Cascade Crew

Spikeophant · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 10:50 am Post subject: Interior Help

Anyone out there done any replacement of the plastic panels inside their car? I want to replace all the ones in my hatch area, and the sail panels in the backseat, etc. My car creaks and groans too much, and I've determined that it's a problem with most 3rd gens, and all the plastic that was used to trim it out. I'm thinking I'll use particle board and wrap it in vinyl or leather, it should make the the car look and feel more solid inside. Then I wanna fab out a console from stainless, and wrap it in leather too, anyone done anything like this? Let mek now if you have advice.

chevymad · Posted: Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:12 pm Post subject:

Have you installed SFC's? They'll stiffen the car up and get rid of alot of noises.

Spikeophant · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:55 am Post subject:

Not yet, planning to at some point.

Dewey316 · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:56 am Post subject:

The whole plan sounds like it will add a huge ammount of weight. The nice thing about the plastic cheap trim, is that it doesn't weight much.

alloy · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:58 am Post subject:

Other than keeping the car running, SFC's are the FIRST thing you should do to a 3rd gen. You have no idea what a difference they will make in your car, fewer squeeks, rattles, and the car feels much tighter.

Spikeophant · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:04 am Post subject:

What ones do you guys recommned? I just looked around, thinking about a spohn set from Hawks.

Spikeophant · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:15 am Post subject:

So, for comparison, I pulled a panel out of my dart I have laying around, and one out of the camaro, that's plastic, and weighed them, the difference was around an ounce. 20 panels = 20 ounces. I think I'll probably replace at least the plastic in my hatch area. The panels out of my dart are that fiber board stuff wrapped in vinyl.

aaron_sK · Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 8:35 am Post subject:

Fiberboard and vinyl, what a great idea Mopar had. Oh noes! A drop of water got on a panel, now it's totally ruined. Oh no, a pebble bumped into it and cracked the whole panel. Not to mention the smell of the damn thing from May through September.

I agree with these guys telling you to stiffen the frame first. That said, I never actually got around to putting SFC's on my IROC, Embarassed

and I drove that thing for years with no audible creaking.

First stop: Adjust the t-tops.
Second stop: Find a 7mm nut driver, a T-15 driver, and a large flathead driver. Go through the entire car and snug every single bolt you can find.
Third stop: Pop the door panels off and adjust the windows so they're not flopping in and out.
Fourth stop: Pull the outside door handle up. It should have a little spring under it pulling it back down, and not flop around. Chances are the driver's spring will be broken.
Fifth stop: Muffler. Wink

Alphius · Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 7:09 am Post subject:

First step: Buy a hardtop instead. Very Happy

Second step: Make sure everything is tight and not worn out.

Done. No creaks. I'm sure SFCs will still help a lot. I haven't gotten around to them yet either, but I expect a huge improvement when I do. It will be soon.

Spikeophant · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2010 9:09 am Post subject:

I have a hardtop, no way in hell was I getting a t-top car, my mom used to have one, was a pain in the ass. Always leaked, so did her t-top trans am. I have everything tightened, but I think a lot of my problem is actually stripped out holes now that I've pulled a lot of the panels. Gonna see if they make helicoils that are small enough to fix my issues.