It's a world of vinyl, color, and aroma that only a true musclecar fanatic can appreciate. Yes, the inside of your ride is where the whole experience happens. And whether it's hued in three shades of blue, black, or red, the quality of your interior speaks volumes about how serious you are about your car. Most importantly, a discriminating restoration demands the interior look new and exactly original. Many Mopars have led a rugged life and have cracked dashes, worn door panels, and broken trim and plastic to prove it. Often finding N.O.S. or good reproduction items to maintain that factory new appearance is difficult, to say the least.
But there's good news. Just Dashes in Van Nuys, California, can completely restore aging original and worn interior parts to look, last, and fit like new. This includes dashpads, vinyl door panels, headrests, plastic, and most interior parts. The new material used for these restorations is formulated with modern UV inhibitors that allow the vinyl to last much longer in the sun. If your musclecar has the more unique molded door panels, such as those found on early '70s Mopar E-Bodies, they can be restored as well. Or if you are considering converting your car to factory power windows, many door panels can be altered to accept the power window switch without revealing the previous crank window hole. For some vehicles, the instrument panel and gauges can be restored to a better-than-factory look.
The process to restore most of these items is labor intensive and requires a good bit of time, but the bottom line is, if you need to restore almost any interior item, chances are that Just Dashes can help. To learn more about this we followed along as the Just Dashes team worked their magic on some '63 Plymouth interior items. The door panels suffered from age and grime, the dashpad from years of harsh sunlight, and the kick panels and arm rests were dramatically faded. Check out the process and the stunning results as these items are transformed from old to better than new.
The Just Dashes team begins...
The Just Dashes team begins by completely stripping the existing vinyl and foam from the baseboards and making new duplicate boards to assemble the new stamped material to. With the old panel as a template, even the factory holes are precisely replicated. Replacing the old inner-panels with new boards serves two purposes. First, the new panels provide a better foundation to build the new assembly to. Second, the original and musty smelling panels are discarded so the replacement panel will smell new. If you're missing your original panels, Just Dashes may have existing panels to use to cut new ones.
For our '63, Just Dashes had...
For our '63, Just Dashes had brand-new, factory correct, multi-colored, and dielectrically stamped vinyl panels. Like the unique originals, these are manufactured in the original three shades of blue in the correct grains.
One of the critical steps...
One of the critical steps taken to ensure the new panels will fit snugly to the inner door is the use of the original upper metal shells. These upper shells are transferred to the new panel assemblies, and provide an accurate and tight fit to the inner door structure.
After the upper shells have...
After the upper shells have been removed from the old panel, they are media blasted and painted with high-gloss enamel paint for protection. Next, they are aligned and riveted to the new inner panels.
Just Dashes uses experienced...
Just Dashes uses experienced craftsmen to assemble the new panels to exact factory (or better) condition. The skillful use of a heat gun is used to fit and wrap the vinyl snuggly over the top of the panel where it is secured with adhesive and hidden staples.
A look behind the new panel...
A look behind the new panel assembly shows how well the vinyl and shell are secured. New window felts are also installed to all the panels.
The Plymouth emblem stamping...
The Plymouth emblem stamping in the new vinyl is factory exact, and the tri-colors in the vinyl are accurate.
Now completed, the front and...
Now completed, the front and rear '63 Plymouth Savoy door panels look factory perfect. Notice how well all the horizontally stamped seams line up from the front to rear panel.
Next, the team tackled the...
Next, the team tackled the upper dashpad that has suffered from years of sun and needed a restoration. This was largely because the original dashpad foam was manufactured from a porous and open-cell material, which allowed it to expand and contract with temperature changes, creating stress cracks when the surface of the vinyl skin became brittle. After the old original vinyl and foam are ground from the dashpad, Just Dashes craftsmen install new, high-density, closed-cell polyethylene foam that is hand-shaped to provide a perfect base for the new vinyl.
The new closed-cell foam expands...
The new closed-cell foam expands and contracts at the same rate as the new vinyl, which is formulated with modern day UV inhibitors and will allow the new dash to survive a lot longer. This pad is now ready to have the new vinyl drawn over it . . .
. . . and to do that, the...
. . . and to do that, the dashpad is installed in a special thermo vacuum forming machine (much like the factory used) and heated until it is soft and pliable. Vacuum is then applied, and the new vinyl (patterned after the original grain, when possible) is sucked down over the contours of the pad. The vinyl used here is thicker (0.045 inch) than the original and much more durable.
Next, the vinyl is cooled...
Next, the vinyl is cooled with a spray of water so that it draws/shrinks even farther into position.
The dashpad is then removed...
The dashpad is then removed from the machine, and the finish trimming and gluing is done by hand.
After the pad is hand finished,...
After the pad is hand finished, it goes to the paint area to be dyed in the exact factory color for your vehicle. The dye is extremely durable and UV resistant.
The interior of this black...
The interior of this black '63 Plymouth Sport Fury showcases dashpads and other interior items restored by Just Dashes. Whatever make of car you are restoring, chances are Just Dashes can help you with vinyl, plastic, and even instrument cluster restorations.