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DOOR PANELS
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Well as I mentioned before...I wanted my old silver interior gone.

Well the hardest part of doing this swap was to secure a set of black deluxe door panels. Here is the code for this "deluxe" option from my window sticker:

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B20> Luxury Trim Group:
Luxury Seats, Front & Rear, W/ Cloth TR Split Folding Rear Seat
Deluxe Seat Belts, Color Kick Panel Carpeted & Luxury Drs
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The deluxe interior option had the more supportive nicer bucket type front seats, and a split folding rear seat.

Now the deluxe door panel's arm rest was designed to look molded into the door panel, verses the flat door panel with a jutting out arm rest found in all Camaros & most Firebirds/TAs. In fact, they were never optioned for Camaros. They only came in the 87 and up model Firebirds. Now they were standard equipment on 87 and up GTA's. You could find them in other 87 and up models with the deluxe interior option, as mine had.

So needless to say, they are VERY rare. Now as most people will tell you, it is hard to find a decent black interior for sale now a days, junkyard or not. People hang on to them. And if they are for sale, they sell quickly! I spent 5 years looking for these particular door panels to show up in black. I searched junkyards, 3rd gen parts vendors, used 3rd gen parts vendors, I looked all over the internet. And finally I found some on EBay. My first set was VERY beat up and hardly usable, so I kept searching, and finally I found a good set, again on EBay!

So anyway here they are finally made over in red and black w/ the same Red Hampton vinyl used in my seats.

First I soundproofed the door panels. You can check out how on my stereo site

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RED DOOR PANEL INSERT
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To attach the red vinyl I had to thoroughly clean the panel with degreaser to strip off any old trim shine protect ant. Then I had to lay out the vinyl on top of the area I wanted to insert it. With a sharp pair of scissors I cut out the basic shape.

In the case of the door panels, I got some Loctite contact cement.
NOTE: I said CONTACT CEMENT, not rubber cement...2 different animals. The contact cement is much stronger. I only coated the very edges where the fabric was not. I was afraid putting glue on the fabric on the panels would make an even bigger mess! I laid the vinyl down and carefully held it in place and cut the fabric to the exact size where it would overlap the door panel�s fabric by a 1/4 inch. I coated both the panel and the back of the vinyl where they would make contact. Once the glue tacked up, I carefully pressed the vinyl edge to the panel. O slowly worked my way around the panel�s edge. At the same time, I had to be sure there were no air pockets and that the vinyl laid even and taunt across the surface in the center where the glue was not going.

From there I had to let things dry.
The next step is to cover up the cut line. Even the most perfect cuts will not be perfectly even & perfect. My solution for this is black satin cord. I use it as a piping for the seam b/w the red vinyl & the black plastic. It gives you a professional clean edge. It also works as a transition b/w the different heights b/w the surfaces. See the area where I inserted the vinyl were the large recessed areas in the plastic panels. I felt this piping offered a step to bring the two surfaces together as if the red was meant to be there.

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PAINTED HANDLE TRIM PIECE
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Back to the door panels!

Another step to achieving the all red and black look....
The grey door handle panels are painted in black to blend better with the door panel! Personally grey stuck out like a sore thumb w/ the new black door panels!
Here is before,
sanded,
& painted

Installed

Ah! Much better!

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RED ACCENTS
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Did you notice the red accents?

I had the same red accents with my old grey door panels, but it matches so much better now. The red ring around the top of the armrest is actually a trim plate to make the arm rest more flush looking with the panel.

I hit it with some body color red.
I also hit the trim plate behind the door handle as well as the lock & trim for the power door locks.

The little firebird you see is recessed. I filled him with the rub on paint you find for making accents in craft work.

This small plastic panel pops out to expose a screw holding on the door handle panels.

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SPEAKERS
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Well, while you were looking at the door panel, I sure you noticed the speakers.

Nope, not 6X9's, but 5-1/4s.
Why 6X9 covers?
Well, I converted from manual locks and windows and had to cover the crank. Pretty sneaky, eh?

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SIDE MIRROR PLATE
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Another trick unique to this car...the side mirrors...they are 4th gen Firebird mirrors. I had to cut and adapt the 4th gen plate to cover the bolts holding this mirror onto my door.

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HOME PAGE

Follow this link to additional information on the car not found on this site!
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DIRECTORY FOR RAIF'S INTERIOR SITE
01 Site Overview
02 Power Windows and Door locks
03 Miscellaneous Trim Pieces
04 Smoked Plexiglas Covers, Flush Mounted KITT Light Box
05 Carbon Fiber
06 Carpet Swap
07 Overhead Console
08 Red & Black Seats
09 Seat Cover installation
10 Red & Black Door Panels <<<
11 Red & Black Rear Cargo Panels
12 Kick Panels &Lower Dash Panels
13 Car Motor Sports Mats and T-Top bag
14 Neon
15 Center Console Repair
16 Painted Center Console
17 Dash Repaint
18 Repainted Gauge Cluster
19 Autometer Pillar Pod
20 Seatbelts

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