I'm planning to work on some interior mods this winter. I want to change my all black interior to mod red. That requires red for the driver side lower knee bolster, glove box and both lower door sections.

I tried finding new replacement parts, however GM no longer produces them and many on-line vendors don't stock them, so if GM no longer makes them, the vendors no longer sell them.

Next, I thought I would try used or salvage parts. I've discovered that it's a crapshoot as to whether I will get lucky and find near-new components that match my near new/immaculate existing interior.

That brings me up to my question on the interior dye option. Can anyone who has performed this mod provide some "how to" advice? Some questions I specifically have are: (1) What prep is needed on the vinyl interior surfaces prior to applying the dye? (2) What, if any, clearcoat or final coat is applied after the dye? (3) Can the same vinyl dye be used on the door speaker grills? (4) Should the speaker grills be removed as I read once you bend the metal clips back to remove them, odds are they will break when you try to bend them back after re-installing them? (5) Who makes the best interior dye? This is what I found at Corvette America that matches the 2000-2004 GM Torch Red...



Before/after pics would be appreciated or a link to a previous thread on the procedure. I searched but came up empty specific to these components.

Thanks!

 

I have used SEM and duplicolor vinyl and plastic spray paints with great success. SEM is sometimes crapshoot (literally) if the can has been stored fir a long time.

Wash the surfaces with SEM soap, treat with SEM vinyl or plastic prep and paint. You can add flat or satin clear for better finish.

The grille comes right off it wont break. You can use the same paint or regular duplicolor rattle can paint.

 

Thanks. No problem with the spray paint clogging up the grill pores? Did you remove your grills when you painted them?

 

I didn't need to paint the grille as I mentioned in the other thread. SEM will likely clog the pores. Duplicolor is thinner.

I moved the grille from another panel.

 

Thanks. So far I've found a mod red LH driver's side speaker grill, however still chasing down the RH passenger side speaker grill. I agree I would rather swap those out than paint over the grills.

Anyone else have any pics/words of advice? Best paint/dye, procedures, tips, pitfalls, etc.?

 

Dye/Paint going from Black to a lighter color is just not going to work.

Maybe on the door panels and knee bolsters but on the leather seats NO Way

In a very short time the black will start showing through and it will look real bad

We traded a guy my son's ZO6 Black interior for his Mod Red. (the guy wanted black and did not like the Mod red)

I would hold out for a deal or do Carskinz or something.

Just my 02 cuz you asked

 

Thanks for the info. To clarify, I am not planning on dying the seats. The only dye/paint I'm considering is for the lower door panels, glove box and lower knee bolster. I am planning a new set of matching Vette Essentials black/red seat leather. I already have their shift boot/****, ebrake boot/handle and door handles. That's why it's important that I match up the red dye to the OEM torch red.

I also understand that red covering black is not easy, so I will need primer and/or white applied prior to the red. It's this kind of feedback I appreciate.

Funny many all black interior guys want mod red or some other color when there are probably just as many mod red or two-tone guys who want all black interiors. Maybe I should start an interior trade sticky.

 

When using vinyl paints the primer is the vinyl prep spray. The paint will chemically bond with the plastic. The only real trick is to believe and follow the instructions that come with the materials, like usual when painting anything. The SEM website has a lot of good reading material.

The B-body guys do this stuff a lot since those cars are all rotting out. Check eg impala ss forums site.

 

Thanks. Do you know how close SEM colors are to the GM colors? The dye from Corvette America (above) matches the OEM GM Factory colors. I checked out the SEM website and they have a color chart listing 15373 "Flame Red" however I wonder whether they can custom tint to a specific GM color code.

 

For the red I don't know. For tan, the Honda color was a better match than the GM color... If you paint all the panels anyway the match doesn't matter that much. It won't match the leather seats perfectly anyway because of different grain, etc.

The corvette america dyes are supposed to be a good match. BTW, I would definitely use a spray gun instead of a rattle can with those dyes because of better control of film thickness and no spitting. You want to leave the grain showing through the paint. Also, you can shoot very thin paint on the grilles to minimize clogging.

I have no idea how durable the corvette america materials are. I've had Duplicolor painted armrests in my B-body for years and they still look good. No cracking or flaking.

 

Thanks. I appreciate the feedback. If I try this myself, I will definitely invest in a spray gun. I have a guy in my local club that does this type of work as well, so I might just have him do it. I just want to make sure I match up the dye/paint to the GM torch red as much as possible. I already have one of the GM torch red speaker grills as reference and I'm tracking down a passenger side.

Another option is that I spoke with an auto/Vette upholstery shop. Even with my low miles, the armrest foam on my OEM door panels is starting to pull away. I guess this is common with the C5s and since I live in Florida, the humidity has probably accelerated the process. This shop indicated they can remove the OEM vinyl, repair/replace the arm rest foarm and then install new vinyl. At that point they could also install red vinyl over the lower section. My challenge would be then matching all the red sections. Some would be red vinyl, some would be red dye and the others VE red leather. I know it won't be 100% perfect, however I want to make sure I start with the matching reference point. Perhaps it would just be easier to have him reupholster the entire door in black and then have the lower section dyed to match the other sections. Fun stuff!

 

Have you thought about maybe having Vette essential cover the knee bolsters etc in red leather to match the seats?

Done right it would look awesome

 

I didn't ask, however I asked about covering my center console and other items and they told me they didn't offer custom pieces, just the ones listed on their website.

I know Apsis and other providers offer leather cover door panels, etc., however now we're getting into seriously more $$$.

 

When I changed to oem mod red door panels, knee bolster, and glove box; I had a local auto upholstery shop put torch red inserts in my seat skins. The red leather was not listed as a gm oem color, but matched perfectly. Now an expert may say differently, but the point is you can get very close to matching paint/dye and fabrics.

 

Vette Essentials provided me some extra swatches of their mod red so that helps me match up the dye/paint/vinyl. I think I will be very close with all sections especially since I have the GM OEM speaker grills.

 

Painting speaker grilles were not a problem for adhesion or closing holes. The prongs on the bose emblems are prone to breakage when rebent,new ones list for $20ea or can glue back on.
Often local paint store can tint SEM paint further from formula to match a supplied trim part in desired shade of red.

 

Thanks. I have an excellent PDF file off the SEM website that details all of their products and procedures. However there still seems to be different type of SEM dye options.

I believe the procedure steps are (1) clean/prep (2) apply white or primer coat(s) (3) apply mod red coat(s) and (4) apply some type of finish or clearcoat.

They offer mixed and spray cans. Earlier exchange suggests using a paint spray gun. Lots of options.