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Hi guys. It's been a couple of years. Still have the 74 convertible! These days, I own and operate an automotive interior repair business specialising in vinyl, leather and plastic repair and recoloring. Feel free to ask me anything, except to repair your car (unless you live in New Zealand)
Thanks Richard.
Sure. Clean the area, fill with a liquid vinyl compound, heat with a heatgun, hold the texture pad down firmly on the area. Repeat until satisfied it's level. Then shoot on some vinyl paint. Some call it dye, but it's paint with a flex agent. I do use a water based dye, but on worn leather.
Thanks Ike. It's a heat activated one I get from my supplier in Auckland, NZ. It's the consistancy of an ointment. I just sprayed the repair area. Subaru dashes are notorious for going bad.
Thanks for the info. I have never been able to find a good material here in the States. Does anyone have a name brand or a source of a good heat cure product?? Thanks Ike
Not trying to sabotage your business, but since this is a C3 site, I will offer that using a polymer protectant made for plastics could prevent that damage to the vinyl skin. Nu-Vinyl or Meguiar's Protectant for Plastics are GREAT products that make old vinyl look like new; and they block UV rays, which is what causes plastics to deteriorate in the first place.
7T1!! G'day mate! Hope you're well. Always be grateful for your help over the years. You're correct. They do protect vinyl dashes like the Stingray has. Do they put color back into faded dashes? I'll have to check them out. That Subaru dash is a type of rubber, so the products you mention, if they're silicon based, can actually harm those ones. They start to melt! Same with some Mazdas. A few Toyota dashes are liable to crack over time as well.
I repaired an original 68 Vette dash pad a month or so ago, and boy, that vinyl was thick! I had to turn the heat to full on my gun, and it still barely made an impression.
They don't add any color. But faded stuff becomes several years newer!!
No, if the item needs to be recolored, vinyl dye (paint with flex additive) should be applied first. THEN you protect it with a polymer protectant.
BTW, I'm sure you will have no shortage of damaged interior items to repair in your future. But, you might want to become the only source of Nu-Vinyl 'down under'.
Sweet!
Yeah, silicon is my worst enemy when repairing cars. You have to really go to work on the areas with isopropyl alcohol so your paint and masking tape stick. I use a local brand, but if I get caught short, SEM is my go to.
For leather, I make up the color using waterbased dyes that I rub in with a cloth, then shoot a lacquer based clear on top to seal it. If you want to see what I do, check out Vinyl Restorations on Facebook. Nice to talk to you again!
Interior repair
