Door panel plastic restoration

[thecantaloupeman]

Hi everyone! I just purchased a really beautiful 78 C20 Silverado camper special. The body has virtually no rust, the paint is original and looks amazing, but the interior is pretty rough. The door panels look awful (mostly the top by the windows). The sun has faded the color and made it a Sandy texture that is really odd. It looks like sandpaper. Is there anything I can do to restore the plastic's smooth texture and maybe the color? I thought about maybe sanding it down and repainting it, but I wanted to get some other opinions. Thanks.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[Shorty81]

Welcome from the Buckeye State. You might be better off replacing with reproduction pcs. Hard to restore when it gets tough and Sandy on top.

 

[Charlie]

 

[Frankenchevy]

You could try a filler. Then sand and paint. Worst case scenario you’re in the same boat having to buy replacements.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

You could try a filler. Then sand and paint. Worst case scenario you’re in the same boat having to buy replacements.

What are some types of fillers that would work well?

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[gotyourgoat]

The door panels look awful (mostly the top by the windows). The sun has faded the color and made it a Sandy texture that is really odd. It looks like sandpaper. Is there anything I can do to restore the plastic's smooth texture and maybe the color? I thought about maybe sanding it down and repainting it

Try what you want at this point you aren't hurting anything, and no amount of product is going to bring it back. My dad's truck was so sunburnt on the tops of the door panels (this was like 1982 so it was only 6 or 7 yrs old at that point) I could scratch my fingernails in and take off quite a bit of what used to be red door panel. Like crunchy chalk. If you scratch down far enough it gets to the bedrock of the panel...from what I remember.

 

[thecantaloupeman]

Try what you want at this point you aren't hurting anything, and no amount of product is going to bring it back. My dad's truck was so sunburnt on the tops of the door panels (this was like 1982 so it was only 6 or 7 yrs old at that point) I could scratch my fingernails in and take off quote a bit of what used to be red door panel. Like crunchy chalk. If you scratch down far enough it gets to the bedrock of the panel...from what I remember.

Do you think they even sell the actual door panels? I looked on lmc truck and a fee other sites and didn't find them.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[gotyourgoat]

There are a few places that will sell you a door panel. Some places have more variety of color and trim options than other suppliers, have to let your fingers do the walking to see what's out there. I don't have any personal experience with aftermarket door panels so someone else is gonna have to chime in on their experiences with fitment and quality.

 

[Preston]

Welcome from Virginia to GMSB

 

[Lefthand6]

What color are the door panels?

 

[thecantaloupeman]

What color are the door panels?

I think it's called saddle. It's a dark tan. I was gonna use colorbond, but I am more worried about the scratchy Sandy texture than the color because I'm not sure how I'm gonna smooth it out to look good enough.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[bucket]

There's no reliable fix because the plastic is basically decomposing. Anything you do, it's still going to be fragile and continue to degrade.

It's actually not supposed to be smooth on top either, that's just wear from arms resting on it. The top is supposed to have a mild texture like the rest of the panel.

 

[shiftpro]

My buddy cleaned off the oxidized material with soda blast. Everything was left a consistent texture and then he painted it. Considering what he started with the job turned out pretty good.

 

[bucket]

My buddy cleaned off the oxidized material with soda blast. Everything was left a consistent texture and then he painted it. Considering what he started with the job turned out pretty good.

That's a good idea. How well has it held up? The plastic must be thin now? Sometimes they deteriorate so bad that there's actually holes in the plastic.

 

[Billy]

I pressure washed the pair, and it turned out pretty well. Imagine the soda blast yields similar results