Fixing up the interior of my daughters 81zxt

[madkaw]

Well I haven't posted on the ZX side of this site before , so I guess it's time. Man this side of the site is pretty dead-not much love for the s130 I guess. Actually I haven't paid much attention to them either, but I bought my daughter a decent 81zxt, and she loves it. Just today her friends(she's 19) said they thought she was driving a Porsche. She also said she felt COOL in that car.
Anyway, the car needs a little of everything, but not a lot of anything. Today was interior day and I decide to tackle the rear vinly covered panels that are tore up on every ZX. I like doing this kind of work, but I am limited to warm weather because it is not indoor work with an attached garage. I will also be covering my 9/71 plastic panels with vinly too, but I am practicing with my daughters car. I atleast got lucky with the color match, and I got lucky with the whole job really. Everything went pretty smoothly and also very messy. It's hard to be neat doing this work.
I will post my progress on my daughters car just to keep this side of the site alive

[overdrivex]

the car looks good. i dont get how people mistake these cars for the porsches. they look nothing a like to me. other than round headlights i just dont see it.

[peterc]

Steve, awesome job! You have previous experience doing vinyl work? Where do you source your material? How do you get it to conform to the pieces without wrinkles, etc?

Overdrivex. I think the confusion with Porches is mainly due to the Z and ZX's relative rarity. A two seater sports car thats not a corvette or a mercedes or some exotic Italian? That pretty much leaves Porche in most peoples minds. Still in all, not a bad comparo, better that than to be mistaken for a Karman Ghia, lol.

[madkaw]

I've done a little of this stuff, but not a lot of vinyl stretching. It is an art, especially when the curves are compound. I plan on covering the plastic panels on my 240, but they proven to be a challenge-the quarter window panels are a bitch. I order stuff from -yourautotrimstore-. I bought a sample book so I could match up colors. I would like to get good enough to do this for some side money. Think of all the 280zx panels that need this done

Your right about the age of this cars being the confusion factor!

[cunniwj]

I replaced my 82ZXT rear panel with a speaker panel from MSA. Looks good and sounds even better.

[madkaw]

Well I finally got to see all the pieces together in my daughter's car. I am still missing some fasteners and the SEM paint I got doesn't match the interior tan color like I thought .I got a SEM paint card and picked the Buckskin color, but now I think the color might be Palamino instead. Whenever I get the color right I will probably reshoot all the plastic pieces that show significant wear. I hope my Z turns out this well.

[Zak's Z]

That looks good, almost brand new. She should be happy with her Porsche now. I dont know why theres no love for these, I've always liked them. And shouldn't there be alot more of these around than older S30's?

[crods280zx]

nice job, I have to do the same repairs to my 82 Zx. Where did you get your vinyl, I saw a guy on e-bay selling it. Thanx.....

[crods280zx]

This is my 1st z but I love it. Have to replace carpet and vinyl. I installed a tan carpet in hatch, wondering if I should buy a replacement kit.

[SportBikeMike]

Car looks great! I wouldn't mind getting a turbo 280ZX (w T-tops) myself.

The reason she feels "cool" in it is probably because it sticks out from all the generic blobs out there...

[Jusjofok]

I know this thread is fairly old but I am about to tackle the same job on my 82 ZX 2+2. Fabulous work Madkaw, looks great! I have done some interior work but never vinyl forming, do you have any tips or maybe a link to a site that has a how-to?
Thanks

[madkaw]

You just have to take your time and do a little bit at a time. Don't glue a whole bunch at once and try to make it all stick cleanly. Work from the center out and make sure you center your piece in the fabric or you will come up short on one end. Make sure you clean all the old loose material from the old panels.
A roller maybe be helpful, but I just used my hands-good luck!

[Jusjofok]

Thanks Madkaw, I am going to stop by a local upholstery place today and pick up some material and give it a shot. Maybe they will have some other tricks they can tell me so I can pass them on to you guys
Justin

[peterc]

Beautiful! I know that leather workers soak the leather to soften and stretch it. Don't think that will work with vinyl, lol. Do you use a heat gun?

[hermultra]

great job!! she must be proud of you.. your good @ that stuff..
here a good speaker over the door panel mod.. made out of fiber glass covered in leather.. as a matter of fact the guy before me
had all panels covered in leather, stiched & pleats in doors & seats....

[Field Shepherd]

Wow this post is almost a year old but I am going to post anyway. I am 17 and bought my first ZX (1979) about seven months ago. It sat out in a field for about three years and I drove by it everyday on the way to the ranch that I work at. I could not see the entire thing because of the weeds but I thought it was a Porsche for about 2 years. I finally went and asked the old man what he wanted and I paid $200 for it. Brought it home took six months and redid all the engine work and got it to run. Searched for about 3 months and finally found a Brake Master Cylinder for it that should be in this weekend. I just finished redoing the interior this weekend and just used what I had. The dash was really really cracked and I used body putty to fill them in. I then shot some Krylon wrinkle black paint on them to hide what was left and it looks new. The vinyl in the back was torn as with all ZXs, so I have heard, so I ripped it off the rest of the way and shot them with wrinkle black too. all the trim and vinyl got the wrinkle black and I could not find any black carpet locally so I put the tan carpet back in. Looks really good black and tan. I will still find black carpet but it is not a high priority.
Your ZXs look great.

[palladin]

One lucky daughter. I always thought the 81 black with tha chrome insert looked better than the 82.

[madkaw]

By the way-this is car is for sale now!

[manuel59]

hey Madkaw. Where did you get the material? My interior is silver.