Older car interiors

Cliff R · Post by **Cliff R** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 1:29 pm

I have been keeping an eye on the interior of my 82 model MY wagon and I notice I can clean the interior side of any of the windows with any number of different cleaning products so they sparkle and the next day, especially in hotter weather, I see they have gone back to being dirty/foggy.
I have heard that with car interiors as they get older that they break down and give off fumes which are what is causing the issue.
I have also been watching the cars general apholstory (spelling) and see, of all things, the interior door opening handle surround is breaking down at a great rate of knots on, mainly, the front LH side.
The car is not in constant use and people rarely sit or use any of the passenger doors/seats.

Front passenger side

Front drivers door

Has anyone found any way to slow this process down, maybe layers of Armour all or some other product can help ?

thunder039 · Post by **thunder039** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 1:34 pm

ive used armor all, its helped a little but not a lot. try and keep it out the sun i think thats what kills it

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 2:28 pm

My trick for those very pieces - applied to first stage crumble not bleeding disintergration you have there of your upholstery trims , and has been tested over 14 years - is hammertone epoxy paint ! Did my steering column covers too.

As for that cloudy crap - you'll get it from day one of a car from the early seventies and I guess it just gives off from then on

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:36 pm

Yep those latch surrounds are the worst, I just swapped my rear ones which were in better condition for my front ones which are all but disintegrated completely now...Dunno what I'll do to replace them might have to custom make something. Also not sure what you could do about the rest of the interior breaking down, these cars are so old now there's not much you could do short of refurbishing and re-upholstering the entire interior which I'm planning to do.

tambox · Post by **tambox** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 3:39 pm

Good quality window tint helps protect the interior. Reduces the power of that big plastic cooker in the sky.

Subydoug · Post by **Subydoug** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 7:24 pm

I keep my windows down to stop it heating up inside. Should help protect the dash from cracking and drying out. Also about a million times better for any electronics that are in the car. Thermal cycling electronics leads to an early death. Just dont leave anything valuable in there

.

Doug

Brumby Kid · Post by **Brumby Kid** » Sat Apr 20, 2013 9:16 pm

UV Rays don't help either, it's not just heat

Venom · Post by **Venom** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 7:44 am

You can get the passenger side latch surround new from Subaru for about $30 i think. Drivers side no longer available. My plan for the drivers side one was to do steal the rear one out of a wagon, which tend to be in better repair.

I've given up trying to preserve the old ones.

Post by **Alex** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:44 am

I remember as a kid scratching off the dead plastic from the door handle surrounds in my mum and dads old MY.

Came out all powdery and fun to play with. Dad kicked my arse.

Sent from my Motorola RAZR HD

Cliff R · Post by **Cliff R** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 8:49 am

I am wondering why only (worse than the others anyway) is the front LH falling apart.
Why not the others.
The car isnt in the sun constantly in one position, it varies.

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:15 am

tambox wrote:Good quality window tint helps protect the interior. Reduces the power of that big plastic cooker in the sky.

+1

This UV rays in Aus really knocks the crap out of the plastic bits. I find spraying that stuff like Armorall really just makes it worse, as once you do it, you must keep doing it. I prefer to use Linseed oil on all the plastic bits.. even the black external parts.. makes things like new.

Cliff R wrote:I am wondering why only (worse than the others anyway) is the front LH falling apart.
Why not the others.
The car isnt in the sun constantly in one position, it varies.

I think it's just coincident that it's happening to your LH side. Maybe prevous owner parked the car one way all the time ??

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 10:17 am

Alex wrote:Dad kicked my arse.

Clearly not enough

Silverbullet · Post by **Silverbullet** » Sun Apr 21, 2013 2:19 pm

Yeah haha that powdery stuff that comes off when you scratch them

This is also happening to the plastic panels that cover the rear wheels in the back on my car. I'm praying there's a plastic restoration place in town that may be able to help me here. Might end up just strengthening them as well as possible and then cover them in padded vinyl or something.

tex · Post by **tex** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 3:08 pm

I thought the left and right door handle surrounds were interchangeable I am almost certain on my old brumby I swapped them over so the crusty side was on the bottom crisis averted!

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:31 pm

The windows in my old MY sedan used to fog up all the time from whatever was leeching out of the dash. Was damned annoying because I'm very anal about the cleanliness of my windscreen.

As for UV rays, I thought that glass absorbed the damaging UV from sunlight?

tambox · Post by **tambox** » Mon Apr 22, 2013 5:57 pm

From Sun Smart

Can I get sunburnt in my car?
Cars generally provide good protection but you can still get sunburnt when in the car for a long time. Wearing sunscreen in the car is the best way to prevent sunburn. Babies and toddlers can be protected with a window shade visor. Driving sleeves can be purchased from the Cancer Council shop. Clear or tinted films added to side windows can reduce the amount of UV entering the car. Cancer Council Australia's position statement on window tinting provides more information to guide decision-making about using window tinting for sun protection.

So, sunblock all the car interior:D

RSR 555 · Post by **RSR 555** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 1:17 am

tex wrote:I thought the left and right door handle surrounds were interchangeable I am almost certain on my old brumby I swapped them over so the crusty side was on the bottom crisis averted!

Left and Rights are different. Fronts and rear's from the same side are the same. The difference is the cutout where the chrome handle rests. If you put it on the other side it will be in the wrong spot and the handle won't go back all the way.

Gannon wrote:As for UV rays, I thought that glass absorbed the damaging UV from sunlight?

Never heard of tempered glass having any UV resistance but certainly tinted glass yes

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:09 am

as for UV rays - seen it described as UV-A will age your skin, UV-B will burn your skin , think normal glass cuts out UV-B. Was on a show using lorry drivers to see or show the ageing of skin on sides exposed to window side compared to shaded side of face

Gannon · Post by **Gannon** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 9:42 am

www.physlink.com/Why can you not get sunburned behind a glass?

I'm sure I've read it on wikipedia but cant find it.

Tinted glass does more for reflecting infra red (heat) that it does for UV

tambox · Post by **tambox** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 12:10 pm

Car glass does ruduce UV, the amount it reduces it depends on the glass.
Windscreens can block a lot more than side windows.
It has different reduction rates for UVA vs UVB.
GOOD QUALITY metal based (for reflecting heat) window tint will reduce it futher as it has some UV filtering in the film.

Everybody is correct, they both reduce UV, windows do the most (80+%) and tint brings it up to about 98%. If you have both you will get minimum UV, which is the idea of window tint.

This will help preserve the interior of the car and the people in it.