Vinyl paint

[jeffc280sl]

Five years or so ago I replaced my vinyl seats and door panels with leather.  The new leather and old dash and other vinyl parts were close in color but not quite a match.  My sun visors were faded as were some of the other vinyl pieces in direct sun light.  I did some research about vinyl and leather dyes and discovered the vinyl dye is really a type of paint.  I sent off a piece of the leather to a place in Virginia and they were able to match the color.

They sent me an 8 oz bottle of dye/paint and I have been cleaning and painting vinyl all week.  I have to say it looks great with a dark green olive exterior.  My sun visors are now med brown where previously they were off white to light tan.  The vinyl now is a perfect match for the leather and all pieces are uniform.  I would recommend doing this job.  Best $28 I spent on the car.

Now I need to figure out what is the best UV top coat.

Jeff C.
1970 280SL 4-speed

[tuultyme]

Where did you get the "paint"?  What color were they matching for you?  DId you do the visors also?  I have cognac and was told by someone that they could not match that color as it is a redish color over a tan base.

Bruce; Blaugrun(green) 1970 280SL; IL

[n/a]

BAPS paint stores have this in the MARHYDE brand or PG sytem...they have small spray cans and one quart cans of ready mixed that can be shot from your spray gun,,,I know they had white in stock, I will be shooting a convertible top

[jeffc280sl]

Bruce,

I went with www.leatherworldtech.com and they were able to match my color.  I did paint my sunvisors and they look great.  I sent them a small sample and suggest you do the same.

Jeff C.
1970 280SL 4-speed

[n/a]

Congratulations, Jeff.  I did the same to my car when I replaced the leather.  I sent a sample to leatherique and they matched it perfectly.  I did not top coat with any protective and it has not faded in 5 years.  I did my sun visors also.  I think it adds a nice touch.
Regards,
Don

[n/a]

Amazing coincidence! Just last nite I dyed my sunvisors which I always thought were way too light, almost tan (the interior is bamboo). I got this dye from http://www.worlduph.com/semdye.htm

Finally, now my visors match the rest of interior. I am now recovering the whole interior w new bamboo MB-Tex. I also dyed the windshield pillar trim and the top windshield trim, these were still in great shape but the dye helped make them look almost brand new.

Next weekend, will disassemble the whole dash and start covering all dash pads w MBTex. I would have used dye except for a few cracks. Any advise for me?


Mike McMahon, Baltimore MD
1970 280SL 4-speed manual
olive green ext, bamboo int

[rwmastel]

Attention to all you sun visor-color-changing people!

I believe the correct color of the sun visors is that very light color that you think does not match the rest of your interior.  Actually, they match the color of the headliner in your hard top.  The original soft tops also had this same color liner in them, regardless of the exterior color.  So if you have good hard top and soft top liners, the sun visors should match them.

I could be crazy, but here's a few pics to back up my statement:

Whole interior color v. sun visors:
Download Attachment: 230sl_interieur.jpg
9.07 KB

Dash color v. sun visors:
Download Attachment: 250 SL cul.jpg
34.17 KB

Whole interior color v. sun visors:
Download Attachment: 280 sl Interior1.jpg
42.02 KB

Look at the dash instrument cluster material v. sun visor:
Download Attachment: Pago verd classic d.gif
41.54 KB

Whole interior color v. sun visors:
Download Attachment: vista interior.jpg
58.96 KB

Of course you can find many pics of sun visors that match the interior, but I believe it was original to match the top liners.


Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[n/a]

Rodd, good catch.  I think you are correct about visors matching the hardtop liner. I saw another car like mine with same light color visors, we both thought it was just sun faded.

I am still alot happier with the dyed visors which match the interior (bamboo). In the 12 years I have owned my car, I have used the hardtop only a couple times. Much better to have a matching interior with the top down, since this is how I most often drive it.



Mike McMahon, Baltimore MD
1970 280SL 4-speed manual
olive green ext, bamboo int