Im replacing most of the interior im my 81 vette,and changing the color from camel to black. Im keeping all the palstic and vinyl trim peices and roof panels. What kind of paint should I use on these parts?

 

Check out Mid America's catalog. They have interior dye in a spray can or quart if you have your own spray gun. Clean the parts with arm water, some Comet and a scrub brush. This will remove all of the armor all, oils, etc. Since you are going to a darker color I would not think that primer would necessary, but they sell interior primer as well. I have been dying some parts on my father's 75 with the dye from Mid America and really like it. Follow the instructions to give the parts one really fine mist coat to make sure nothing lifts and then follow up with a few light to medium coats.

 

spray those plastic parts with Bulldog first.......well, not first, but before color.

 

What is Bulldog never heard of it before?

 

Bulldog is a primer you use on any surface to make paint stick better.
Works on chrome, plastic, rubber, aluminum, etc. I got mine at O'Reileys auto but can also be bought at any auto paint store.

 

Go to Wally World and get some Fusion plastic paint. Clean the part first with a good cleaner and spray. Fusion works great and adheres VERY well. I sprayed blue over standard interior gray. It looks great. Just like all spray paint, take your time and make several coats and it looks like it was originally that color.

 

I had to check the username to make sure this wasn't one of my old posts. I have an '81 that I am changing from camel to black, and on a budget. After some checking around I went with dupli-color Vinyl & Fabric coating for the dash, headliner, door handle, small carpet areas, etc. I'm not sure how long it will last, but what little I've done so far look great. I also picked up some Interior/Exterior plastic enamel for the hard plastic parts. My concern on this is it might be too shiny. I haven't tried it yet but I'll be starting with something small.

Not sure what to do about the leather door panels. I tried the vinyl coating on the armrest pad, which is shot, as a test a few weeks ago. It came out perfect and I am unable to rub it off. Unless someone tells me otherwise I'll use the Vinyl & Fabric coating on the leather door panels as well.

For seats I am going to use seat covers for now, and unfortunately I need to completely replace the carpets and hatch storage area plastic doors.

For the steering wheel, I plan to just replace it with an aftermarket one. My intentions are probably a bit different than yours. I have decided to give up on the 70's style interior so I'm doing a few other things to clean it up and make it a bit more modern.

 

I used SEM trim paint on mine when I touched up some panels. They have gloss & sheen finnishes available. Get it at your local NAPA store.

 

I found that the parts that don't get touched a lot hold up very well. I've never been able to get paint to stay on things that get touched a lot so I replaced those with original parts in the color I wanted.

my .02


Bill

 

I don't really like the camel color in my '81 so have done a few bits black. A mix of black & camel looks OK IMO. When spraying the plastic parts make sure that you clean them thoroughly. I had real problems with fisheye due to silicons all over the plastic (Armoral?).
If any of you people are swapping out the camel carpet sets then I'd be happy to pay you for your old seatback carpets (if they're in good condition).
If it's any help, I used Sperex polyurethane satin black paint to spray the ashtray cover. Came out as a perfect match for the console & it would be an ideal paint for a lot of other parts (also did the seat tracks & various other small parts with it). It's an easy paint to use but I doubt that it would be any good on vinyl or other flexible parts.

 

I would not recomend mixing paint brands if you are going to prime. If youm use SEM...use their primer. If you use Covrette America...use their primer. I made that mistake. Used SEM dye over CA primer....didn't hold. Peeled right off...
Eddie