Seats: what's considered restored vs redone?

[Mark Maras]

I've purchased a few window handle clip removal tools over the years. None of them worked as well as a cloth shop rag slipped behind the handle (knob in the upright position) and pulled down until it contacts the ends of the clip. Then pulling the rag side to side will grab the end of the clip and pull it off.

[Dadsun]

Thanks, @Jeff BerkBerk for the info on the door latch. Got it off. Looks like there is a sweet spot for putting the flathead screwdriver to pop it out without damage. See pic.

@Mark Maras, the rag trick worked. Nothing else did. Mutilated the clip, but that's better than breaking the crank. 

 

[gwri8]

A little late to the party but small needle nose pilers work for me and I don't loose the clip that way.

[Jeff Berk]

With the crank off, buy the clip removal tool and play around with it until you see how it should work. I've never had any problem but then again, I used to have a '66 Chevy and had a lot of practice with it.

[7tooZ]

Speaking of door panels, I am going to try to salvage the ones I have, but I saw the $419 set on ZCarDepot yesterday. Pricey. Has anyone had experience with those?
 

I have a set of Zcar Depot panels and was very impressed. One of the better thing I purchase for this car. PM me if you want more information

[Dadsun]

On the topic of door panels, vinyl tunnel covers, plastic panels... I will be on a quest soon to get them a consistent color. My plan right now is:

1. Get in the MSA 240z red upholstery kit (for seats), use that red to match with ....

2. Interior plastic - go to the Sherwin Williams automotive paint store and get them to match a good paint.

3. Vinyls on doors/strut towers/tunnel - buy a matching vinyl dye/stain from Sherwin Williams or online. 

What's worked for you guys who have done it?

I'm also strongly leaning towards spending the $$$ to replace all 6 interior plastic panels, save maybe the rear. Source from zcardepot.

Edited May 22, 2020 by Dadsun

[Jeff Berk]

Are you going to try and match the diamond pattern on the vinyl?

I'm in the process of gutting and redoing the interior of my 260 but I just went with basic black. (https://www.joann.com/artic-vinyl-54in-black/3526274.html) . The 2 yards covered the tunnel, the strips along the door openings, the rear panel, and the emergency brake lever. The back of the vinyl has a diamond pattern printed on it I guess to use as a sewing guide. What's holding me up now is a source for horsehair for the seat bottom. The original horsehair disintegrated. I think I finally found a source. The horsehair in the seat backs is in good condition. 

[gwri8]

If your plastic panels are in good shape, painting them is certainly more economical, but it's your budget and you can do whatever you want. If you decide to paint, be sure to clean them really well first.  The SEM paint I used was water based and I needed to pre coat with anther SEM product called Sand Free. Both put into aerosol cans.  It required that the paint be applied (sprayed) when the Sand Free was still wet so it would adhere properly.  The vinyl paint was just a spray on I think.  You can get replacement vinyls from MSA in red to match the upholstery kit if you don't want to paint that part.  I don't have any experience with the door panels you mentioned from Z car depot, but unless you want black, you'll need to paint them red also. 

[Dadsun]

The diamond pattern vinyl throughout the car is actually in pretty good shape except for the fading and one spot where a CB radio has been mounted, by the looks of it, since its heyday in the 70s.

Is the entire door panel consistently the same vinyl? Mine must have a lot of wear along the top because it's a completely different "patina" from the bottom area. 

[S30Driver]

To add to what Greg talked about, fwiw, I refinished the interior plastics on a high budget black pearl restoration last summer for a local club member.  He chose the Sem products and his intent is for this car to challenge the Gold Cup at the upcoming  Zcon.  The interior is black so of course there is not a huge challenge to match seats  etc.

If you go this route, the key to results is ..... the Sem Soap, it is the first step.  Actually the 2nd for me because I washed all the panels etc with Dawn before starting the Sem process.   There is also the plastic and leather prep which is used after thee soap.  Turned out very, very well.   The old adage, "its all in the prep" is ultra true here...

[Namerow]

I will add 2 cents more here, based on my experiences with repainting my interior trim...

• The SEM prep products work very well.  Read and follow the manufacturer's instructions before you start.
• Comparatively speaking, successful results are easy to achieve for the hard-plastic panels but not-so-easy to achieve with the soft-vinyl trim.
• The challenge for achieving good results with the soft-vinyl trim lies in the 'quilting' pattern that's molded into the material.  It creates traps for the silicones contained in 'conditioning' products like ArmorAll (very popular in the 1970's and 1980's).  Those silicones act as a repellent for the water-based vinyl paint and result in a paint-coverage defect called 'fish-eye' (you won't like it, trust me). 
• It is really difficult to get 100% of the silicones off of the Z's quilted vinyl trim.  For reference, the cleanliness test for these panels is to apply water from a hose and watch to see whether the water 'sheets' as it drains off the panel.  If there's any evidence of 'beading', then the panel's not clean.  Unfortunately,  this test lies is less than bullet-proof when used on the quilted vinyl pieces because, while the water may be sheeting off the big surfaces between the quilting lines, it is not sheeting off the surfaces along the quilting lines. 
• It was my experience that I needed to triple the number of cleaning repetitions recommended by SEM before I got a decent result with the paint application on the quilted vinyl.  I was very happy with my end result, but it took a lot of scrubbing. 
• You do not want to use the paint application step as your check for whether your panels are clean enough.  If you get a paint defect and need to re-apply, the defective paint coating is a b**ch to remove once it sets up.  Unfortunately, adding additional layers of paint to try to cover the defective area doesn't really work very well.  The moral is this:  With the quilted soft-vinyl trim pieces, you need to purposely over-clean.  You cannot risk under-cleaning.

[S30Driver]

10 minutes ago, Namerow said:

  You cannot risk under-cleaning.

I totally agree.   I should have added to my post, but forgot,  "when you think the pieces are clean,  do it three more times..."