I decided to strip the paint off the plastic pieces that include the gauges,heater controls,shift console and door plastics(still need to finish pass side).I was going to repaint the pieces because the paint was beginning to peel but came across a good way to get paint off of plastic which doesn't melt the plastic.Good old "Purple Power" degreaser.I soaked the pieces for 24 hours and the paint on some pieces lifted right off.Other parts needed a little more scrubbing to get off.I then polished the pieces with Meguiar's plastic polish and I think they came out pretty well.

 

almost makes me want 93 panels? lol

did the polish leave visible scratches or hazing on the surface? the bottle says not to use it on non-translucent plastics.

 

Looks good but again this is nothing new. You new comers are all late to the game of coming up with something that has not already been done a million times. There are plenty of threads about this in the interior/exterior forums if you want to compare pics or something.

 

i've never seen anyone talking about polished interior panels. only repainting. *searches*

 

No, actually they really came out nice after using the polish.I was afraid it would leave scratches but it didn't.I think on softer plastic it would leave scratches but the dash panels on FD's are a really hard plastic.

 

Looks pretty good to me, but i didn't find anything wrong with how mine were; and therefor wouldn't change it.

 

looks good....mine still look good though....keep them stock for now..

 

That looks killer! This is a really nice way to refinish the problem '93 panels, especially since it doesn't involve expensive or complicated paint work. That's a REALLY good trick to soak them in degreaser like that.

Good stuff!

Dale

 

Where can one find Purple Power? Safeway/A&P or the like?

 

does that lip above the gauges reflect any sunligh onto the windshield?

 

I might have to do that this winter. Not sure if I will like the shiny finish until I get down to it, but it looks like custom panels instead of stock pieces.

Hell, even if I don't like it, it's prepped and ready for paint!!!

Nice work.

 

How hard is it to get the panels off, or is there a how to on it?

 

wow. those did turn out well.. But I am also curious about glare.... How bad does the cluster glare on the windshield?

 

You can get the Purple Power degreaser at Shucks Auto parts on the west coast or Pep Boys.

As far as the lip reflecting sunlight, it is very minimal.I left the top of the gauge cluster(the large piece that connects to the gauge cluster face)the flat black finish so I wouldn't get glare from sunlight.

The panels are not hard to remove at all, but obviously all of the electronics must be removed from them and that is the most time consuming part, which isn't really that bad.

 

that looks awesome bro. Turned out great, what about trying it on the door panel part?

 

My thoughts exactly....

I was gonna paint my panels anyway, so now I might as well try this first. Thanks Haywire!!

 

You guys arent easy. ouch

 

I must be on crack tonight. Something about this thread motivated me to start my project of restoring the interior a little early. EVERYTHING is out of my car and at my shop, seats, center console, ac surround panel, hood, etc., and amazingly, I didn't break anything.

Now I'm excited as hell. Time to shop for seats, carpet, mats, a couple interior pieces, spray an under coat on the chassis to prevent rust, etc and I'm on my way. Engine should be in the first of the year, and then paint will be last.

 

Hey, when you soaked the pieces, did you dilute the PP with water? And what did you use to soak it in?

I was wondering, because if I had to fill a 5 gallon bucket with that stuff just to get the hood submerged, that would get expensive real quick

 

did you hand polish or use a tool

 

Ever since I got my car, I have been trying to think of a way to make the dash reflect less in the windshield. When the sun is in certain positions, the reflection it pretty bad. Because of this, I have never put anything on the dash that would make it shine. I don't understand why anyone would want to make their dash shiny. When I saw this thread, I was hoping that someone had found a "cure".

 

Throw some dirt on it.

 

I am sure you could dilute it with water, it would just take longer to work is all.I used a storage bin I had and just periodically moved the pieces around so the exposed portions would be submerged for a while.The Purple Power runs about $6 a gallon and I used 2 gallons to do mine.


I polished the parts by hand using a 100% cotton cloth and it worked just fine.

 

At home depot, they make a purple degreaser concentrate. It's like 7 or 8 bucks, but it will make 6 gallons of the same purple power cleaner. I did mine today, soaked it for a while, then cleaned them off with a scubbie pad, didn't take long at all.

Now, I had decided not to do the shiny dash and I'm painting mine as we speak, so if you want the shiny dash, don't use a scrubbie pad.

I'll get pics up as soon as I'm done, which might not be til tomorrow night or Sunday sometime because of lack of time to work on it.

 

I stumbled across another method recently when trying to remove a decal....GooGone. It takes the flat finish right off and it did it within like 20 seconds. I was going to have the panel repainted, but after seeing this thread I may strip the rest instead.