Does anyone have a technique for repairing oxidized plastic interior panels?

[C5_C.J.]

Occasionally you'll see old pickups which have plastic interior panels which are whited out with oxidation, just on the other side of the side glass. I happened to pick up a very nice 83 F-100 and it suffers from this. I wanted to know if anyone had knowledge of how to remove the white/pink oxidation on the red panels. I assume there might be dyes, or I might have to resort to sanding down the panel to get to the original color, but then I lose the texture. Does anyone have a method to repair this?

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Does anyone have a technique for repairing oxidized plastic interior panels?

The whitish color you see is not something you can remove as it is the original color or pigment that has faded to the point that it's turned white, thus to remove it would be to remove plastic and that's not going to solve your problem.

Mar-hyde, makes a vinyl and plastic paint that works reasonably well for door panels and other interior panels, not sure how well it would hold up on a dash but if that's your only economical solution then it might be worth a try.

Remember before painting or dying any vinyl or plastic you'll want to get the surface surgically clean. You can find cleaners for this at most PBE stores as well as Mar-hyde products. Think SEM makes cleaning products for prepping before painting vinyl? (Could be wrong, it's been a while since we did any of this kind of work).

How to locate Meguiar's Professional and Detailer products in your hometown

[RogueGypsy]

Re: Does anyone have a technique for repairing oxidized plastic interior panels?

I'm using the #39 heavy duty vinyl and rubber cleaner with a stiff nylon brush to remove the oxidation from some trim rubber on the Bronco. Following it with the #40 vinyl and rubber conditioner.

I've also used it in the cab of my C1500, the dash is mostly plastic and it works very well to remove all the dirt and return it to a 'like new' look. The plastic in the Chev wasn't oxidized, but it seems like it should clean oxidation from plastic as well as it did from rubber.

Test a small spot and see how it works for you.

HTH

[RogueGypsy]

Re: Does anyone have a technique for repairing oxidized plastic interior panels?

Or do as Mike suggests, he's forgotten more than I know. We were replying at the same time.

[C5_C.J.]

Re: Does anyone have a technique for repairing oxidized plastic interior panels?

I see. I went back today to take a look and it really isn't as bad as I had remembered. I've attached a photo for you to review and tell me what you think would be the best method. Now, my previous suggestion about sanding would work, but I would lose the texture. The oxidation is only on the surface, once you get down a bit, you get the original color, but it would end up being completely smooth after sanding, and I don't want that.

[Nappers]

Re: Does anyone have a technique for repairing oxidized plastic interior panels?

I had a '73 olds that had bad oxidation on the body panels. I sanded them with a fine paper (at least fine enough to remove the bad and not hurt it too bad) then bought some plasti kote (I believe, name rings a bell) and repainted the surface. The surface was brown and the paint was brown, not perfect but ended up okay. The paint was shinier than the original but it was okay for a long time. I later ended up replacing the whole interior from a junker, went from brown to white, it was cool.

Good luck.

Mine looked way worse than yours. May want to try a good scrubbing with 39 and treat it with 40/NS/NXT Tech Protect and go from there.

Aaron