The Dodge Challenger Message Board

I have the 2 original door panels off the car and they were originally some puke looking beige that had been painted black.
I want to be able to strip these and be able to re-paint them, as I have yet to see any re-pro panels worth a crap.
what's the BEST way to get the old black crud off these panels so I can clean them and prep them for paint? I know I'll have to really clean the heck out of them to remove oils, etc, but I want to strip them the right way so as not to damage the plastic. The panels seem to be in good shape.

You'll have to be real careful not to damage the panel surface if you try a chemical trattment. I did my dash pad with some interior dye, although its already black, and got excellent results. Preperation in cleaning is the key, more effort you put in the better the result.
My wife gave me an old toothbrush and some citrous cleaner and some warm water, it came out looking dull but spotless. Sprayed it on the back lawn in the warm sun and it dried perfectly, I'm well pleaased with the new finish. Want to do my door panels as well Chuck, let us know how they come out

I can't think of any paint solvent that wouldn't possibly damage the plastic.

I guess I can also use the purple degreaser stuff. My big problem is getting the old black paint off the panels. I guess I can use a diluted stripper and then shoot the panels with a wrinkle paint to get the right texture?

You would never get the right texture.

I would just scrub as much off as you can. Any bits that look flakey. Then shoot over with the correct vinyl paint and hope it holds the paint under it in place.

Not knowing the shape the panels were in before they were painted, be careful.

I once started to clean clear blue backseat panels (same kind of plastic as door panels). They were so baked by the sun that I could remove the top 2 millimeters of plastic with my thumbnail. Now they're completely smooth. The only way to have a vinyl-like pattern on them is to reupholster them in real vinyl. A wrinkle paint won't look at all like that.
And reupholstering door panels, with the curves they have, with no wrinkles in the vinyl, is a work beyond any amateur's capabilities.

To be on the safe side, simple soap cleaning with a tooth brush, and maybe a simple wipe with a degreaser should be OK, don't rub hard or you may have problems.

Yeah, did the sanding/wrinkle paint on mine as they were chaulked and it turned out just OK.

I spent the usual several hours over several days chipping with a blade, scraping off excess old paint, filling, sanding and so forth.
Finally, I think I',m on the home stretch.

You're done already I think so this info is not very timely I appreciate, but I'll give my 2 cents worth on the topic.

My interior was black originally but well faded and scratched. I used the Fade Away product from "Just Dashes"

http://www.justdashes.com/FadeAwayArticle.htm

As someone says cleaning is key. Put 10 times the effort to the prep than to the painting time. Clean and clean again. Any gresase or dust shows and makes the paint not stick well. This approach and this product worked well for me but you have to be careful not to scratch the hard surfaces after because it goes down to the original surface quickly. I bought mostly all new soft interior (seats, dash) but painted all the hard surfaces (door panels, kick panels, quarter plastic, etc) and the sun visors.

Here's the visors:


I would be careful sanding plastic because you can sand off the texture. It's like when people work on fibergalss bodied cars, wanting to do repairs to cracks, etc. Fiberglass (like plastic and unlike metal) sands down. I've seen people trying to repair a crack in a fibergalss body and end up carving a dip or trench in the body where the crack was.

I hope your work turned out good for you. As long as you are satisfied with it that's all that matters. It looks good to me from your photos.

Thanks!
Yes, I must have cleaned these panels 10 times prior and several times during the final prep. My plan is still involving getting a second set (repros) and modifying these so I can put a nice audio system in the car.
Sand, clean, fill...Sand, clean, fill...
Wax on...wax off..

Keep telling yourself its fun worth all the effort in the end tho' Chuck

Thanks to your work spurring me on to tidy my interior up for the summer, I tried to clean up my door panels cos I got some really nice used woodgrain and metal inserts. Could'nt get the greyish look off the panels, then I found some stuff in the garage made by Draper, called "Dashboard Renovator", its an aerosol and it leaves the plastic with a really nice satin sheen, and nicely black, was well pleased
Just got to install the new dash woodgrain kit and fit the original radio and the whole interior will look smartest its done for 25years
Wots the finish on the heater box supposed to be?

Heater box, if I'm not mistaken, is fiber material, so a flat black/grey would work.

Think you are probably right judging by the colour or some of it. I found some matte black stove paint at work, sets very flat, almost flat dark grey

Also try DupliColor Trunk Bed Liner Spray. It goes on with a nice textured look (depending on the number of misted coats you apply), looks good and is durable as hell.