My attempt at Vinyl Dying

[lostscotiaguy]

I'll try to keep it short and sweet:
I've heard mixed stories about vinyl and interior dying so I figured I'd try my hand at it, considering I really didn't have much to lose.
My results are good so far.... I'm going to let them bake in the California sun for another day or 2 before installing them.

BEFORE:



I Included the lower piece in the pic as a reference...
Since the pictures were taken in different lighting, etc. I should have taken a pic DURING for a true side by side comparison.




AFTER:





I USED:


I tend to be a blabbermouth as most of you already know LOL But if anyone wants to know I'll provide details.
Otherwise so far it looks good, is dry to the touch, and isn't peeling or anything.
It's soaked right into the vinyl/rubber and my results have pleased me.

Obviously time will tell.
The guy at the store told me it will come off in a year.
However you never know if "The other guy" did his prep work and painting properly, or just rushed it and did a half-ass job.
This stuff's popular for a reason, so it must work properly for SOME people.
Anyhow hope you all enjoy the pics, and maybe some of you will try it too, I think it was worth it.

[Legend_master]

Subscribing to see results.

[lostscotiaguy]

Also Tempted to dye:




The vinyl strip along the top of the panel could use it.
That discoloration isn't dirt or grease..it's basically burnt vinyl from over 30 years of sun.
If I got desperate I could also dye the shaggy carpeting along the bottom.
Apparently Velour hates the Duplicolor and doesn't really "take it" so dying the center is out of the question.
I can't see me dyeing the lower carpeting anyway though. By the time It came to that I think i'd just make my own door panels.
Oh, and nevermind the fat dog in the background....

[SylusMk2]

stuff works great i used it on the dash in my mustang 4 years ago still holding up strong.....as long as you do a good job with your prep work it will last and not peal
Before:

After:




probably gonna do the same with the dash in my accord...it looks burnt on the top probably from 34 years of direct sunlight

[MessyHonda]

i didnt like how the duplicolor came out on my car so i used SEM vynyl paint but each can was around 8-10 bucks

[79cord]

I must do this also, the '77's beige has faded to pink in many areas.
Not sure how well the colour will match though, complicated by the fact the vinyl on doors & seats was patterned with very subtle speckle of two different beige's. I was surprised to see '81 sedan had a much flatter colour vinyl used.

[2ndGenGuy]

Man, that looks great. I've had a really hard time matching the red interior of my car to anything I've found so far. Even had some paint custom mixed, and it came out more purple than the rest of the interior.

[lostscotiaguy]

"stuff works great i used it on the dash in my mustang 4 years ago still holding up strong"

That's comforting to hear.
Yeah, I really tried to nail the prep work. I did a few more coats than recommended, but I did VERY light coats. That adhesion promoter worked great, each coat felt dry to the touch almost immediately and the pieces soaked the dye right up, so they kept their texturing and it didn't seem like the dye was just caking on.

As for color matches, right now I still have like 5 shades of brown for the interior, I do think I could re-dye all my plastic trim, but that will have to come at another time...That dye doesn't exactly match the present color of all the good plastic trim (Trim color= That piece I used as an example in my pics) although I think that what I have now is still better than those crummy pink-ish pieces I started with! What I'd REALLY like to do is just go nuts and dye everything I can, just so I have a few less shades of brown. I would LOVE to dye the dashboard, but it needs repairing first.

[lostscotiaguy]

Was that a "Grande" edition Sylus? I hate to say it but I think I preferred the wood panelling, just for the full 60-70's Cheese effect. Your results were quite drastic, and still just as cool though. LOL Anyhow I reinstalled the door panels today and put the handles back on. I have to say i'm pleased with the results. My panels look a lot better and the handles look GOOD. I put some protectant on them (Apparently this is fine) and they shined up nicely. They feel a little rough to the touch, and I almost would have wet sanded them just to see if I could smooth them out a little but I figured I shouldn't push my luck. The only thing bugging me is I should have done a before and after. I think the next step is the rear parcel shelf, and at some point the dashboard....

[lostforawhile]

i didnt like how the duplicolor came out on my car so i used SEM vynyl paint but each can was around 8-10 bucks

I have to agree on this one, I didn't have any luck with the duplicolor stuff

[lostscotiaguy]

They say you shouldn't need it but I still used it anyhow: Did you use Adhesion promoter? I obviously can't account for the effects of time, so i may be dissappointed in a month or so but I was comforted by the fact the paint seemingly bonded right into the plastic, and didn't just coat the surface. I used 2-3 coats of that stuff right before spraying (You're supposed to use it less than 10 minutes before painting) with the paint, and the paint bonded almost instantly...I mean it was dry to the touch, seconds after each coat. I saw others using that SEM but I haven't seen it sold anywhere around here. All that being said...I only painted my door handles, which are somewhere between vinyl and rubber, so I may have had much worse results if I'd tried using it on less porous, more plastick-y surfaces like the center console or something.

[lostforawhile]

They say you shouldn't need it but I still used it anyhow: Did you use Adhesion promoter? I obviously can't account for the effects of time, so i may be dissappointed in a month or so but I was comforted by the fact the paint seemingly bonded right into the plastic, and didn't just coat the surface. I used 2-3 coats of that stuff right before spraying (You're supposed to use it less than 10 minutes before painting) with the paint, and the paint bonded almost instantly...I mean it was dry to the touch, seconds after each coat. I saw others using that SEM but I haven't seen it sold anywhere around here. All that being said...I only painted my door handles, which are somewhere between vinyl and rubber, so I may have had much worse results if I'd tried using it on less porous, more plastick-y surfaces like the center console or something.

if you ever need the SEM stuff, it's sold by the eastwood company and you can get it at most automotive paint stores, it's more of a pro type product so most auto parts places don't carry it. on the hard plastic you can't beat the fusion plastic paint, I have never seen anything stick like it, and you don't need primer

[Dr_Snooz]

Wow that makes a big difference. If you hit the velour door panels with a carpet shampooer, I think you'll be pleased with the results.

[lostscotiaguy]

"on the hard plastic you can't beat the fusion plastic paint"
"if you ever need the SEM stuff, it's sold by the eastwood company and you can get it at most automotive paint stores"
Thanks for the heads-up. Yeah I didn't even think about actually going to a place that specializes in paints (Big DUH on my part) In retrospect I know a great place that probably carries it.
As for painting the plastic I lucked out, and all my plastic pieces are uniform in color, so I don't think I need to mess with them.

I really wish I knew how to fill the cracks on my dash. I'm not so sure it's something I could either get the right supplies to do, or even have the know-how to do... I think I'd have to mess around with fillers and the like...a little out of my experience range and I'd hate to mess it up. I'd probably be better off just buying a dash at Pick and Pull and dying it if necessary.



"hit the velour door panels with a carpet shampooer, I think you'll be pleased with the results."

I actually DID hit them up with some spray on carpet treatment and brushed them carefully by hand. The stains are gone and the velour parts look like new. My whole interior was out so I went a little nuts while I was at it. I basically freshened up all door panels, took out the floor carpet and washed it, then "trimmed and singed" the edges.
I also put in door speakers up front and used some "official Honda" speaker covers from an 83 on them.

Overall, except for some missing trim on the armrests (The plastic "piping" on the armrests was FRIED so I just said F it) and a few other tiny imperfections my door panels look new.
The floor carpeting had a few years residue from a leaking heater core, so I disconnected my heater core before putting in the clean carpet. I spent today putting everything back together and except for the crappy rear seat and the dash the interior looks pretty amazing, considering what I started with.
Here's a vid I made for entirely different reasons, but it shows the condition of my interior, I'll do an "After" vid when I get a chance.
http://youtu.be/RzqcGiWi4kk







I am going to dye my rear parcel shelf with my leftover dye and also throw on some other factory speaker covers I have (Otherwise they're going in the lude).


I'll be sure to get pics when I dye the shelf.
Anyway blah:

[lostforawhile]

even if you don't like the colors fusion has I found that it makes a really good plastic primer, you basically wash the parts first, you don't have to sand or anything, once the fusion is dry pretty much anything sticks to it.