Any plans to redo the cloth inserts on the panels? A simular fabric like the headliner would look good for the inserts.

 

Thanks for all the positive comments.

Yes, "Camel" is the SEM color. I actually had my wife pick out the color since she is better at that kind of thing than I am. I wanted something close without having to have a custom color mixed. I believe that some of the other guys on the site have actually had custom colors mixed by SEM to better match the original interior. If I could have found a dealer close by I may have looked at going that route, but since we are kind of out in the middle of nowhere my choices were somewhat limited (and I had free shipping from Eastwood). The headliner seemed to be a very good match. I was trying to keep the original look as much as possible, but still do it "on the cheap".
I did lose the texture on the panels that I sanded down. I will see if I can post some close ups. If you look closely at the panels you can see the "transition" or demarcation from the UV damaged parts to the better protected areas (this does not show in the posted images obviously). The worst areas were the tops of the door panels, the b-pillar trim, and the kick panels (salt damage perhaps?). The tops of the doors were the most damaged but the plastic is relatively thick so I was able to sand it down quite a bit and still maintain the integrity of the panel. The only panel I had to replace was the driver's side b-pillar panel. It actually had holes in it from the "oxidation" of the plastic as it seemed to be thinner than the door panels.
I tried to clean the cloth inserts with carpet cleaner and had kind of mixed results. Some of the dirt and grime came out but the fabric has seen better days. I like the idea of using the headliner material (never really thought of that). I have some left over that I kept; I might give that a try.
Likewise the armrest repair is a good idea. On mine the metal insert was actually rusted out completely, but I think there is enough left for a pattern.
On my next trip to the JY I will have to check out the visors on the '87+ trucks. I am not sure that I will have much luck finding a good used one from a '80 to '86 truck.

 

One last comment; I did not even touch the map pockets aside from giving them a good cleaning. I do not think they were ever used to hold anything as they are not sagging and the elastic is in good shape. I am "basically" the second owner of the truck. I bought it from the son-in-law of the original owner. He was basically "given" the truck when the original owner could no longer drive it.

 

krazeyelf,

Some of the basic ["Custom"] trucks came with painted roof interior and no padded liner.

 

I hear ya. Mine's an F100 Ranger XLT and there's a gap between the trim edge and the painted roof interior so I'm guessing it was just taken out. But the roof interior is painted so that makes me curious. Honestly I'm fine with no headliner. The headliner in my Pontiac is sagging badly and sometimes drops a some foam in my eyes or sucked in my nostril and it's really aggravating.

As for the interior restorer, I am also curious about whether you're doing the cloth inserts and what you do there.

 

Ranger XLT had a headliner standard.

 

Krazeyelf,
The roof on mine was painted as well. It was the dark brown color that is on my hood and roof. The paint was not rubbed out though (not sure if they rubbed it out even on bare metal roofs). My Dad had a '83 F250 with the bare metal roof but I cannot recall if the paint was rubbed out or not.
As for the cloth inserts in the doors I pulled them off to refinish the door panels; they are attached by some metal tabs that I just bent straight and pulled the insert off the door panel. I tried to clean it with some diluted carpet cleaner (concentrate from Rug Doctor) and I managed to get a lot of the dirt and grime off but the fabric has some damage (thinning is some areas, particularly around the window regulator). I managed to bring it back some (good enough for my $600 truck) but I am keeping my eye out for a better set from the JY. The panels seem to take quite a bit of wear and tear so my prospects seem kind of bleak. I may try using some of the leftover headliner material later in the summer. My next item on the to-do list is to rub out the paint and get an idea of how much bodywork I am looking at.