Vinyl Reconditioning

[KUMARB]

I am in the process of redoing the interior of my 280SL. Vinyl on dash board, door panels, footwell panels, seats and elsewhere are of slightly different shades of parchment. Dash board and headliner have some brown spots. One option would be to replace all of them. However, this would be an  expensive option. Old vinyls are otherwise in good condition, there are no rips or tears, and are supple. If I dye them using Color Plus or some other vinyl dye, will that make them half way decent? Any comments and/or advice will be very much appreciated.

P.S.: I intend to drive the car, it does not have to be a show piece, but a decent looking car.

[Roman Kishi]

I used a vinyl spray from World Upholstery, www.worlduph.com, great results, like new. The secret is good cleaning and preparation before spraying

[69280sl]

I can recommend the vinyl dye (it is really water based paint) available from World Upholstery. It flows out evenly, covers well and dries quickly. I changed some parts from cognac and black, to beige. it worked fine. Note however that the parts I painted are not subject to wear as the seats would be.

World upholstery charges a one time "formulating" fee to match whatever sample you send them.The paint is available in spray cans and liquid.

[KUMARB]

Thanks, rkishi and 69280SL, for your suggestion.

I took your advice and ordered today a pint of brush-on dye from World Upholstery. By the way, did you use any cleaner other than soap and water before applying the dye?

[Richard Madison]

Cleaning vinyl: My previous car had the original Cognac MB Tex with many years of embedded dirt...tried many fancy products. The one that did the best job was undiluted Lestoil (used traditionally to clean public toilets). This was suggested by another Pagoda owner.

I applied the Lestoil with a fairly stiff bristle brush (don't use a wire brush)...lots of hard brushing...wipe off with a paper towel...more Lestoil. It did the job and cleaned the Tex very nicely.

Richard M, NYC

[perry113]

I went the route to redye the original vinyl interior in my 230SL rather than replacing.

I used a three stage professional kit made by SEM. I purchased the kit through bodyshop paint distributor. The results were excellent. There are 2 stages of prepping and cleaning the vinyl prior to spraying color. The kit requires use of a paint gun (nice uniform finish) vs. brush. I disected the interior completely to do it and performed the job a my friend's restoration shop equiped with paint booth.

After 2 years the color has still held up.

This decsion not only saved big money if I had replaced, but makes my car have a nice original patena. It's fine as my car is just a nice driver and not a show car.

Best of luck with your Pagoda.

Peter Perry
1965 230SL

[hauser]

A steam cleaner would probably do the trick for cleaning purposes.

[J. Huber]

Is this the same process one would use to get the hardtop lining back to its original color? And did I hear brush-on instead of spray?

[perry113]

Thanks, rkishi and 69280SL, for your suggestion.

I took your advice and ordered today a pint of brush-on dye from World Upholstery. By the way, did you use any cleaner other than soap and water before applying the dye?

Follow exactly the intructions given to you by World Upholstry with regard to cleaning and preparation. Do they offer or specify specific cleaning agent?

The SEM kit I used had not only specific intructions but 2 different cleaning chemicals (2 stage chemical prep) to apply. I first used a fine scuff pad on all surfaces. I then used a damp cloth and used a toothbruth for the center area textures on the front seating surfaces (I had to separate the bottom and seat backs). Once the 2 stage cleaning process was done the vinyl became sticky to the touch.

The stuff has held up extremly well proving it's durability. Another key to this whole thing is getting the color right.

As far as dying the headliner, I would give it a shot. The cost of replacing and having someone qualified to do it can be expensive (very labor intensive).

[hauser]

On the Total Restore video there's a segment on dyeing the upholstery.