Malibu rear interior panels

[SS_Sean]

Hey, guys. Been a while. Need a little help....
Here's a picture of my passenger quarter taken from the driver door opening. The gbody sheet metal is absolutely hideous. There just isn't a whole lot I could see to do to cover all the crappy sheet metal. The other problem is that 70-80's GM abs plastic was terrible. Under UV rays it breaks down to a powder and is not paint or dye-able. What I have is junk. I tried to reconstitute it using dye and then paint.

So, I started poking around and discovered that the aftermarket is now making interior parts for the gbody malibu's. They didn't used to, and I'm not sure when they started. I found the quarter window panels at dixiemontecarlo.com. Anyone have any experience with that plastic? Based on this I'm seriously considering putting the rear interior back in the race car. I always had the front interior in, and the headliner in, with no carpet. Just painted the floor black. But I'm thinking I'll put the back pieces in, and a really light weight carpet of some type. Any suggestions on thin carpet that would hold up fairly well? Remember, a factory molded carpet will be a no-go because the floor will be dramatically changed from factory.

 

[Ribbedroof]

The htings I've read on the aftermarket Malibu qtr trim has not been very favorable. I believe the complaints were that they were flimsy, and lacked the OE style mount points. Graining may have been an issue as well, been a while.

Again, this is not my personal experience with them. I would presume that they re better than nothing.

In my case, I have a set that are fair to good, but am still considering fabricating metal panels for the sail panels....IF the car gets built. It was bought as a donor for another project, but really is too nice to whack up.

 

[SS_Sean]

The htings I've read on the aftermarket Malibu qtr trim has not been very favorable. I believe the complaints were that they were flimsy, and lacked the OE style mount points. Graining may have been an issue as well, been a while.

Again, this is not my personal experience with them. I would presume that they re better than nothing.

In my case, I have a set that are fair to good, but am still considering fabricating metal panels for the sail panels....IF the car gets built. It was bought as a donor for another project, but really is too nice to whack up.

Well, shoot... was hoping for better news than that. 🙁 Has anyone had a good experience with them??

 

[ssn696]

TobyP does aftermarket development for Keystone - he's working to get more G-body offerings in metal, mostly. But, he tells me, nobody is making interior replacement parts in molded vinyl like the OEM did thirty years ago. Too expensive to make the molds. Everything is ABS styrene. Easy to vacuum-form. Cracks under a light sneeze. But, thirty-year-old vinyl is dried put and crumbling from decades of UV. So your choice is bad or bad. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I too am living your dream.

 

[SS_Sean]

hmmmm. thanks for your thoughts. Anyone have the window trim panels used in good shape? This is for a NON-landau car.

 

[Oldie85]

Hey guys, I too have a Chevrolet Malibu, its a 79, 2 door in which I took out all my A, B, C pillars, kick and side panels, head liner, rear deck lip material and side panel on the rear seats under the window. All that is in there are my seats, dash, which is all cracked and the upper and lower driver and passenger door panels. I have been shopping around on Ebay, OPG, Dixie Monte Carlo and any other google options that I can find. I would agree the parts turn to dust, crack and deteriorate cause of years. Checking prices are always a shock, it can be very expensive especially if your on a budget. Sometimes Ebay has the best prices if you can find a deal but you can also get into a bidding war. I don't know what to really suggest to do beside look around and shop on Ebay. If I see any ideas Ill reach out to you all on this website. These projects are fun but can get frustrating when you are trying to complete a job but don't have all the immediate resources.

Good luck out there,
Oldie85