Interior black vinyl match ?

damienh

damienh

Well-Known Member
Messages
332
Reaction score
60
Location
London UK
Hi all, I’ve been trying to match the black vinyl used on the dash, A pillars, etc, but I can’t find anything that would pass for the original.

Has anybody found anything suitable ?

Thanks,

Damien
 
When I was matching the black dash on my E3, my upholstery guy came over with his book of black vinyl swatches. There were literally hundreds of them. Hue, shade, grain, finish, sheen, etc.

If you haven't done so already, try a few good upholstery shops for their "black book"
 
Damien, let me try to find my World Upholstery invoice to give you the vinyl number so you can reach out to them for a sample. It matched grain-wise and color-wise but a bit thicker than OEM and was more satin. Our interiors may look satin but if you have pulled a seat and seen unexposed vinyl, you'll see it looks semi-gloss. I used SEM to get the right sheen.
 
Thanks guys, great tips. Have to spoken to world uph before about something else and they were very helpful. Totally agree about the sheen, I’ve had a few satin samples in the post which were nowhere near as glossy.
 
Here ya go.

IMG_1518.JPG
 
Bavbob, many thanks, a sample is on its way from World.

In the meantime, you’ve given me a mad idea to have a go at repairing the small bit of damage with some kind of flexible filler and painting the whole part with this SEM paint you mention. Did you get a perfect match with it ? And how is it holding up since ?
 
damienh - if you are going to try a patch, try a vinyl repair kit that comes with a heating device to cure the filler. These kits usually have templates that you place between the heating device and the filler. Each template imparts a slightly different grain or texture to the fill. I used this to fill screw holes in my door card vinyl (from speakers mounted onto the door card) before I dyed the vinyl.
 
Small areas, I actually used black seam sealer and gently pressed a piece of vinyl against it to get some grain. You can use paint thinner on your fingertip to smooth it out first, works well (I think I lost my fingerprints 20 years ago) After drying, I hit it with SEM.

I brought some original black vinyl that was hidden under the seat and took it to a car paint supplier. Guy here is salt of the earth and loves the challenge so he matched it. I can probably get the formula for you. Not done with the car so longevity, IDK. Others have used SEM and can attest.
 
Thanks guys. Never heard of a vinyl repair kit, but I'll do some digging. Regarding the SEM, I thought it may be a US only thing, but actually I just had a look and it seems that it is available in the UK after all. I'll let you know if I get anywhere. Regarding the formula, would be great if it's possible to get a hold of, but don't go to too much trouble, I can always just do the same when I find a paintshop with knowledge of the product.
 
Apologies, I thought I responded to this, but many thanks again, I will give that code to the paint shop and see if they can get some.

Regards,

Damien
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top