I’m getting started on cleaning up my '68 and one thing I’ve noticed is the door panels, arm rests and steering wheel are rather discolored in spots. From what I can tell there aren’t repro parts available in the right color (I’ve got a Light Ivy Gold base interior), so I’m wondering what you guys have done in a similar situation. I’ve been considering trying a vinyl dye (SEM or Duplicolor?), but am curious how well it holds up and how well it matches. Unfortunately anything that’s chromed is no longer in great shape, either. Has anybody done resto work on the chromed plastic pieces (or an alternative to chrome?) I’d be interested in pictures if you’ve done an alternate finish.
I’ve also had thoughts of converting it to a black interior by getting new seat covers and headliner (which I need anyway) and painting the green parts black.
Any ideas, suggestions or comments are appreciated.
The paint/dye in this photo is two years old. All of the red on the dash, upper and lower, steering post and kick panels is done with dye from JCC. The only high traffic (if you will) that I have done are the arm rests and that is holding up so far as well. I don’t drive daily and it is probably once a week that the car gets driven. With what I have seen so far, I don’t think I would do seats. Also I like your black idea as I believe the gold would be a tough match.
Going black would be cost effective, easy and look better if green is not your favorite. Buying a can off the shelf never looks right as the different components are different shades, some have metal flake and some do not. I can prove this by laying an NOS arm rest, console pad and kick panel all of the same color side by side. I suggest bringing samples to your local paint supply store and having it mixed by a pro. It will cost 2-3x more and might take a couple tries but painting your entire interior with one can really looks like a spray paint job. Keep in mind it is not a dye but a coating or paint and will come off in time on certain high traffic areas.
A very good point, Don, about not using one can or type of paint to “dye” everything. I’ve seen a car that was converted to black in that manner and it looked just as you described.
Don - I’ve really contemplated black, mostly because it would be a color match with my Mustang. My car is about as plain and ordinary as you can get, so I don’t feel bad about changing some things up. I’m already going to have to get new seat covers, headliner and carpet, so those would be a “natural color”. Are there any Mustang restoration pieces available that would work (like kick panels and the rear side pieces)? I’ve got a friend with a '68 Cougar with black interior, so I can maybe look at color differences on his if I go black. I’ve been watching some of your WCCC videos as a start to my research, and there’s some good info in them. I was really familiar with the car back in the 90’s when I drove it a lot, but some of that info has slipped away. It’s been a good refresher course. I’ll have to give you guys a call when I get to doing my interior (as well as the rest of it) and see what all you have available.
Gary - thanks for the picture and info. It looks like yours turned out very nice!
I sprayed a cheap car black a few years ago with a red accent and it looked pretty good. It was the “dye” you get at Oreilly’s. I think the red turned out better than the black. The only thing I didn’t like was when I wiped on interior protectant it was like smearing it on spray paint.
That being said I have an ivy gold interior and bought some alleged light Ivy gold “dye”. I tested on the kick panels since they have faded to a silver hue. The paint does have some metallic specs in it like the original plastic but it isn’t as translucent as the original plastic and vinyl was. Color is slightly off but it seems to match the overall color scheme. In fact in certain light it seems to match the door panels and front seat where the vinyl is darkened from age.
It would be nice if someone sold the fabric by the yard so we could redo the back panels and maybe try and tackle the door panels. The back panels are just a piece of vinyl glued to the plastic and the door panels might be easy to replicate the stamping with real stitching. I’m tempted to change the interior to blue since I need new seat covers and a headliner anyways and it would be easier to match that color.
Here are some photos of the kick panel next to the rear seat that looks to have minimal color aging issues. As you can see the angle is very important. BTW this a Accumatch V-5778.
The last interior that I painted I used Sherwin Williams Ultra Interior. It was red, I picked three different shades to do the work since all the reds in the car were a little different. You can shoot this stuff on plastic, metal or vinyl. I did all three types and have had no issues with this paint. This was 10 years ago and have no lifting or wear to date. Not even on the steerng wheel or driver seat vinyl. Just an fyi on another paint.
