Interior vinyl and plastic dyes and paints

I know some of you have used various vinyl and plastic dyes and paints with varying degrees of success. What brands are best for soft vinyls, which are best for hard plastics, where did you purchase them and what kind of prices did you have to pay? Also, How was the color match with the original pieces and how was the selection of available colors? How did they work for changing from one color to another? Just wanting to compile a list of what works and what doesn't and where to find them. I have some interior pieces that have faded and want to restore back to the original tan color.

 

I use SEM dyes for vinyl and plastic parts with very good results. As the name suggest, they are not paints, but actual dyes made just for vinyl and plastic. You can get them in either a spray can, or they can be mixed to match your interior, in which case you would need a compressor and spray gun to apply the dye. You would also need to purchase a spray can of SEM Plastic and Vinyl Prep to clean and prepare the surfaces before dying them. I got our SEM dye and prep at our local Car Quest store, but you should be able to get them at any automotive store that mixes paint. The best thing to do would be to bring in a small part that is the color you want the dye to be, and they can match it up to thier list of dye color chips and find the closest match. As far as changing the colors of parts, I recently did that to a set of tan seats I that I had tucked away in our basement for years. The red seats in our new 77' Maverick were just plain shot. The tan seats were in excellent shape, but taking up a ton of room. Using the SEM prep and dye, I dyed the tan seats red. I had to have the dye mixed to match the red interior and I used 2 pints of it. The bill came to around $60.00 if I remember correctly. It was a whole lot cheaper than getting the original red seats re-upholstered and the end results were terrific. I have no idea how the dye will hold up to regular use, seeing how the car will probably not be on the road until springtime.

 

Thanks Jean, that's the kind of info I was looking for. A previous owner has painted my doors and the rear plastic panels black,leaving the door panels themself tan, probably with spray paint. I may just leave them black. The biggest thing though is the steering collumn collar and the dash cover. The black dash cover goes good with the black doors and rear panels, so I'm thinking maybe black carpet would complete the two tone look. I was thinking about dyeing the seats and door panels and the steering collumn collar with a fresh coat of tan so they would all be the same shade. Anybody else used any other brands and how did they work out?