There is no secret formula to freshening up a Corvette interior. It mostly comes down to a few products, a weekend and a little good old fashioned hard work. Daily or more than occasional use cause an interior to show wear faster than any other part of your Corvette. Opening and closing doors upon entry causes door panels to get soiled. With use, carpets start to age and lose some of their color. Seat seams get dirty and this dirt gets ground in every time you sit down. Most of these problems can be cured by taking the time to do a little interior cleanup. To bring back the life in your otherwise good carpet, dye shampoo can be used. Your leather seat can be cleaned with some saddle soap, then conditioned with mink oil. The interior chrome can be polished, the vinyl cleaned and the glass cleaned. All of this can be accomplished in a short time with outstanding results.
Follow along as we freshen up the interior in our project 64 and show you just how easy it really is.
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01: Start by removing the seats. It makes the job much easier.
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02: Thoroughly vacuum the carpet. |
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03: If you have to dye your carpets, mix the dye shampoo according to the instructions. Use a sponge and work the dye shampoo into a lather and into the carpet. Work in one area at a time and no more than a 2 ft. x 3 ft. section. Notice we are wearing gloves. Carpet shampoo dye also dyes skin. You don’t want blue hands, do you? |
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04: Now take a long bristle nylon brush and work the shampoo dye into the carpet.
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05: Take a wet n’ dry vacuum and remove the excess shampoo. If you see any light spots after you have vacuumed, go back over that area until it looks uniform to the rest.
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06: If you get any shampoo dye on the sill plates or console, use a wet towel or sponge to remove the stain. Do not let it dry. It just becomes harder to remove. |
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07: Use a good grade of vinyl cleaner and clean the vinyl areas. |
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08: Don’t forget the visors and headliner. |
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09: Use a good grade of vinyl protectant and dress all of the vinyl, door panels, dash, seats, etc. |
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10: You did remember to do the visors and headliner, didn’t you?
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11: Use chrome polish to clean and polish all of your interior chrome, such as, window cranks, handles, mirrors, shifter, bezels, etc.
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12: If you have leather seats you will first want to clean them with a top quality saddle soap. Apply it over the whole seat, especially in the high wear areas. After you have done this, use a damp towel to remove all of the lather. Then take a soft dry towel to dry and buff the leather.
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13: To make it supple and shine, use mink oil. Apply a small amount to a towel and work it into the leather doing the whole seat. Remember, a little goes a long way.
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14: After it is applied, take a soft towel and buff the leather to a soft shine. Remember to get down into the seams. This whole procedure will help your leather seats look better and last much longer. |
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15: Remember to lube your seat tracks before you re-install the seats.
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16: Use some glass cleaner and a lint free cloth and clean all of your gauge faces. If they are plastic, use a plastic lense polish and cleaner.
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17: Don’t forget to clean the ashtrays.
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18: Some rubber cleaner and protectant sure makes dull rubber pedals look good.
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19: If you have a 3 or 4 speed, make sure you clean and dress the shift boot. It will just make your clean console look that much better.
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20: Use some white grease to lube the hinges and latch mechanism. You do not want the doors to squeak when you open them, do you?
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21: All finished and ready to show or go!
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Corvette Spring Cleaning: Getting Your Corvette's Interior Ready Source: Zip Corvette Parts 8067 Fast Lane Mechanicsville, VA 23111 (800) 962-9632 Parts List:
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