Dyeing arm rests

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73dust340

73dust340

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I'm going to be putting new arm rests on in the next few months, but I'm pretty anal about my interior and I've not seen one single set of black arm rests that are in very nice shape for a decent price. I've seen sets of other colors for very nice prices and I've been thinking about grabbing a set and dyeing it. I want it to look right and last, but I've never dyed anything like my 73's arm rests. What have you guys done?
 
The key to a good dye job is to get the item your dying as clean as you possibly can. Use a final step or final finish type cleaner to ensure that everything is immaculately clean. I simply used one of the vinyl paints at the local auto store. I did a pair of white bucket seats in black and you could not tell that they weren`t black upholstery to start with. The paint didn`t really show signs of wearing off for almost two years and that was with driving the car every day.
 
Sem Coatings is also very good. They have a good vinyl coating-Color Coat and a good vinyl prep. Do a little research on the internet, it will help you in your decision. I have used Sem it is really great stuff.
Dave
 
I dyed the entire interior except for the carpet and headliner from blue to black in 2000. I have since replaced the front and rear seat covers with new not because the dye came off but the stitching finally gave out. The arm rests, door panels and dash pad look as good as the day I did it back in 2000, that was almost 60k miles ago.

SEM Landau Black and as others said, clean, clean, clean. I used an ammonia based cleaner then finished up with SEM vinyl prep. When you start to spray any hint of fish eying you didn't clean enough. Stop wait for that first coat to drya and clean, clean clean.
 
Yep, These guys have pretty much covered it. Prep and clean is everything. I'm responding with another vote for the SEM products. I've used several differnt ones but seem to have the best application and durability with the SEM stuff.
 
My experience with using SEM "Landau" black was extemely positive, the color martched my interior very well. I used Simple Green to clean the arm rests pads and then a vinyl prep before painting (SEM is really a flexible paint and not a dye). I thought the Dupli-Color vinyl black was too glossy but it also worked very well.
 
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