Interior Restoration Guide
Getting It Together on the Inside
To us, few aspects of car restoration are more satisfying than returning a crack- house interior to its former glory. After all, for a car that's driven more than once in a blue moon, you spend most of your time enjoying it from the inside. If you own a really popular car like a '57 Chevy, a first- generation Camaro , or an early Mustang, restoring your interior is relatively simple because you can buy just about everything from the many catalog restoration companies that specialize in these popular models. But depending on the make and model, you may find that offerings are slim for lots of other very popular cars. Many items, such as replacement gauges, steering wheels, and interior chrome and trim simply aren't reproduced, and even among popular brands, stuff like upholstery and door panels for some of the lower trim levels such as Chevy Biscayne and Plymouth Belvederes can also be hard to find.
The good news is that often your worn-out parts can be
restored, so there's no need to go searching around in junkyards for
replacements that are in no better condition than what you already have.
The same holds true for restoration parts. Although something is better
than nothing, some resto parts are made overseas and the quality and
fitment can be disappointing in some cases. Unless you've got the cash and
time to scout out new old stock parts to replace your worn-out originals,
your best bet is to search out qualified specialists who can put a new
shine on your tired interior.
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Using our '65 Chevy Bel Air station wagon as a example, we've compiled a guide to companies that specialize in services to help you get your interior back in tip-top shape. We didn't just open a catalog and order every new part we could find, mainly because we couldn't, since lots of the wagon's parts are different than a two-door car's and therefore not available off the shelf. Plus that would be lame. Instead, we focused on fixing what we had and finding original-looking replacements for parts that were missing or beyond repair.
Restore or Rectify ?
During the interior restoration of a 20-plus-year-old car, you'll be faced with many opportunities to deviate from its original colors and materials, and you'll have to make choices about the level and type of restoration you're trying to accomplish. At the car shows we attend around the country, we see basically three types of interior restorations--which we'll call concours -quality, mild- resto , and custom--and each has its merits. The concours restoration tries to return every detail of the car to its as-new condition, which means that if the factory shade of the dash pad didn't match the kick panels and the kick panels didn't match the door panels and the carpet didn't match anything, that's still how it will look when the restoration is complete. This type of restoration is very difficult and expensive to accomplish and is best left to show-only cars. The mild resto applies to most of the "restored" cars we see at car shows and many daily drivers. The intent here is to return the car to close to as-new condition, but the owner may choose to upgrade certain areas or install parts that aren't stock, like steering wheels and gauges. He may also choose to match interior colors or makes slight changes, such as using a different pattern seat cloth than came stock. This is the type of restoration the majority of people shoot for, and for the popular models and trim levels, you can buy most of the parts you need from restoration specialists. With a full custom interior restoration, anything goes, and it's up to the restorer's personal taste. We suspect that the reason so many people "customize" their interiors is because they can't find, or don't want to pay for, the parts to put it back to stock condition. Since our 1965 Bel Air wagon is a daily driver and far from a show car, our goal was to keep it as stock- and vintage-looking as possible without replacing any more parts than were necessary.
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Eeewww . Can't somebody do something about this? Well, yes. Yes we can. Read on, Mac Duff .
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Dash pad Problem: The Bel Air came with a padded dash cover, one of the last years this was an option before the federal government mandated padded dashes on all cars. As is common in California , the dash pad was cracked in several places and badly faded. We couldn't just remove it, because the dash wasn't painted underneath the cover, and there are a series of holes drilled into the dashboard to secure the lower edge of the cover.
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Solution: Molded urethane plastic dash pads for our 1965 are available through some restoration companies, but for most cars with integral padded dashboards, the only option is to have the whole unit restored. Just Dashes is the only company we know of that can restore any dash pad to OEM specs, and the company will color-match the dash to your sample. Prices vary depending on the dash. What We Did: We removed the cover and sent it out to Just Dashes for a complete restoration. Just Dashes removed the metal attachment strip along the front of the pad, made an all-new pad out of closed-cell foam, and vacuum-formed new vinyl in the original grain texture. Then the dash pad was color-matched to an un-faded piece of the original cover that was tucked underneath the dashboard.
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Instruments & Gauges Problem: Malfunctioning factory gauges, tachometers , and clocks are common in 30-plus-year-old cars. Fortunately the speedometer on the Bel Air is accurate and in good working order, and all the idiot-light warning indicators needed were a couple of bulbs. You may not be so lucky, however, if your car has real gauges, a tachometer , or a clock. Solution: Send your gauges to a repair specialist or replace them with a set of aftermarket gauges. What We Did: Nothing. The instruments worked fine so we left well enough alone.
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Instrument Panel Bezel Problem: The plastic bezel around the instrument cluster is in good shape, with no cracks or major flaws, but the chrome plating is mostly worn off. Solution: Disassemble the bezel from the instrument cluster and send it out to be re-plated . The platter will fix any small cracks in the plastic with epoxy and re-chrome it. When the piece comes back, it will be all chrome, so you may have to repaint areas that were originally colored. Take photos before you send the piece away. The clear plastic lens can be polished with special plastic polishing compound that you can get at from Meguire's . Re-chroming a bezel costs about $70, depending on the size of the piece. Armrest basics can also be done. What We Did: Nothing right now, but eventually we may get it re-plated .
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Problem: Somebody scammed the original AM radio while the car was sitting in the field where we found it.
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Solution: Find an original radio and have it restored, or better yet, get a Custom Auto-sound replacement that fits in the radio opening without hacking it to fit a DIN-sized radio. Custom Auto-sound manufactures radios in more than 500 variations for 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s cars. What We Did: We installed a USA-6 AM/FM/CD Controller stereo from Custom Auto-sound along with a replacement dual-speaker unit that fits in place of the original under dash mono speaker. The Custom Auto-sound radio fit directly into the factory radio position and included original-style knobs for a factory look. Later we can plug in a CD changer unit and add extra speakers if we want.
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Steering Wheel Problem: The wheel is in very good shape with only a few very thin cracks, but most of the original paint is worn off. Solution: Cracks in hard-rubber steering wheels can be repaired, and the wheel can be repainted to match the original color. A show-quality restoration costs about $250. Another option is to replace it with an aftermarket wheel or one from a later model. POR-15 makes a wheel repair kit for at-home use. (See "Steering Wheel Resto ," Aug. 1999) What We Did: We prefer the original wheel to an aftermarket replacement, but as much as we wanted to get it restored, we couldn't come up with the cash, so it'll have to wait.
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Horn Ring & Interior Chrome Problem: Years of angry drivers leaning on the horn can spell doom for a horn ring, and window cranks are often pitted, broken, or missing knobs. Solution: If the ring is in bad shape, send it out to be polished and re-plated . New door handles and window cranks are usually available, but if not they can also be re-chromed . What We Did: Nothing, because all of our interior chrome was in good shape, so we just cleaned it up with steel wool and chrome polish.
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Door Panels Problem: A little rough around the edges, but basically intact. Solution: For many popular models, reproduction door panels are available, but not for a four-door Bel Air, of course. Fortunately, our door panels were in very good condition and really just needed a good scrubbing. If your panels aren't physically damaged, after they're clean, you can go one step further by re-dying them with a vinyl dye product like Just Dashes' Fade Away Kit, which can restore door panels to like-new condition and color at a much lower cost than replacing them. If you do choose to re-dye parts of your interior, consider trying to match the original colors, or at least match your new parts to each other so you don't create a mishmash of shades. If you want everything to match, order all your vinyl dye from the same source to minimize dye-lot color variations. What We Did: Scrubbed our fingers to the bone.
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Armrest Pads Problem: The armrest pads were dried out, cracked, and generally nasty from exposure to sun and sweat.
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Solution: Reproduction molded-urethane armrest bases are available from resto companies, or original bases can be re-foamed and skinned by Just Dashes. What We Did: Sent them out to be re-plated .
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Armrest Bases Problem: The armrest bases weren't cracked, but the chrome plating had worn off. Solution: Re-pop armrest bases are available for many cars, including the Bel Air, but we've been warned that the quality and fitment is questionable in some cases. If your bases aren't cracked (ours were in almost perfect shape), or even if they have some minor damage that can be repaired with epoxy, it costs about the same to have them re-plated . Plastic re-platers charge under $20 per base depending on the size of the piece. What We Did: Sent them out to be re-plated . See "Instrument Panel Bezel" sources
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Carpet Problem: The carpet was torn and faded, and it smelled funny. Solution: Replace it. What We Did: We took an un-faded sample of the original carpet from the edge where the front and rear sections overlapped and ordered a replacement carpet kit from Auto Custom Carpets. ACC carpets are made from the same 80/20 loop material as the original, and the color is a very close match.
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Door Sills Problem: Scuff marks and dings are the norm here, and the Bel Air's were in about average condition. Solution: The easiest thing to do for most cars is to get new ones if they're available. The sills for most GM four-door cars made from 1965 to 1970 are identical, so reproduction or original replacements can be obtained from restoration companies. If yours are ugly, a local metal polisher can tune them up. What We Did: Decided to live with them for now.
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Pedal Pads Problem: The rubber pedal pads were worn out and cracked. Solution: Replacement rubber pedal pads and accelerator pedals for most cars are available from restoration companies. What We Did: Ordered new ones from The Paddock.
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Seats Problem: This was our biggest problem. First off, the seats that were installed in the wagon when we got it were wrong. The front bench appeared to be from a 1969 or 1970 model, and even though it fit in the car, the seatback was too high and it had period-incorrect headrests. The lower seat cushion for the back seat was also wrong and didn't fit properly. The only part of the seats that was original was the fold-down back cushion, which retained its original upholstery. Solution: Have the seats redone with reproduction or custom seat covers. What We Did: We trekked up to Memory Lane Collector Car Dismantlers, where we found a correct front bench seat from a 1966 Bel Air sedan and a lower rear cushion in a 1970 Impala wagon that fit; the set cost $125, but the front bench had already been reupholstered in light aqua vinyl and gray tweed that was nearly new and almost matched the interior of the Bel Air. Eventually we'll have the front and rear seats reupholstered with N.O.S. material from Ciadella or C.A.R.S. Inc to re-create a vintage look.
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Kick Panels Problem: Often broken or cut-out for speakers, the kick panels in the wagon were in surprisingly good condition, but there was quite a bit of oxidation and scuffing on the surface.
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Solution: Old panels can be repainted with vinyl dye, but you run the risk of the new paint immediately rubbing off if the surface isn't prepared properly. Sanding off the oxidized layers usually removes the molded-in grain and leaves smooth patches that look bad, so if reproductions aren't available, consider having them re-skinned . What We Did: Re-pop kick panels aren't available for 1965s, so we sent our kick panels out to Just Dashes along with the dash pad and armrest pads to have them re-skinned and color-matched to the dash pad , just like the originals.
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Headliner Problem: Next to rotten seat covers, a nasty, falling-down headliner, or no headliner at all, is the worst thing about a car with a ragged interior. Considering that the wagon's headliner is more than twice the size of a sedan's, we were surprised that ours hadn't fallen down. Solution: Replacement headliners for most cars with fabric-and-bow headliners can be purchased either from upholstery specialists or restoration companies, but they require professional installation. What We Did: We decided that the wagon's headliner is presentable enough to leave alone for the time being, as replacing it is a pretty sizable task.
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Visors Problem: The stitching of the binding around the edges of the visors had deteriorated. Solution: Order reproduction sun visors in the original color and fabric grain, or order some extra yardage of headliner material and have them re-stitched at an upholstery shop. What We Did: Nothing. We'll deal with them when we have the headliner replaced.
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