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Dry rotted plastics

Sputnik

Well-Known Member
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Joined
May 30, 2010
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Is there any way to restore the dry rotted panels in a car - door panels, seat backs, etc. ? I'm referring of course to the dry-rotted "layer" that can be scratched off easy enough with a fingernail. I have heard there is nothing you can do but dye it and use caution until replacements can be found. I have a 73 Satellite but know this applies to many early 70's interiors.
 
not sure,but what i used on one of my cars that had been sitting in storage for awhile was called marine cleaner.Got it at the paddock a few yrs back.Has to be diluted with water and can be used on interiors.don't have pics right now,but it does clean real good.
 
Once the plastic has started to break down and oxidize their is very little that can be done. The oxidized layer can be sanded and removed then refinished, but you lose the factory texture which can never be truly duplicated.
 
What I did on mine was to take a wire brush and strip all the dead plastic off that I could, then cleaned it with lacquer thinner, repeated the process, then painted the seat backs with wrinkle finish paint. Like 66 said, it doesn't truely reproduce the grain, but it does give it a texture that helps camoflauge it. The smell of the wrinkle finish paint won't go away for a LONG time tho, so take that into consideration
 
Thanks - anything is better than the dead, crumbling plastic .... I saw Year One sells the seat backs, so I've got that covered, I'll keep looking for better door panels.....one day!
 
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