The Camaro Club (UK)

It's seen better days...they were probably a few years back.

Even though the car has a red interior, originally blue (though resprayed at some point) I've never been keen on that OEM colour. Considering it's worn faded and the plastics are turning to dust I figured it's time salvage and spray what I can and ditch what I can't in favour of brand new parts.

I've more or less made a list of the parts I'll need, now I've just gotta decide on the paint scheme (which I'm close to). I've not restored an interior previously and as such could do with a few pointers from those of you that have. I've ordered various tech manuals, Fisher Body, Haynes, and Camaro Restoration etc. One thing I'm curious to know about is the vinyl/plastic dyes. I've had a look via the net at what's available to us in the UK and I'm wondering who does the best quality dyes in custom spec colours? Something that's easy to use but that gives lasting results and an excellent finish.

Thanks

78Camaro and FlakMonkey have probably done the most recent interior recolour jobs I think, so hopefully they'll chime in.

I did mine a while back, from brown to grey, then grey to black.
I think all I did was to remove all the plastic trim (rear sail panels, front pillar covers, rear sides/rests, roof side panels, foot well panels, front and rear window strips) give them a good wire wool, them prime, then couple coats of colour..

_________________
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

I think some of the plastic parts are past the wire wool stage. Now, more like museum pieces, flaky and crumbling. Did the wire wool not effect the finish of the surface, indentations/markings etc. ? What make of dye did you use?

I know what you mean, some bits were a bit crispy... but in general they clean up well.. Using wire wool keeps the moulding pattern on the plastic, if you rubbed it down with paper it would and up smooth.
I just used aerosols of interior paint from my local car paint supplier, for primer (I think it's a bit flexible) and the top coat.
This sort of thing http://www.amazon.co.uk/VHT-Penetrating ... B00FMQY57G

_________________
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

I looked into using dye's but after doing some research i found out that paints called dyes are just that... paints calling themselves dyes (thank the marketing departments of those companies). Dying requires bathing the parts (think tie dye - go 80's!) so unless it's getting a bath, it's just a rose by another name. I replaced the seat covers (and foam) with new parts from NPD - the amount of effort in cleaning and painting them is not far off replacement covers. I also felt uncomfortable with the idea of taking a bit of paint with you on your clothes - the rear had been coated from tan to black years before i got it and it was still slightly tacky.

For the plastic parts (dash included) i used SEM 's range though i'm sure an equivalent manufacturer would work. The parts were cleaned very thoroughly several times (provided they haven't been painted already) with soap and water. Then scuffed it all up with a scoth brite to give it a key and then went over with SEM's cleaner. Then i used their plastic prep primer - it's effectively a clear tacky coating acting as a primer and then used their SEM landeau black to coat it. I can't remember the name of the supplier i used... something like SMART repairs, along those lines, they sold it in bottles so that you can use it through a spray gun, they also sell in spray cans. Couple of coats was all that was needed - have a scroll throught his page of my build thread for the result:

http://www.classiccamaroclubuk.com/phpB ... &start=180

There are a few parts that are metal... the A pillar inner covers and the front and rear headliner to glass covers. Mine had black fabric glued to it (classy) to cover the tan colour. I removed it, removed the glue, cleaned it, scuffed the tan paint and painted with 2k black paint then coated it with SEM landeua black for a colour match.

Hope that helps and let me know if you need anything else!

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").

I think mine are past the wire wool stage. They literally crumble when any form of pressure is applied to them. How did you find the VHT paint? Is it durable, easy to apply? What sort of finish does it give, more of a satin than matt I'm guessing?

I have heard some say that if the re-painted part is sees a fair amount of usage (door pull or centre console lid etc.) the paint wears off. Have you encountered this so far?

Thanks for all the info there Are you saying the dye aerosols offered in the UK just contain regular paint and nothing that's specifically for vinyl and plastics? You opted for SEM products, presumably these do differ and is the correct paint to use? I'm not looking for OEM colours, custom if anything. You mention NPD for sourcing parts, a cheaper supplier than F-Body Warehouse or Rick's Camaro's ?

In that case you might need to source some new (2nd hand) bits, as only the odd edge in mine were that bad...
I just used satin black finish, so came out..... satin !

yes, it does wear a bit, particularly on the door handles/pulls, but I changed my whole door panel so not an issue now... I think if i'd have done better prep it might have lasted longer on the handles.. all other bits are fine...

_________________
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

There are some dyes that you can spray on, they eat into whatever you apply them to and are completely permanent. On the other hand, there are also a number that are just paints and sit on the surface.

I hear good stuff about the VHT dye that you can buy in cans. I used something called Liquid Plastic made by Bradleys to do my rear seats. They seem to be wearing well so far

http://www.frost.co.uk/liquid-plastic-i ... litre.html

_________________
My '80 progress thread - hugger orange! Now with LQ9 power - forged pistons, LS2 rods, 236/242, .621/.612, flowed and milled 317 heads. MS3X

4L80e, 12 bolt, 4.11, Moroso brute strength posi, steel shafts.

Subframe connectors, g-braces, solid body bushes, carbon hood and front bumper, custom door cards, Autometer gauges.

Ye, even the stuff is the same in the U.S - any paint you get that sprays on will just be a coating that sits on the material, whereas a dye actually sinks into the material which is why it needs to go through the process of being bathed. You could probably find a place that does dyeing and drop the parts of... i don't know if they would do the plastics but the seats you could do. - the only thing with the seats is that they have a foam layer sewed into them so not sure how that would react.

Here are some comments i found about the Duplcolour Dye:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt ... hlight=dye
That's the thing... if it's wearing off on the carpet near the gas pedal... it's just a coating, the pigment of the material hasn't changed. Just to be clear though, those 'interior dye' paints are the ones to use for an interior makeover but i don't like it when marketing teams use the wrong wording.. a dye cannot scratch of because it's changed the pigment, the stuff you buy has just sunken barely into the top layer, which is why i would be uncomfortable using them for seats... for other parts though it's the stuff to use but just keep in mind that it's only a coating. The SEM stuff i used is in the same category as Duplicolour and VHT and it looks the part, did the dash too. However it was able to wipe it off with thinner (had a dry spot right in the middle of the dash, only noticed it last month - ran over with some cloth but ended up getting fibres caught in it, so ran over with some thinner and it soaked away too much, so ended up having to clean the whole part off with thinner. So, from first hand experience i know that it's just a coating. Also had a few small bits peel off on the edges on one of the panels where masking tape that had been left on too long, pulled up a few bits of coating as it was removed, revelaing the tan underneath).
Those places will carry them too from what i can remember, i'm not sure on the price differences but i've used NPD a few times and they are quick at shipping and also do the recipt in such a way that you don't end up paying customs on the shipping cost (bizzare why the government does this).

Hope that helps!

Cheers, Ray

_________________
How to post pics: When writing a message, scroll down and use the "attach file" option. Where possible, a photo sharing service can be used such as Flickr, Imgur etc. The image location (usually ending in .jpg) can be copy and pasted between the ][ brackets that appear when you click the 'Img' button (you can find this button at the top of the message box).

How to post youtube vids: Click on the 'youtubeHD' button at the top of the message box and in the middle of the ][ brackets that just appeared, copy and paste everything from the youtube web address that appears after the = sign i.e if this is the url: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cNqaPSHv0 just copy "K2cNqaPSHv0").