|
|
1989 Chevy S-10 - Interior Restoration
Cleaning Up A Cabin With LMC, ACC, And Some Good Old-Fashioned Elbow Grease
From the February, 2009 issue of Sport Truck
By Calin Head
Photography by Calin Head
I'm getting close to finishing my S-10; I can actually see the light at the end of the project-truck tunnel. The truck will still need some work in areas like the engine compartment, but that doesn't really show. The last area to restore that actually shows is the interior and I wanted to keep it simple. Besides having a love for trucks, I'm also a muscle-car fan and I wanted to bring my two passions together. I figured the interior would be the best place to do that because it would be easy to do. I wouldn't need a bunch of one-off parts, just a few well-placed parts to tie the two elements together. The seats are one of those muscle-car elements and are covered in a different story, so be sure to check that out. Another one will be classic loop-style carpet, which Auto Custom Carpets (ACC) will whip up for no extra cost. ACC makes molded carpet kits for just about everything, and all I had to do when ordering was choose the 80/20 loop for more muscle-car vibe. The steering wheel that I got from Grant was covered in the Nov. '08 issue of Sport Truck, and a center console from an Impala with a Hurst shifter will be coming soon to round out the classic elements. The rest of the interior will be either refurbished stock parts or replacement pieces I got from LMC Truck. Because my truck came with a blue interior and I wanted that classic muscle-car black, I did a lot of dying to get the look. Everything covered in this story is geared to the home do-it-yourself guy. You won't need any exotic tools, just some time and a decent amount of room to scatter a bunch of parts around. The truck's interior before I restored it was blue, boring, and worn out. The bench seat was in good shape, but that was about it. Since I plan on converting to buckets and a console, the seat is no more than a big blue paperweight. When I decided to paint the truck yellow that was a definite nail in the blue interior coffin. For me, yellow and blue do not pair well together in this case, but yellow and black will.  1.To dye the numerous plastic...  1.To dye the numerous plastic pieces in the interior, I ordered this ColorBond stuff from LMC. I got four cans of black Leather, Vinyl, and Hard Plastic Refinisher, one can of the Paint Adhesion Promoter, and one bottle of the vinyl prep. The Refinisher isn't just paint with a different label; it is designed to penetrate the surface and bond to the piece. The Adhesion Promoter and vinyl prep will prepare the surface for the Refinisher.  2.I stripped everything that...  2.I stripped everything that needed to be dyed out of the truck and gave it an initial cleaning with a scrub brush and some Simple Green. Since the interior pieces get touched a lot and covered with greasy protectant, this will be my first line of defense against fish eyes in the dye.  3.Per the instructions on...  3.Per the instructions on the Vinyl Prep, I wiped the surface dry with a clean cloth. This stuff should take care of any leftover oils or protectant.  4.Then, I laid down a light...  4.Then, I laid down a light coat of the Adhesion Promoter and again let it dry. The instructions say to let it dry for 30 minutes for best results so that's what I did.  5.Now for the color. Again,...  5.Now for the color. Again, following the instructions to a T, I sprayed four light coats about 10 minutes apart. Light coats are much better than heavy coats because you won't be wasting the dye and the grain or texture of the piece will still show. If you lay down a heavy coat, there are a few things that might happen: You have more of a chance of producing a run or sag, and the heavy coat will fill in the tiny crevices of the grain and make them disappear.  6.Here is a side-by-side shot...  6.Here is a side-by-side shot to show what the part should look like. The part is now black, but the grain is still intact and it has the right semigloss sheen. That's just one part of the pile o' parts that needed to be dyed. The whole dying process took me a couple of days for my standard-cab pickup, so make some time if you want to do yours.  7.Since I didn't want a completely...  7.Since I didn't want a completely black interior, I sprayed a few small pieces dark silver with some wheel paint I had lying around.  8a.Before I dyed the door...  8a.Before I dyed the door panels, I removed the window felt. It is held on by some pretty stiff staples, but they were no match for my air grinder.  8b.You can use a screwdriver...  8b.You can use a screwdriver to pry open the staples, but it will take a lot longer. Once the panels were dry, I put on a new felt strip I got from LMC with a few pop rivets.  9.To make sure my door panels...  9.To make sure my door panels fit snugly against the door, I went to my local upholstery supply store and picked up a handful of new clips. As you can see, the original ones were basically dead and needed replacing anyway.  10.Instead of pulling out...  10.Instead of pulling out the dashboard assembly to refurbish it, I decided to save a little work and just mask it off and spray it where it sits.  11.No amount of dye in the...  11.No amount of dye in the world will fix the cracks in the top of the dash so I needed to find something else.  12.The cure is this molded...  12.The cure is this molded plastic dash cover that simply sits on top of the original dash and conceals all of the cracks. I ordered one in black so I didn't have to spray it with the dye.  13.The cover is held on by...  13.The cover is held on by silicone, which is provided with the cap. The instructions recommend scuffing the dash and the backside of the cover, so I did that before laying a few beads of silicone about 1/2 inch from the edges.  14.I slipped the cover in...  14.I slipped the cover in place and held it down with weights, paint-stir sticks, and some tape. The silicone takes a while to set up, so I left it overnight to ensure a tight bond.  15.Because I am a detail freak...  15.Because I am a detail freak and this is a complete restoration, I took all of my air vents apart and cleaned them before putting them back in.  16.Instead of trying to dye...  16.Instead of trying to dye the seat belts, I opted to take a trip to my local junkyard and grabbed a gray set from a first-generation four-door Blazer. Chevy must have made a design change to the belts at some point because they are a little smaller, but they still fit like a glove.  17.Another thing that would...  17.Another thing that would look like crap if I didn't change them would be the pedal covers. My truck has 170,000 miles on the OD and the original pedals were worn out. I got all of these from LMC to replace my crappy ones. The brake and E-brake pads simply slip over the metal part of the pedal. The gas pedal required me to remove the pin on the accelerator arm to get it on.  18.For the carpet, I wanted...  18.For the carpet, I wanted that classic muscle-car look so instead of ordering a cut pile I opted to get a loop-style from ACC. The carpet comes pre-molded and backed with thick padding. It also features the correct heel pads for this truck. I took it out of the box and set it in the sun for a few hours to let it soften up.  19.While the carpet was out...  19.While the carpet was out in the sun, I decided to cover the floor in some sound-deadening material I got from Scosche. This stuff will soak up a ton of road noise and make the truck nice and quiet going down the road.  20.Before I could stick the...  20.Before I could stick the Scosche stuff down I needed to get most of the old glue off the floor pan. A drill motor fitted with a wire brush did the trick. A scraper would have worked as well, but again it would take longer. The sound-damping material is a peel-and-stick install, so it went in pretty easily. This stuff doesn't really stretch so don't try and push it down into deep areas. Just cut smaller pieces to get into those spots.  21.Because the carpet is pre-molded,...  21.Because the carpet is pre-molded, it plopped down into position with no problem. Before I could install anything else, holes for the seats and seat belts needed to be cut (inset). A small screwdriver poked from underneath the truck is the fastest way to locate the holes so you can cut them.  22.After the sides and floor...  22.After the sides and floor of the interior were handled, it was time to hook up the headliner. My factory headliner was so trashed and broken I couldn't even recover it, but luckily LMC offers a complete replacement headliner. The new headliner is made from plastic instead of Styrofoam like the original, so it will last much longer. I also picked up a new set of sunvisors and a new dome light assembly to round out the roof.  23.I pulled off the original...  23.I pulled off the original visors from the arms and then gave them a fresh coat of black paint. Once that dried, I slipped the new visors onto the arms. Slipped is probably not the best word to use because I really had to muscle them on.  24.With the visors assembled...  24.With the visors assembled and ready to go, I installed the headliner board. The best way to line up a headliner is to use your fingers. Put a finger in each visor hole of the headliner and then push your fingers into the holes in the cab. The dome light assembly will hold it up in the back, while the visors will take care of the front. Since this board is stouter than the factory unit, the small clips that run along the front won't be needed. You'll see what I'm talking about when you get your old headliner out. The Final Word
After I got all of the dyed pieces installed, I threw in my custom bucket seats from the "Muscle Buckets" story and a console I got from a '62 SS Impala. There are a few things in the interior I still need to show you like the console/shifter install, but that will be next month. These were the basic steps you can take at home to refurbish and color-change your interior. The new parts from LMC and ACC made the job possible without the need for special tools.
|
|