interior rebuild - need help somewhat

[fgarrido408]

my bad boy (aka Skeeter):


its a 1994 Camry LE.
the exterior is somewhat horribly disfigured, but the exterior is the least of my worries as i know where to find everything for it.
i am currently thinking of repainting the car; maybe a candy white? or just a regular black? but i definitely don't like the beige/gold (i've dealt with it for the past 4-5 years already!).

after i get the paint job i want to tackle the interior.
though the interior isn't horrible, it needs work. the dash is starting to get discolored and has dried out cracks due to being exposed to direct sunlight for to long.
i made an earlier thread about where i could possibly find the parts for the dash. all the websites are pretty much exactly the same on their inventory of what they offer.
maybe with what i post you guys can give me the exact name or part number of what i should be looking for, maybe offer advice on some way of fixing it whether with a spray or gel (i know when i first went to an auto parts store to ask about it the guy told me there is a gel that helps close some of the smaller cracks/kinks).
i know their is dashmats out there, i honestly think that the mat surface looks tacky on top of the rubber/hard plastic surface in the cars. BUT maybe one of you guys know of a dashmat that is rubber/plastic that fits the interior models?

anyways heres pics so you guys can see what im talking about, these are the dash pics...
driver side dash:

passenger side dash:

glove compartment:


here are some pics of the interior door panels...
driver side:

close up of the cracks(is the same with all doors):

driver side control panel:

passenger side door:

center console (ignore the incoming sunlight, you can see minor discoloration):




now you guys can pretty much see what im talking about.
the steering wheel currently has a wheel cover on it, but it has the cracks/kinks as well.
im looking to hopefully have the interior pieces ordered and installed by the end of summer if possible?
hopefully you guys can help me identify the pieces and parts ill need or could recommend solutions to fixing them easier than replacing the whole part.
tell me what you guys think!

[DarkSideMoon]

Well, you could always try the junkyard on the off chance you'll find some parts in good condition. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and find a low mileage wrecked one.

[fgarrido408]

Originally Posted by DarkSideMoon

Well, you could always try the junkyard on the off chance you'll find some parts in good condition. Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky and find a low mileage wrecked one.

yeah, i've been thinking of going to check it out.
last time i was there i got a replacement hood which the hydraulics to keep it up are shot, so thats another repair ill be doing soon.

[rusty9]

From what I've seen so far in florida junkyards so far, you'll have to keep checking like once a week for a new arrival that you can pick at first, and its not baked/soaked. ive never seen a dash so bad, that some serious sun damage!

the dash isnt all that hard to remove if you take your time finding all the bolts holding it in and unplugging all the connectors. i know there are 2 sneaky bolts behind each small upper window vent. you dont need any special tools, just a 1/4" drive ratchet, 8,10,12mm sockets, maybe an extension, and a couple of screw drivers.

maybe practice removing your original, if possible, so you know what youre doing when you go to the yard.

[Tom 2000]

Originally Posted by fgarrido408

yeah, i've been thinking of going to check it out.
last time i was there i got a replacement hood which the hydraulics to keep it up are shot, so thats another repair ill be doing soon.

I bought the replacements for my Maxima through eBay (search for Lift Supports) for a good price. Makes a world of difference!

[fgarrido408]

Originally Posted by rusty9

From what I've seen so far in florida junkyards so far, you'll have to keep checking like once a week for a new arrival that you can pick at first, and its not baked/soaked. ive never seen a dash so bad, that some serious sun damage!

the dash isnt all that hard to remove if you take your time finding all the bolts holding it in and unplugging all the connectors. i know there are 2 sneaky bolts behind each small upper window vent. you dont need any special tools, just a 1/4" drive ratchet, 8,10,12mm sockets, maybe an extension, and a couple of screw drivers.

maybe practice removing your original, if possible, so you know what youre doing when you go to the yard.

yeah ive removed it before. and the sun damage was there when i got the car from my uncle.
im looking into restoration products first as they seem to be a much more affordable method. i had a friend come by my house a few hrs ago and told me to replace his dashboard on his mustang it was almost 400-500$ for the part, and it was used and not the color he wanted which he then had to invest money into coloring it.
so far ive been recommended permatex to repair the cracks on the actual dashboard, and once the cracks are almost completely to completely gone to sand the entire dash lightly prime it and use duplicolor to paint it w.e color i desire and then i was told to use a regular clear coat to protect it...ill be spending my weekend researching the restoration products and processes a bit more as i already know where to get the actual parts to fix it.
sadly the junkyard ive gone to before doesn't have any 92-96 camry at the moment, they have some salvaged parts like the glove box and door panels which i do plan to go check out either tomorrow morning or monday morning.

[LynchburgCSI]

That is the WORST dash I've ever seen. Wow. Check junk yards and car-part.com

[fgarrido408]

Originally Posted by LynchburgCSI

That is the WORST dash I've ever seen. Wow. Check junk yards and car-part.com

im thinking of restoring it with resin and fillers.
then sanding it down all together priming it and then repainting it.

its roughly 400$ for a used decent shape dash on most sites, the junkyard i go to doesnt have any, and a new one cost about 800$

to restore it using resin, sand paper, primer, and paint is roughly about 80-120$
and considering im thinking of buffing out scratches/kinks/dents in my car then repainting it to candy white or a regular black, i think restoring it would be a lot easier than buying a new one

[carsrus]

Originally Posted by fgarrido408

im thinking of restoring it with resin and fillers.
then sanding it down all together priming it and then repainting it.

its roughly 400$ for a used decent shape dash on most sites, the junkyard i go to doesnt have any, and a new one cost about 800$

to restore it using resin, sand paper, primer, and paint is roughly about 80-120$
and considering im thinking of buffing out scratches/kinks/dents in my car then repainting it to candy white or a regular black, i think restoring it would be a lot easier than buying a new one

Filling it in sounds like a good idea on paper. Its not that easy and then painting inside the car is gonna be ridiculously hard and it will look funky. Chances are it will look worse then before.

Whoever quoted you 400$ for just the dash is mentally retarded. Ill bet you a junkyard will let you have it for 50$ if you pull it. Nobody buys a used dash. They never get replaced. The door panels as well should be at most 15$ a pop.

In total the dash, 4 door panels, and various interior parts should be well under 150$.

Painting is also not as easy as it seems. A good paint job will easily cost 2000$. Look up detailing and paint correction. A good claying, wax and buffer does a whole lot.

[fgarrido408]

Originally Posted by carsrus

Filling it in sounds like a good idea on paper. Its not that easy and then painting inside the car is gonna be ridiculously hard and it will look funky. Chances are it will look worse then before.

Whoever quoted you 400$ for just the dash is mentally retarded. Ill bet you a junkyard will let you have it for 50$ if you pull it. Nobody buys a used dash. They never get replaced. The door panels as well should be at most 15$ a pop.

In total the dash, 4 door panels, and various interior parts should be well under 150$.

Painting is also not as easy as it seems. A good paint job will easily cost 2000$. Look up detailing and paint correction. A good claying, wax and buffer does a whole lot.

it was from a physical site...
the new one is roughly 750-800$ and it was on the sponsor sites on here.
and i wasnt quoted 400$ i found them on sites.
but my junkyard doesnt have any, ive gone to check at the 2 near me. they do have the door panels however i didnt get a price for them.

[Silent Runner]

Gee those are big prices. I replaced all the seats and door panels in my car with a leather interior optioned set from my local pick and pull, for $85.00, their pricing policies have changed a bit recently and it would probably cost me $150.00 now, but you must be in a hot market. The guys laughed at me for putting so much work into an old car. I'd keep looking at your local yards as all the winter wrecks start rolling in this spring.

My experience with permatex has been less than satisfactory btw. Maybe some kind of expert with it could get good results, but at best its best for fixing tiny one-off flaws and useless for fixing anything on any kind of a scale.

[fgarrido408]

Originally Posted by Silent Runner

Gee those are big prices. I replaced all the seats and door panels in my car with a leather interior optioned set from my local pick and pull, for $85.00, their pricing policies have changed a bit recently and it would probably cost me $150.00 now, but you must be in a hot market. The guys laughed at me for putting so much work into an old car. I'd keep looking at your local yards as all the winter wrecks start rolling in this spring.

My experience with permatex has been less than satisfactory btw. Maybe some kind of expert with it could get good results, but at best its best for fixing tiny one-off flaws and useless for fixing anything on any kind of a scale.

yeah, im doing the door panels straight from the junkyard. ill be going back monday to get them.
as for the dash, im taking it by a shop i know tomorrow to get an estimate to see how much they would restore it for as theyve restored stuff in other cars my family has owned for cheap and the quality is good.
if its a decent price ill do it as soon as i have free time.
if its not, when i go pick up the panels monday ill double check the yard and try to keep in contact with the place.
tomorrow though im replacing my antenna, gas cap, i havent had to use my windshield wipers in a while so ill be more than likely working on them, and possibly head and tail light cleaning.

my goal is to be done with the interior by the time june rolls around.
i want to paint my car in july and im going to need minor body work before i paint it.

sometime between now and then ill be putting on some eibach proalignment kit on (roughly 50$ in parts) and maybe even do a engine bay clean. one of my friends from high school did a touch up job to his old 99 jetta and told me he'll help me do one to get rid of any rust and grime and have all parts looking clean.

[Mister_Perkins]

I have the same color door panel (Passenger Rear). If yours is all cracked and crappy. Comes with the window switch too

[eyeball96]

Here ya go !

I installed one of these ABS plastic hard dash covers on the Coupe.

http://www.coverlaymfg.com/store.php...covers/page-2/

[rhymz]

FWIW that cracked dash looks clean compared to my grand canyon lookin dash lol