Questions On Dyeing Interior

[Guest gmman63]

Evening everybody. I have several questions regarding the same topic. I have a 63 with a full red leather interior from Clark's Corvair and had a few questions. What company (or supplier) offers the most color choices and how is the dye applied: Spray or roll-on. My interior has several shades of red between the dash, the steering wheel, the vinyl door panels, the console, and between the rear buckets and I'd like to make it all uniform. Any and all help would be highly appreciated.:confused:

[RivNut]

SEM it the easiest to find. They have quite a few colors but nothing like a color match system like you can find with paint. There are a couple of autobody shop suppliers here in town who add a "flex-agent" to paint to make it compatible with vinyl. The biggest thing about dyeing vinyl is getting it clean. You need a strong solvent that will open the pores in the vinyl so that 1) you can get the dirt out, and 2) let the dye/paint penetrate the pores so it will adhere.

There used to be a bunch of vinyl repair franchises around, but not so much any more since vinyl tops and seats are no longer part of the car scene. You might Google "vinyl repair" or "vinyl dye" and see what you find.

I used to work for one of these companies about 30 years ago. We had a subsidiary called AP Labs. AP Labs had about 12 - 15 base colors and formulae for mixing any OE color dye that you could want. Not any longer.

Good luck, it's well worth it when you get it all finished and everything is coordinated. I'll tell you from experience; red is a tough color to match and it's one of the first colors to fade. :mad:

Ed

[tenugent]

if you can get a sample patch of bottom of seat-take it to a paint store with a computer match machine.they should match color for paint for console etc.save formula combo-see if it will help for die match.

[Guest Kingoftheroad]

Evening everybody. I have several questions regarding the same topic. I have a 63 with a full red leather interior from Clark's Corvair and had a few questions. What company (or supplier) offers the most color choices and how is the dye applied: Spray or roll-on. My interior has several shades of red between the dash, the steering wheel, the vinyl door panels, the console, and between the rear buckets and I'd like to make it all uniform. Any and all help would be highly appreciated.:confused:

I bought my dye from a local shop that mixed it for me to match my new seats. The stuff I used sprayed on with a paint gun, it goes on easy like primer & dries fast like primer too. I did my interior more then 10 yrs ago and it still looks great !! The only things you don't want to do is use petroleum products on the dyed surface, it will take the dye off. A little soap & water keeps my interior looking GREAT !!

[Guest gmman63]

Thank you all. All the info is very helpful.

[1965rivgs]

If you are concerned with originality do your homework. Chances are varying shades on certain components may be "correct"

Tom Mooney

[Guest gmman63]

Thank you.

[Paul K.]

If you are concerned with originality do your homework. Chances are varying shades on certain components may be "correct"

Tom Mooney

I would hope CARS leather sets are the correct shade of red.

Take a sample piece of the new leather to an auto paint supplier as mentioned earlier. They will match it either with computer or by eye or both. Both color and gloss will be matched. SEM makes the surface prep cleaner and adhesion promoters. Uses their products and stay with their "system" of products. Other cleaning solvents or products may leave a residue or not be compatible. However, I used Sherwin Williams adhesion promoter with SEM on my dash and have had no problems. Been over two years. Just remember, even though the dye has been color matched, there often may be a slight variance in the gloss or sheen when it is sprayed on vinyl or plastic vs leather.

[Patrick91914]

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[Guest gmman63]

You all have been very helpful. Patrick, those instructions are GREAT!