Going to do my first attempt at a mini build thread.

I've got a 1979 F350 Custom Camper Special and have decided it is worth updating the interior a bit and make it a little nicer.

it's not bad, but has some wear, and had some mis-matched colors when i got it.

It took me a while to realize the problem, but when i first brought it home, there was just something "off" about the interrior. The interior pieces were all in pretty decent shape, had some wear, but there was just something wrong. Finally it dawned on me ... most of the interior was black, and the door panels were blue! So that was my first fix.

I used Duplicolor vinyal dye and achieved this:


I gotta give credit to this product .. the results are very nice. In fact, they look so nice that the rest of the truck looks out of place now .. hence me starting this thread.

Since i liked the black on white theam, i though a black headliner and visors would look sharp. so last night i pulled the headliner and glued down some black vinyal fabric over the original headliner board. I should have probably made a new board, but it is really just a farm truck, so it is good enough.

sorry for the poor quality, my phone didn't like the sun in the window, so it blinded the camera. I'll try to post up another pic when i get a better one.


no regrets on going from the white to the black. I know white would be the original, but i kinda like the contrast.

here's a picture of the visors. The headliner was just as crappy looking. Believe it or not, these are clean ... i think years of use and cig. smoke just made it impossible to really clean and make nice.



I dropped the visors and black vinayl off at the upholstry shop here this after noon ... might not see them back for a month or so cauz she's pretty busy, but i'm sure they will come back nearly perfect.

I think if the dash pad wasn't minty nice, i probably wouldn't be doing all of this. might get a dash cover to make sure the sun doesn't ruin it.


next up is the glovebox door. the wood grain is still pretty nice, but the applique has slid and is crooked. The chrome lettering and edging needs a bit of attention, but i got a plan for that once i get it off so i can straighten it back out.


then, either the steering wheel or the paint on the metal face of the dash.

the steering wheel needs some help .... any thoughts on what to do here? the wood grain is very worn, as is some of the rubber on the center part of the wheel.


My turnsignal switch is bad too, so maybe i'll take the opportunity to fix that and pull the steering wheel so i can do that up right too.

any thoughts on how to do up a steering wheel?

that's where i'm at so far .... i'll post up more when i get there. Hopefully having a build thread will keep me moving so i dont just stall out and never get anywhere.

thanks for reading!

 

Great Upgrades, thanks for sharing...Jody

 

They sell the horn wood peice but not sure it's worth $175.00

Parts and Restoration Resources

Looking great !!!!!

 

Thanks for the review on the Duplicolor Vinyl Dye... I just got a set of like new aftermarket blue door panels from the j/y... I want black as well but hadn't considered the best approach to this.

Did it work on the soft arm rests as well as on the hard panel?

 

It worked very well on both. It did not work at all on the metal piece for the grab handle. For that i used some black(ish) colored hammer-finish paint and it turned out OK.

i drove it most of the summer last year after I painted them and they still look like new. Hot sweaty arms had no effect on the dye, nor has the scorching sun and humidity.

SUPER happy with how those turned out (except that it is causing me some work making the rest of the interior look as sharp).

Considering spraying the dash pad as well to make that look as "new" as the door panels. I'll try to get some new pictures posted up, my crappy cellphone pics don't do it justice.

 

I have a crack in my dash pad so looking at getting it covered or something... As far as the metal cups in the arm rests you referred to... The panels I grabbed are definitely of the aftermarket variety as they don't use them. The cups don't fit even if I wanted to. I am really happy with the find though as they are really thick (about 3/16 - 1/4 inch) and have absolutely no cracking or fading... I could reuse the clips but figure I will be creative and employ some stainless fasteners or something; these panels are secured with clips which go through the panel itself so you can see the head on the outside of the panel.

 

or I could find a decent pad at the j/y and paint.... hmmm.

 

Hey there is a dash cover you cab get to make yoh cracked dash look original again, its from lmc, it takes some work! Your going to have to remove the dash, epoxy the cracks, once dry sand them until they are flush, then apply adhesive all over the entire dash, make sure you get entire coverage then place the cover on. Using a heat gun, or blow dryer on high heat the cover so its soft and press it to the dash. Use soft tipped C clamps to hold it in place for about 24 hours and BAMMMM NEW DASH for a quater of the cost

 

How do you remove the door panels on a dentside? I've been thinking about redoing mine as well but I dont want to break my 33 year old plastic panels by pulling on them the wrong way

 

I would definitely do your dash pad. It looks to be in good shape and the rest of your work looks great. I used SEM brand, but I think it is all the same. Here is a picture of mine. I know it isn't a great one of the dash pad, but you can get a decent idea what it will look like. Keep in mind that mine started out red, and then I dyed it gray, and then settled on black, so yours should look even better.

 

MAULMAUL,

I cant remember if you covered this in your earlier threads or not, but was your interior (dash, especially) that same shade of gray when you started or did you paint it? If you painted it, was it done at the same time the rest of your truck was painted or did you do it yourself?

I'm in the process of preparing my new flatbed dent to be painted, and would like to stick with the interior color, but it will require some touching-up.

 

No, I had the entire truck, inside and out, painted Orion Silver. The lower half then had Apple Red (Candy) painted over it. The original color was just plain red, inside and out.

Here is the link: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-finished.html

 

You need a tool like this: http://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece-auto-trim-and-molding-tool-set-67021.html

Basically you slide it around the clips and gently pry. Those panels are very brittle so be prepared to replace them if they break.

 

I was able to make pretty good strides today, depsite the world's best efforts to stop progress.

First off some better pics of the door panels and headliner. the door panels really are every bit as shiny as the pics suggest.


you can see why the rest of the interior started to look shabby by comparison.

here's a better pic of the headliner. this should show off the grain in the fabric, which is why i chose the fabric i did.


here's another from the other side:


here's what i used to glue the fabric to the headliner board. not to endorse one product line over any others, but sometimes it is helpfull to know what has worked for someone else.

Recovering the headliner really was as easy as it sounds.... remove headliner, clean dust and dirt off old headliner, glue down new fabric and trim to fit..... probably the easiest headliner i've ever done!

here's a better pic of my sad looking glovebox door trim


So i removed the glovebox door and carefully pryed the trim loose. The stickey tape came right off the trim, but left some glue residue on both surfaces. the residue came right off the plastic trim piece, but i had to use the adheseive remover and a scotch brite pad to remove it from the painted surface. never did get it perfect, but it will all get covered up anyway and if it is stuck that hard, there is really no need to remove it other than to make sure it is flat.

here's where i quit removing glue


here's the adhesive remover i used ... highly recommended! again, not to look like i'm brand loyal or anything, it's just that i've never been disappointed by a 3M product.


next up is restoring the silver on the trim. here's what i used:


here's a closup of how it looked like before ... kinda sad lookin':

here's how it turned out:


and here's how it looks on the glovebox door after i painted the door:


sorry it's blury, the camera thought i was trying to get a picture of the grass apparently ...
anyway, it's not "perfect" and not "factory" ... but a far cry from where i started.

next up is a stop at the body shop to find some adhesive tape to reinstall the trim on the glovebox door.

thanks for the kind words ... helps to keep some motivation going on my part ... sometimes my best intentions don't quite get me there in-and-of-itself.

thanks for reading, and thanks to those that have posted.

 

Thanks for sharing!

I remember reading your build thread, your truck turned out SUPER nice!

Looks like you used that chrome vinyal to trim the silver on your dash? I'm thinking i may wish i went this route instead of the silver leaf pen.

the pen is nice ... easy to work with and looks sharp when it's done, but nothing like what you have!

i'm pretty sure i'll re-dye the dash pad .... your's looks very nice .. i like the shine! might have to hit you up for some help on figuring out how to remove the dashpad though ... havn't had much time to look at it yet, but it can't be any harder than the ones i've done in the past (or so i hope!)

thanks again for sharing!