A big serious question(NB)

tescoking · Postby **tescoking** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 4:11 am

Hey guys, happy new year to all of you first, and here is the big serious question
Has anyone had a problem with their dashboard/door panel/centre console,or any interior part with the colour faded?
Mine is not very serious on the dashboard but I am sure that it will fade more in the future,
and my door panel are faded in some part, so I bought some Duplicolor and painted it myself, it looks great for a while, but after sanding and cleaning, it actually turn into grey on some part, just like nothing been done before.
So I went to some trimmers and I told them I want to rewrap the whole door panel with leather, but they said they couldn't do it because of the design it cannot be wrap, and the dashboard had been under the sun for too many years, so there must be sun damage on it, such as shape changed, so they said they could take the whole dash out and wrap it with leather but they cannot guarantee that the dash will be perfectly fitted back, so I went to another trimmer and they said they need to take out the whole dash to repaint it but he didn't mention about the perfect fit part after the job has been done. So can anyone tell me what should I do? What is the best way to make my interior back to original like a brand new car again?

Postby **Okibi** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 8:22 am

It might be cheaper to get a better dash/door skins from a wrecker.

Locutus · Postby **Locutus** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:44 am

try vinyl paint

93_Clubman · Postby **93_Clubman** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:09 am

If vinyl paint doesn't work then buy second hand parts. Good retrimming isn't cheap, & as indicated if not done properly there can be issues, apart from it looking tacky.

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 11:45 am

Try Vinyl Dye, you can get it in spray cans. Vinyl Dye actually seeps into the vinyl so it's not like paint and wont flake like paint.

I used vinyl dye on my HVAC controls to recolour the fascia from silver to black - after 4 years it still looks like brand new and non-one would know it was originally silver.

Here's a Charcoal Grey Satin can I used on some other pieces:

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 12:48 pm

I was expecting a question like 'My motor has fallen out. How do I put it back in?'

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:50 pm

It fades because it gets high exposure to UV and the seats eg fabric will also fade. We all fade and some of us get face lifts and others do not care. Lokiel is right the VHT dye is not a bad idea ( a good product and been around for many years) but its not permanent- though it can be done again. And forget leather etc- it dies as well. And clothes they fade and if you try and re dye them its tricky because the faded bits still show a difference. You can try 303 on the vinyl it probably helps. Relax all cars lose their patina over time.

Postby **NitroDann** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 7:55 pm

Dont they GAIN patina? perhaps I misunderstand the term.

Dann

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 9:21 pm

yes patina is the wrong word- I thought about that later but too late! But cars do lose their new look.

taminga16 · Postby **taminga16** » Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:23 pm

NitroDann wrote:Dont they GAIN patina? perhaps I misunderstand the term.

Dann

I am with you Dann, perhaps we are a little more tactile than most.
Best.
Greg.

droo · Postby **droo** » Tue Jan 08, 2013 10:29 am

I've done the VHT painting on my dash of my previous car which had a nasty dark grey coloured dash.
I waited for a warm sunny weekend, friday after work I'd removed the dash (had a spare dashboard from another project incase things went bad)
scrubbed it all down with wax/grease remover (as i used to spray silicon spray/armourall (rubbish) on it to make it shiny).
Prepsolled to remove fingerprints etc.
Sprayed it a satin black and fitted it all again late sunday evening.

The following week i did the door trims.

pics are here from my previous forum.
http://www.redlinegti.net/forum/gallery ... 1d3c1d0a2f

the first few images easily show the difference in colouring of the original and painted dash.
the last pic clearly shows the grey stock colour vs the painted as its fitted in the car..

It turned out great, i didn't have any flaking or discolouration and it had lasted at least 4 years (sold the car at that point).
While it's a decent job to do, it gave me a lot of satisfaction with the interior looking sharp like modern european car interiors with studio lighting in their brochures. The satin effect was easy to wipe down, not glary in various sunlight conditions and didnt accumulate dust like a matte effect would, and after the painting, ALL of the plastic surfaces were the same colour (originally, there were different shades of the dark grey, and a few hue changes too)

While the dash was out i'd also secured various bits in the cabin to reduce rattling and layed out some electrical lines for easy access for future projects, tidied up the car alarm and stereo wiring and cleaned the vents and piping of dust for the fan/ventilation - all with simple tools.

Well worth the effort.