but I wanted the top anchors to fasten the top to. That'll keep her seat a little more straight.
I know the middle has the hole, but the sides will have to be drilled or positioned differently.
If you want to swap, that's cool, but like i said, both sides of mine are floppy too.
If you just want to get rid of the anchors, that's cool too.
Question....do you have your backseat in your car and fastened down? If not, what kind of hooks are between the seats? There should be some hooks near the seatbelt mounts. I was just wondering if they were bolted to the same place as the seatbelt or not. If you see them, and they are removable, would you want to get rid of them too?
Appreciate it man.
2 Months? Man you're killing all hope lol.
I can't wait to get it done.. this sanding is a pain, and with all the curvers, I'm reluctant to use an orbital on it... I'm doing it all by hand right now.
I did just check my primered parts.. they look great. They need a quick 600 grit sanding, and some paint.
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
ya mna, 2 months of sanding, priming, paint for a few parts, and recovering the dash. and i still havent touched the door panels or rear panels, lol. but im taking my time and doing it by hand. i wanted to try and use a mouse sander, but its hard to keep everything level. so im sticking with hand sanding(as much as that sux).
cant wait to be done, ut dont think i ever will, lol
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My Cars slower than your Car!! wrote:My peice is the same color (at least it seems by the description). I have the same problem with the floppy seatbelt holes, but both of mine are like that. Not a big deal if it's getting glassed. I am gonna either glass mine, or dye it black to match everything else.
The reason I'm interested is cuz I have a little girl, and her seat kind of moves around a little. I'm still gonna use the seatbelt to hold it in, but I wanted the top anchors to fasten the top to. That'll keep her seat a little more straight.
I know the middle has the hole, but the sides will have to be drilled or positioned differently.
If you want to swap, that's cool, but like i said, both sides of mine are floppy too.
If you just want to get rid of the anchors, that's cool too.
Question....do you have your backseat in your car and fastened down? If not, what kind of hooks are between the seats? There should be some hooks near the seatbelt mounts. I was just wondering if they were bolted to the same place as the seatbelt or not. If you see them, and they are removable, would you want to get rid of them too?
Appreciate it man.
I think just giving you the latches and trim would be cool, shipping the rear deck would cost alot more....
I was lost at first when you described the lower hooks...
Ford calls them the LATCH system, which stands for Lower Anchor Tether something or other lol..
I don't have the backseat out, but since my door panels are off now, I might as well yank the back seat and check.
I'm not sure if my car has the lower anchors, but I'll take a look for ya. If I have them you can take them too.
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
Cool deal man. Do you want anything for them?
Yeah, the LATCH system is what they are called. They're supposed to be a lot more secure than just a seatbelt.
Yea, the cost of shipping lol.
I don't know if you prefer UPS or USPS but whichever is fine with me.
I'll be shipping from 14212
Let me know what you decide.
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
z24challenge wrote:The plastic welds on the door are a big PITA to remove. I got them off, but they most likely won't be re-usable, so I'll have to figure something else out.
I had to dremel mine off. I ended up using small screws and a few washers to put everything back together. Mind you, this was just on the door handle trim going into the door panel. This says nothing for the two parts of door panels.
A guy named wysiwyg posted a good tip on using plastic welds not too long ago. I'd do a quick search for that thread to see what you can find. The thread involved something about filling in the hole left behind by the window crank.
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Interior FAQ -
J-Body of Michigan -
Raptor wrote:z24challenge wrote:The plastic welds on the door are a big PITA to remove. I got them off, but they most likely won't be re-usable, so I'll have to figure something else out.
I had to dremel mine off. I ended up using small screws and a few washers to put everything back together. Mind you, this was just on the door handle trim going into the door panel. This says nothing for the two parts of door panels.
A guy named wysiwyg posted a good tip on using plastic welds not too long ago. I'd do a quick search for that thread to see what you can find. The thread involved something about filling in the hole left behind by the window crank.
this is the post you were referring to
CLICKY ME
only problem is the gun is like $70. i could use something like this myslef to reattach my door panels. but i aint gonna pay that for a gun to do it
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Liquid Nail, or Caulk or whatever you want to call it does wonders for reattaching doors. Take some painters tape or something like that to hold the doors in place, then lay a couple tubes of that too it and let it set for 24 hours and you should be good to go. This allows you to have something that is very strong and rigid, but very easy to break apart if need be.
You could also take a heat gun and then heat the old welds up til it melts them enough to slide off or dremel like mentioned above. If you do this you could always go buy a thing of army men, cut the bases off and melt them back onto the holes where the plastic welds once were and once it dries it'll be as good as before.
Proud member of
JBOK (J-bodies of Kentucky)
i used liquid nails on my arm rests that i have in currently, and it worked great on one, but not so well on the other. it broke free right after i put em in. but it does work decent. just need alot of it.
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do you guys use high build primer when priming?
it makes my day
So much fun to be had.....
I'd like that plastic melt gun.. just to have it.
Michael: I'm just using regular sandable primer.
What exactly is high build?
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
high build goes on thicker and fills in any imperfections, then when you sand it down, you have any cracks or pin holes filled with primer.
Ok I have some pics of the progress so far....
Partially sanded: (And I'm getting frustrated)
New Idea: BONDO. A light coat to fill in the "grain" of the door, HOPING it works.
Both panels pretty much totally Bondo'ed. If it works, I'll buy some more and do the rest.
In the picture is a the tube of bondo with hardener pre-mixed.
I was looking for a plastic spreader, and couldn't find one in my g/f's garage. So I used that black rubber thing. If you know what it's for, let me know lol.
Sail panels, and power window trim panels primered, with 1 coat of paint:
Oh, and I hate you all for not telling me what a PITA sanding plastic is lol.
Which is why I am now trying Bondo.
Also, I need to get my hands on some ABS plastic tubing... I'm gonna try to glue that to the back of the door panel, then use screws to mount the other panels. If you know where I can get it, let me know.
I know it's JUST a Cavalier, and I'm sorry if I hurt your ego.
Glazing putty/Spot putty....that's what you are using. It's to fill in smaller cracks and holes where normal Bondo won't penetrate.
Bondo actually comes in a can, and you mix a cream hardner with it.
What grit sandpaper are you using? I've always started low, like 40 or 60, and worked my way up to 200, 400, etc. You may want to try a lower grit to get it done faster.
The spot putty works really good for what it does, like pinholes in fiberglass, or small rock chips in hoods and such. It should hold as well as regular Bondo would.
Keep us posted with the progress man!!
