tjohn1008

I am starting on my interior witch was removed 3 1/2 years ago.it is black now but i know i was origionally doe skin because some has chipped off. i want to redye it black.my question is,how do i know if it has been dyed or painted? if it was dyed,i read that you just prep and clean good and re-dye. what do i do if it was painted? thanks tj.

oldsarge

If it is paint, you are going to have to either remove the paint or get it well cleaned up,so you can prime and repaint. Hopefully it is not paint, because painting is not really the best thing to do. To tell if it is painted you are going to have to look closely to see signs of masking or overspray at any reverse areas. Dye will not usually pick off or chip. You can try to see if a paint remover will take off the finish. I would try this in an area that will not be seen should any damage be caused by the paint stripper, maybe on the back, if paint shows up there.

Easy Mike

enkeivette

Are you guys talking about dying the dash? Where do you get dye for that?

S&S_ShovelHead

Anyone else have any other tips on how to tell? Mine was tan but is now black, it's not peeling off or cracking but it has rubbed off in places (edges and around screws) . I can take off the black in some places if I scratch hard but that may be due to poor prep by the previous person.

7T1vette

Paint remover will take off either product, as dye is a member of the 'paint' family. The best way to test for paint is to try and pop a chip off the part in area that is not very noticible. Dye will scrape through, but will not flake or chip off. Also, paint will tend to fill the 'grain' molded into the parts; dye won't fill the grain as it conforms to the surface it bonds to.

highschool67

I've seen paint remover melt the vinyl. Use something mild.

upcominZ

I recently changed the color of my interior on the 76vette. I went black from tan. Anyway, i used the Duplicolor line of interior/vinyl paints. Is it dye or is it paint? I took everything apart and used simple green to clean everything. The black will scrape off, but doesn't chip or flake easily. Also, I went with 3 light coats of flat black to keep it looking oem and not cover up the texture marks. I used around 4 cans from Autozone for the whole interior. But, I don't know if it was a good or bad move on my part for using that the interior spray.

dennis

In 1978 I painted the interior of my 70 with RM 74 silver. Never chipped or peeled, even the seats.( new covers in the photo) It's all in the prep

A few years ago I removed it. I used lacquer thinner. On a rag, wiping, rinsing, never let it sit long, as it will melt vinyl. Took a few applications, but works well. Try in an area not seen, like under the hard seat back where the vinyl is hog ring'd to determine your coating.

Jeffery73

I used the Ecklers "Dye" on my door panels and it chips very easily.

7T1vette

If it chips, it's not dye. Vinyl dye is very thin (almost watery consistency), is densely pigmented, and you can re-dye till the cows come home with no risk of filling in grain or adding significant thickness. It doesn't sound like Eckler's "dye" is really a dye...sounds more like paint to me.

A pint can of SEM "Color Coat" dye and a PreVal gas cannister/bottle sprayer (with a couple of extra gas cannisters) will do your entire interior for less than $50. Why would anyone spend $16 per spray can [on something other than dye] and buy several of them to color their interior when they can do it right for 50 bucks?

orourke

Here's my take on the differance.
A dye generally reacts and bonds, temporarily or permanently, with the material it is made for while paint just adheres and sits on top of the material as a layer.
Dye soak's in and Paint cover's.

Marty.

Magic Fingers

If anyone needs to read it to see what SEM Color Coat is NOT, the second sentence in their technical data sheet should clear this matter up. http://semproducts.com/images/tech_f...C-LV%20TDS.pdf For under $50.00 you can buy a detail gun and get professional results, though an air supply is nessesary. That may not be cost effective for a one time project. For touch up or smaller jobs most art supply stores sell a paint atomizer for under $5.00. All you need for that is a container for the thinned paint and healthy lungs. We buy SEM Color Coat in quarts or pints and find it slightly thick so we thin it before spraying with fast evaporating lacquer thinner. As for why SEM Color Coat is chip resistant paint, it has a flex (elastomeric) additive as todays bumper cover paint. Ever see paint flaked and chipped on a bumper cover, no flex additive was in the paint. Follow the SEM prep instructions and I like to finish up with Sherwin Williams Shir-Wil-Clean.

tjohn1008

all good info but still a little unsure if its dye or paint. im leening twards dye because the stiched areas are very clear. if it was pained ithink the paint would have leveled off over the stiches.the areas i can scrape off with my finger nail are very few,maybe it wasent clean in those areas when dyed,do you agre?
tj

VetteHalen

well, i'm relieved "painting" the interior to a different color is not that uncommon. after i bought my '80 i realized the black interior wasn't always black and a check of the options tag revealed it was originally oyster. was a little bummed at first but whatever the previous owner used (paint? dye? witchcraft?) it looks decent enough so i've come around to it...

upcominZ

When I first got the 76' the interior was horrible. It was the nasty tan and the seats/carpet was bad. So I was like, "if i'm going to change them, why not make it black on black." So, I decided to change the interior color. Well, I called some shop out in florida and asked if they sold the whole interior brand new. And he told me it would cost thousands to do, and suggested to just have it painted. Like i said, i used the duplicolor line of interior vinyl and carpet spray in light coats. It has worked out nicely.

tjohn1008

it sounds like sem color coat is the way to go.it will take alot of work and time to redye the interior and i want to do it right. ive decided to bring a sunvisor to auto paint specalist here in green bay,they are a sem dealer.hopefully they can tell if it is dye or paint,i just aint sure what it is.its good to know that $50 to $100 will do the whole interior,ill know if they are trying to rip me off.

71coupe454

All my interior was out of my car when I got it so I dont have time in that but I do have several hours cleaning, scrubbing, rinsing, drying & spraying about half of my interior parts so far going from sadle to black. The parts look fantastic and I think I will be very happy witht the out come when its all back together. I'm getting my dye from Wilcox and its expensive and going to take many cans. Doing it with a spray gun would have been the better way to go as far as cost I believe, unless theres any down side to doing it that way. CLEAN, CLEAN and CLEAN again before spraying either way! I did a tan interior black years ago with just a quick clean and cheap auto zone product and it rubbed off any where that got touched with normal use, console, armrest, door pulls, ext. These guys in here are getting long lasting results from what I read so it was either the poor cleaning or the cheap product I used but its sucked and looked like crap a few months later. I am still going to replace the seat covers, door panels and center console as I cant see those areas lasting to long with all the contact and rubbing they will get and they are in poor condition anyway. Another note about this, it will only cover the color, it will not hide any flaws at all, if you have any bad places it will still show right through.. I think you will love it when your done, I cant wait to start putting it back together, the more pieces I get painted and layed out with the rest the more excited I get! Good luck!

7T1vette

71coupe454...

Apparently, you missed post #11 above. A $5 gas/bottle sprayer is a lot better than several cans of "spray dye" and the shipping costs.