Fixing up the interior of my daughters 81zxt

[madkaw]

Well I haven't posted on the ZX side of this site before , so I guess it's time. Man this side of the site is pretty dead-not much love for the s130 I guess. Actually I haven't paid much attention to them either, but I bought my daughter a decent 81zxt, and she loves it. Just today her friends(she's 19) said they thought she was driving a Porsche. She also said she felt COOL in that car.

Anyway, the car needs a little of everything, but not a lot of anything. Today was interior day and I decide to tackle the rear vinly covered panels that are tore up on every ZX. I like doing this kind of work, but I am limited to warm weather because it is not indoor work with an attached garage. I will also be covering my 9/71 plastic panels with vinly too, but I am practicing with my daughters car. I atleast got lucky with the color match, and I got lucky with the whole job really. Everything went pretty smoothly and also very messy. It's hard to be neat doing this work.

I will post my progress on my daughters car just to keep this side of the site alive;)

[overdrivex]

the car looks good. i dont get how people mistake these cars for the porsches. they look nothing a like to me. other than round headlights i just dont see it.

[peterc]

Steve, awesome job! You have previous experience doing vinyl work? Where do you source your material? How do you get it to conform to the pieces without wrinkles, etc?

Overdrivex. I think the confusion with Porches is mainly due to the Z and ZX's relative rarity. A two seater sports car thats not a corvette or a mercedes or some exotic Italian? That pretty much leaves Porche in most peoples minds. Still in all, not a bad comparo, better that than to be mistaken for a Karman Ghia, .

[madkaw]

I've done a little of this stuff, but not a lot of vinyl stretching. It is an art, especially when the curves are compound. I plan on covering the plastic panels on my 240, but they proven to be a challenge-the quarter window panels are a bitch. I order stuff from -yourautotrimstore-. I bought a sample book so I could match up colors. I would like to get good enough to do this for some side money. Think of all the 280zx panels that need this done;)

Your right about the age of this cars being the confusion factor!

[cunniwj]

I replaced my 82ZXT rear panel with a speaker panel from MSA. Looks good and sounds even better.

[madkaw]

Well I finally got to see all the pieces together in my daughter's car. I am still missing some fasteners and the SEM paint I got doesn't match the interior tan color like I thought .I got a SEM paint card and picked the Buckskin color, but now I think the color might be Palamino instead. Whenever I get the color right I will probably reshoot all the plastic pieces that show significant wear. I hope my Z turns out this well.

[Zak's Z]

That looks good, almost brand new. She should be happy with her Porsche now. I dont know why theres no love for these, I've always liked them. And shouldn't there be alot more of these around than older S30's?

[crods280zx]

nice job, I have to do the same repairs to my 82 Zx. Where did you get your vinyl, I saw a guy on e-bay selling it. Thanx.....

[crods280zx]

This is my 1st z but I love it. Have to replace carpet and vinyl. I installed a tan carpet in hatch, wondering if I should buy a replacement kit.

[SportBikeMike]

Car looks great! I wouldn't mind getting a turbo 280ZX (w T-tops) myself.

The reason she feels "cool" in it is probably because it sticks out from all the generic blobs out there...

[Jusjofok]

I know this thread is fairly old but I am about to tackle the same job on my 82 ZX 2+2. Fabulous work Madkaw, looks great! I have done some interior work but never vinyl forming, do you have any tips or maybe a link to a site that has a how-to?

Thanks

[madkaw]

You just have to take your time and do a little bit at a time. Don't glue a whole bunch at once and try to make it all stick cleanly. Work from the center out and make sure you center your piece in the fabric or you will come up short on one end. Make sure you clean all the old loose material from the old panels.

A roller maybe be helpful, but I just used my hands-good luck!