Used vinyl paint for the first time...

[dang]

I'm cleaning up that '76 2002 I bought recently and decided to look into painting (or dying if you'd prefer) the seats. The front and rear seats are in very good condition and have been recovered in the past, but they all seemed faded somewhat. I searched the internet and checked out all the reviews and how-to videos and decided to try Dupli-color brand, plus it was the easiest to find. My friend is a professional leather repair guy and uses rubbing alcohol to prep the leather he works on, so I figured that was a good start. A couple passes with the alcohol and I started painting. It goes on thin, which is good, but covers pretty well. I was painting tan over tan so I had an advantage, but a guy I work with changed his black seats to white and it held up for over a year before he sold the car. Here's a photo of the bottom of the rear seat after finishing up...

 

[GolfBavaria]

That looks great! Did you spray apply, brush, or rub on with a cloth?

 

[dang]

That looks great! Did you spray apply, brush, or rub on with a cloth?

It comes in a spray can.

 

[GolfBavaria]

Very cool, it must go on thin which is nice because the dimples still look great (not filled in with paint). Thanks for the tip.

 

[steve in reno]

Very cool, it must go on thin which is nice because the dimples still look great (not filled in with paint). Thanks for the tip.

I used the Sem dye/paint when I changed from blue to black on my armrests and ashtray covers. Also used the prep.
Still in perfect condition after 6 years.

Dan, your seat looks new!

 

[Ohmess]

I used the SEM paint on an armrest and some door panels for my son's car, and it worked pretty well.

With my e9, I used a leather dye on my door panels and it took several coats to cover (darker tan over light tan).

 

[CSteve]

I used the SEM paint on an armrest and some door panels for my son's car, and it worked pretty well.

With my e9, I used a leather dye on my door panels and it took several coats to cover (darker tan over light tan).

My upholstery guy used SEM on my tan leather going to black. Now I have the correct Polaris over black. Thank you Larry. In addition to turning it black it somehow made the leather look newer without all the imperfections of the old tan. It went from a 3 to a 7-8 but I tend to be the optimist. Anyway, it looks terrific. I have a spare can for when it might fade a bit on the driver's seat. The backs of course will always be pristine.

Steve

 

[dang]

My upholstery guy used SEM on my tan leather going to black. Now I have the correct Polaris over black. Thank you Larry. In addition to turning it black it somehow made the leather look newer without all the imperfections of the old tan. It went from a 3 to a 7-8 but I tend to be the optimist. Anyway, it looks terrific. I have a spare can for when it might fade a bit on the driver's seat. The backs of course will always be pristine.

Steve

My buddy does leather repair so when I've needed help in the past he mixes up some dye for me. I dyed some rear 6-series tan seats to black and did it with a rag with several coats using less pressure each coat. Looks awesome. He would've sprayed it on and now that I have an hvlp gun for that kind of stuff I'll do it that way next time. I was a little concerned about doing vinyl because it doesn't seem like it would absorb the dye as well, but so far its worked great.

 

[Layne]

Very cool, it must go on thin which is nice because the dimples still look great (not filled in with paint). Thanks for the tip.

I've use the SEM a lot and it has no discernible thickness whatsoever. It's excellent on any type of plastic of vinyl, even works on metal etc, and I did some carpet with decent results (there are liquid dyes that are better for carpet). I definitely would not use it on real leather, that's a different process altogether.

 

[dang]

Finished the interior. Here's a few pics...

 

[Stan]

looks great