If your interior trim’s shot to pieces you’re not alone. Especially if it’s been removed before and then replaced by the Incredible Hulk you’ll probably be faced with a lot of splitting round the screw holes. It can be fixed quite well enough though.

 Firstly, here’s an example of a pretty rough piece.

 As you can see it’s got it’s fair share of splits and scars. This one was the driver’s side and you can see where heels have been dragged down it over the last 30 years. Let’s deal with those splits first.

 

Splits will need to be glued and reinforced from behind with strips of flexible plastic. By doing this you’ll also be pulling the split back together.

Now then, I wish I’d got a pic of this one when I started. The split was approx 4mm wide at it’s worst. As you can see now though, there’s plenty of support from behind now. From the front you can see how now it’s virtually invisible. Instead of a gaping wound we’re just left with a faint line. On there reverse though, you can see there’s a lot of support holding this thing together.

 

If you can’t get the flexible plastic in behind the split, as in this case, I usually drip glue into the back of the split and then push the crack back together. In this case you can see there is almost no way to get reinforcement into the back of the split to hold it together. Mind, after a little superglue was dripped in there from behind to hold it together temporarily, the strip could be dropped in afterwards. Don’t use too much glue!! Remember, this trim has a grained surface. If you get glue on it it’ll fill those details right in. Moreover, superglue will leave a nasty white residue behind on surrounding areas as it dries. Just like on Beverley Hills Cop when Eddie Murphy puts a pot of it on the back of a tortoise to develop a fingerprint. The tortoise is optional BTW, we don’t need one in our case. Mind, if you do use one let us know how you get on. ;)

 This turned out quite well, everything went back together just as it should. BTW, Don’t be surprised if you see bits missing, just be careful. Have a look under the carpet, amidst all of the fluff and dust, the missing bits will probably still be there. It’s these missing or disjointed pieces though that’ll give you the most trouble. I’ve found that the screw has then applied uneven pressure and so any stretching has occurred to differing degrees. As in this piece, if it’s been cracked for a long time, especially round a screw, you’ll probably find that even when removed it won’t go back to its original shape. This is a prime example. At least even though it’s still visible, there’s nothing missing and I guess you’d only notice it if you were actually looking. As you can see, it took a heck of a lot of fettling even to get it that good.

 Right, you’ve got everything back together. You’ll have to deal with the scarring now. It’s not the end of the world. Even when it’s this bad.

 

Get a sheet of 1200 grit wet & dry and lightly rub down the grained surface of the plastic with copious amounts of clean water. You’re not trying to take the scratches out, more like removing the burring & swarf that’s still clinging on. Go carefully!!! The grained effect isn’t very deep and you don’t want to rub it off. You won’t be able to get most of the scratches out but as long as the edges aren’t ragged you should be fine. On the top of the trim, where it goes over the seam between the inner & outer sill panels don’t be afraid to be more adventurous with the grit. That section can cop a lot of damage with heels & that going over it. It’s a slightly textured finish but I decided to be a little tricky and took it back to a smooth surface. Not glossy, just a satin sheen. It’s not out of place and only a spotter would know for sure!

 

Wish I could have got some pictures of that process. Sadly, my camera isn’t too good and didn’t take to shots full of black, hence the blockpaved background for contrast.

 Anyhow, when the surface has been rubbed down you’ll have to find a bottle of trim renovator. I use Carplan’s Black Trim Wax. It really is the dog’s dangly bits. It’ll colour everything to the same hue and you’ll get the right sheen on the surface too. It even smells new! Whatever you do, Don’t be tempted to use silicone based ‘back-to-black’ trim ‘renovators’. Unless you want a blotchy, wet-look dash that is. It leaves a nasty residue behind that really makes your fingers feel…. dodgy….. It can be a right pain to get rid of. I’ve tried soaking parts in washing powder before now. It seemed to help.

 

That’s about it. Remember:

 

1)      Use the finest grit wet & dry you can get.

2)      Don’t rub too hard. The grained detail isn’t very deep.

3)      Splits to be re-inforced from behind with strips of plastic.

4)      Don’t go overboard with the superglue. It’ll fill details and leave white residues.

 

If you have any problems, just PM me.

Vulcan