Hey, has anyone "converted" an interior to a different color? I have come across decent Mavericks before, but with odd color interiors such as pea green or tan, or something like that. Well, I would have to have a black interior to go with creating a black and silver Stallion clone. However, it looks like it would be an awful job "converting" everything, and then to "find" all the plastic parts in black as well, ouch! I was wondering if it's a horrible job, or am I "over thinking" the whole thing?
interior color change.... I know the seats wouldn't be a problem, and perhaps even the door panels (the vinyl center part anyway), but isn't the dash and all the plastic parts a bear to find in black, or are you talking of using "vinyl color" on the plastic? I wonder how well that would hold up. I used to apply vinyl color to vinyl roofs, but I never tried it on interior parts....
You would have to paint the dash and doors black - use a cap for the top fo the dash if you can't find a pad ... or paint the pad you have ... I repainted my dash the same original Charcoal Metallic for my Grabber restoration and repainted the doors black - I converted to the deluxe doorpanels which were originally tan and my arm-rests were originally green. You can use the new Plastic paint for the kick panels. Get your seats re-upholstered. Like I said above ... the only snag is the headliner ... that is a pain to switch colors. I guess if it is in good shape it could be painted ... You would also need to paint the windlace on your weathestripping ... the repops only come in black so many people do that already. Click my SIG picture to see how it came out ...
Wow, sounds like you have been down that road befoe, which is cool because you went through the hoops. I checked out your web site and saw your gold Maverick. It looks very clean and in wonderful shape! However, the interior shot of the dash made me think of even more stuff, like the steering wheel, the steering column, the plastic dash, and how about the rear seat side panels and trim around the back window? I don't want to be a pain, and I must be "overthinking" this, but can a person "color" or "paint" all those plastic parts sucessfully? Thanks for all your help, I appreciate it greatly. It will help me to decide whether or not to consider a purchase if the color is wrong....
Just to be clear ... my interior was black to begin with. However, during the restoration the entire interior was repainted ... both plastic and metal parts ...
The headliner can be bought for about $50. Putting it in is another thing. My interior was black, but like my hero DM, I redid it all. I dyed the headliner satin black, it had no tears. I repainted the top of the dash black charcoal metallic. The doors were repainted in the same color. The interior was replaced and restitched to original. The windlace, rear seat side panels, kick panels, bottom of the dash was re-dyed with black vinyl dye. The rear package tray (metal portion) and the steering column was re-sprayed with black charcoal metallic. Carpet was replaced as well, about $100. It shouldn't cost much, but it takes lots of time. I suspect that the door panels are the most difficult to deal with. Good upholstery shops can re-make them in most any color, although they may not look stock. Seth
I'm my dogs hero. Anyways,, yes as the other wise inhabitants of this board have stated. You can redye, recolor just about anything. Good products and decent parts add to the end result. I would not hesitate for an instant to change complete color of any Mav/Com. I have had very good luck in doing this. But, it can be time consuming and tedious work during parts of it, especially if the car is still together and you are going with a different color dash. Dan
My interior was converted black before I got the car, The people who did it, did an allright job, I'd suggest a light scuff sand and/or cleaning the parts with some sort of a solution before you start spraying. That way the paint will properly adhere. The surfice may seem clean, but theres allways a small ammount of grease/dirt/crap, that you can't detect with your fingers or eyes.
You must clean, clean, clean ... There isn't a single car out there that hasn't had some sort of armorall type product applied at one point or another. Paint will not stick and majorly fish-eye if there is the slightest amount of armorall on the surface. All your parts should be cleaned with silocone, wax and grease remover (available at auto paint shop) prior to painting. AFTER cleaning I scuffed my dash with a scuffing pad prior to painting to allow the paint to adhere ... I painted it in the car so had to do light coats to prevent runs. I used steel wool on the doors after cleaning them. Use thin coats of lacquer or the paint will fill the factory graining on the doors and look cheesey. I used Eastwood clear on my Dash Bezels to bring back the color and have the sheen match the newly painted dash ...
Pics of my interior Here's some pics of the interior I just did on my latest 71 Grabber. You wouldn't believe the compliments I have gotten over it and mostly all I did was change the colors. The front seats are out of a 2000 Mustang and I just had the rear seat recovered to match the fronts. You can buy carpet and headliners in any color you want so no need to try to dye that stuff. I used vinyl paint on the rest of the stuff and it has a low gloss and really looks great.
