I've cleaned an NOS door panel with alcohol, then the SEM soap, then sprayed on the vinyl prep, then the Classic coat.

It's been 2 days, I'm waiting for another can of paint to arrive to finish up before I put on the satin clear coat.

When mocking up the upper felt the rear edge of the metal strip scratched the paint/dye right off.

Am I going to have to live in fear of anything with a point coming in contact with the door panel for the rest of my life?


Will the clear coat prevent that?

Should I start over? (whatever that entails, I'm ok with it. I have a perfectly good reproduction panel in the car, so no hurry)

 

I can say that when spraying on vinyl.

Due to the possible years of protectants used on it. getting the surface clean is PARAMOUNT.

Contact SEM directly by phone. I do it quite often adn they are ALWAYS very helpful.

The reason I am saying this ...and I am not knocking their product...but I am of the belief. That when anything is being sprayed onto anything. That first coat of 'whatever' must have the 'bite' to actually chemically bite into the substrate or 'mechanically bond' to it.

So if you have paint peeling off that is telling me that it did not stick. And keep in mind...that in that area that it peeled off...really how well did you clean it?

I am not aware of their 'vinyl prep' and if it is an adhesion promoter or not. I use 'BULLDOG" adhesion promoter and it seems to work well.

I can say that using the principles of when I work on urethane bumpers....when I get them cleaned and prepped. I shoot them IMMEDIATELY and do not even wait 5 minutes. Every minute that the surface is cleaned and the pores are left open for a primer or adhesion promoter ...they are filling up with contaminants in the air. Which can effect adhesion.

Hopefully you get this figured out and I commend you on doing this due to I do not dye door panels or any part of the interior that can take any type of regular abuse...due to the amount of time it takes to get parts cleaned only to have a small are peel off.

DUB

 

I used the SEM vinyl prep on the hard surface areas , seat backs, rear compartment trim, kick panel it seems like the dye is on there good so far no chips at all . I never have been a fan of dye seems it always chips on door panels.

 

DUB hits the nail on the head...prior prep. i have had luck with the paint. you do need to scuff it and remove all prior protectants over 50 years......thats lots of years of stuff that paint doesnt stick to. good luck

 

 

Very well, done a number of years ago. Kick panels, steering wheel
No bleeding, peeling sheen is perfect.

 

I chatted with customer service and they said if it's something that can scratch regular paint it can scratch SEM so not necessarily an error in application.

With that being said, he said rubbing alcohol should take it off, so I'm going to strip it and try the bulldog stuff and then paint it, then see if it resists scratches any better.

 

Paint....or vinyl dye...does not CURE as fast as it DRIES. Regular spray paint may take a week to fully cure. If you try to 'work' with it too quickly, you can damage it pretty easily.

Don't know how long after you shot it the peeling occurred. The other thought I had as I read your post was whether wiping with alcohol would really clean off many years of oil-based protectants, skin oil, smoke?, whatever. I have ALWAYS used detergent to clean the surface, then rinsed profusely, let dry thoroughly; and I've never had any problem with vinyl dye---ever.

I would have to lean toward "prep" being the issue, as well.

 

Detergent- like laundry detergent?

 

Best I have found is Dawn Dishwashing detergent. Scrub, scrub and scrub with a wash cloth. Use a clean tooth brush for hard to reach spots. I have used SEM products for years with excellent results on both hard and soft interior parts. Their Landau black is a perfect match for factory interior IMHO. I have also found it blends well should I get a minor scratch. I cut tube socks to put over my inboard seat belt latches to protect center console from scratches.

Kind Regards,


Bill

 

Panel is done.

I took off as much the first round of paint as I could with denatured alcohol then used thinner to get the rest. While I was using the thinner I started to see door panel color come off into my rag so I figured I must have a clean door panel if I'm into the vinyl coloring.

After that I used the SEM soap and scrubbed it with a gray scuff pad as directed, then I sprayed it with Bulldog (I had "hey bulldog"by the Beatles in my head for a week)

Then I sprayed it with SEM Landau Black and made sure I never started or stopped a spray on the panel itself. Then I sprayed it with SEM satin clear.

I had to reshoot the armrest because I painted it hanging on the wall and didn't get full coverage there, but other than that the painting process was not bad and it's easy to touch up.

One test to show how durable the paint is - I can remove the upper screws and finishing washers and there's no witness marks in the paint. Pretty impressive.

Other than me not getting the chrome strip low enough, I can't tell see much difference between this or my original black passenger panel other than this one is still a little more shiny in places.

Overall, a good learning experience and I have a panel that fits perfectly finally.

 

Good job! Painting interior parts is pretty simple....IF the parts are properly prepped. You did the prep work and the results show it. Way to go.