Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

[James D.]

Good afternoon,
Need some advice on transforming my interior back to it's original Bright Blue color. The headliner, door panels, seats, etc.. were recolored black. I see signs that they were sprayed with a vinyl dye of some type, as there are tell tale signs of the blue underneath... the interior peices are in great shape with regards to sagging, cuts, abrasions, etc... just want to get them back to the original color. Has anyone attempted to remove vinyl dye? If so, how were you able to do that without damageing the vinyl? Is laquer thinner the way to go? Or will that melt the vinyl and remove the grain? Or should I just re-dye on top of that? Thanks in advance for your advice! Ed

[Russ S.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

Clean it with a vinyl cleaner and then re-dye over the black. As far as I know there is no way to remove the dye.

[Edward J.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

Jim, you can also purchase a primer for the interior components that need to be re-sprayed, this will help with the dye adhering. Corvette America sells this product along with the dye. use a simple green first before the primer to remove any oil or solvents .

[Bob I.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

Ed
I went through the same dilemma, I re-dyed all the pieces except the seats. I had the seats recovered, the dying process is very easy. The key to re-dying is in the preparation, removing any contaminate's ( amorall, dust, oil from your hands ) I used Sem's vinyl cleaners and vinyl prep. I was very pleased with the results.
Bob

[James D.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

Thank you fellas. It sounds like you all agree that I should not try to remove the existing dye, but go the route of re-dying with dilegent prep work... it's nice to hear that you had great results with this. I was thinking that I could remove the black dye, and then if necessary respray so if scuffs occured the color underneath would be blue... but it sounds like this would be very risky (ruining what I have). Thank you again for your advice!! Ed

[Mike C.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

James if you choose to go the vinyl dye route go to Sems products and follow their recommendations on what products to use. It's a few steps. Scrub, cleaner, prep and dye. Don't skip any steps and it will work.

[James D.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

Thanks Mike! Thats two votes for Sems

[Bill W.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

I would not re dye without removing the black dye. Too much material . I would try lacquer thinner .

[Steven B.]

Re: Best route to get interior back to original Bright Blue Color?

I had a car way back when with a maroon vinyl interior that had been dyed medium red. My local Chevy dealer had a non-caustic liquid in a bottle without a label they got from an upholstery shop 30 miles away (neither in business now). I rubbed it on with a terry cloth and the dye came off without damaging the vinyl or the grain. Try a couple of really good shops as they may have something. I also used the same stuff on my '57 red interior. Steve