Repainting Interior Vinyl and Plastic Trim

How do you repaint the interior vinyl and plastic trim pieces inyour car?

Painting the interior vinyl and plastic trim in a car is fairly easy.There are two sources for the dye. If you don't have a paint gun,then find SEM vinyl dye in spray cans at a good paint store. SEM isthe only way to go, and I have never found another product thatworks as well or lasts so long. It also looks completely like thefactory finish. Please do not even consider any other brand.

Use "Satin Black" for the black interiors, and "Napa Red" for thered interiors. The "Napa Red" is a precise match for the Datsun redinterior color. They also have ZX colors, too. SEM is about $7 acan. and I use 4 to 6 cans for an entire interior on a 240Z.

If you have a paint gun (a door jamb gun is a good choice, or anHVLP jamb gun is even better). Dupont has vinyl dye that iscomparable to SEM. It is about $20 for a quart, which will do onecar interior.

Preparation is everything! Here's the process:

1. Remove the seats and the carpet pieces.2. Thoroughly vacuum out the interior.3. Use low-lint paper towels to clean all the vinyl and plasticinterior pieces with a water based cleaner, such as soap & water,ammonia, Mr Clean, Pineoil, etc., and let dry.4. Wet wipe the surfaces with lacquer thinner. Not enamel reduceror poly thinner, just cheap lacquer thinner. Wipe and scrub andscrub. You will notice the vinyl and plastic getting soft. Stopbefore you ruin the grain pattern! The theory behind the lacquer isthat it chemically softens the vinyl/plastic. When you apply thedye, it soaks in much better.5. Mask off all the unpainted items. I use "Big Gulp" bottoms tapedto the gauges.6. Now shake your paint can. If you are using the Dupont dye, it isready to spray, without thinning.7. Re-wipe the surfaces quickly with a very wet paper towel SOAKEDIN THINNER, and start fogging on the dye. It is very thin. You mayend up with 5-12 coats to get good heavy coverage. Let dry, and youare done.

Note: Do not paint the seats, it will scrape off eventually.

Dupont also has a "textured" paint to match the texture of vinyltops. So it happens to look like vinyl when it is dry. I use it onthe sill plates of the 240Z's.

The stuff is very durable when dry. It does not exactly match theDatsun sill plate vinyl, but it is a lot easier than trying torecover the sill piece with contact cement and vinyl cloth. Thispaint has to be applied with a non-HVLP gun (your normal oldfashioned gun is not HVLP). It's the air pressure that makes thespiderwebs as it comes out, which then coagulate into the vinyltexture. This coating can then be re-coated with black semi-glossvinyl dye to match the panels.

Thanks for the info.