Zer0Morph
Go Colts!!
I've noticed the "Dye" thread has come back into popularity, and since somebody seems to ask about once a month on how to dye their interiors, I thought I'd just make an Instructional about it. Hopefully this helps and if you have any questions on something I didn't cover, please feel free to Private Message me, email me at [email protected], or find me on MSN Chat and IM me at fwguy1979.
Materials you will need
SEM Vinyl Dye (Can be purchased online for approx. $10 per can, also called SEM Color coat, don't be confused by this, it IS the vinyl dye. People here have used VHT dye as well and seemed to have great success with it, though I have never actually used it, you can give it a shot.)
Regular Autozone Break Cleaner
Paper Towels
Painters Tape(Blue painters tape, can be purchased at Autozone as well)
Regular White Notebook Paper(Legal or letter sized is fine)
---------------------------------------------------------
Total Approx. cost = $50.00 Tops
(Note: For the parts I dyed, I only used 3 cans and still have a 1/2 can left over
)
This is a bit of a long story, but designing the perfect interior for my mustang has not been easy. I looked and looked at different mustang interiors and after a long search I finally found the one I liked. So here's the plan, I needed to dye the top half of my interior including doors completely black, and I wanted Larry (my body/paint guy) to re-paint the red paneling to match the color of my car which is Dark Shadow Gray. Lastly I need to get rid of those flames on my gauges but I like the white faced w/ blue lighting, so later I will buy the exact same gauge but without the flames (Nu View gauges makes them).
Background - At this point in the story I had already dyed both my doors and the pillars/air vent of my dash. In the pictures below I'm about to dye the top half of my dashboard (which turned out to be the hardest and most time consuming).
Taking apart the dash - The next few pictures below I took to show you the insanely awesome job the SEM dye did for my doors. Its nuts how long and the patience you need to make this look great, but its totally worth it in the end. The pictures directly below those are shown so you can see how I took out the interior paneling of my dash.
Taping it off - This is by far the hardest and most time consuming part of dying. By this time I had already dyed both doors, along with many smaller removable pieces, and taping it off is my most dreaded part. I know it wouldn't seem like it, but this next part took me 2 hours to do. The more time you spend taping it off in the beginning, the less time you will spend repairing your screw-ups later (Trust Me)!!
Time to shoot it!! - I know I didn't show this part, but I thought it would be pointless for me to take pictures of me cleaning the dash with break cleaner. Here's how I did it though, its actually very simple, just fold a section of paper towel off, spray it a little with break cleaner and wipe down the dash. The break cleaner dries REALLY fast which is nice.
After that came the actual spraying part, which in the past was pretty easy but the dash was much tougher because of all the little nooks and crannies. I basically sprayed 5 light coats letting it dry at least 10 minutes between coats. Doing this is crucial if you want an even non drippy looking dash, and don't worry if your first coat looks like @ss, its supposed too. Every coat after the 1st will start looking better and better, until about the 5th coat it should look VERY solid and smooth. My best advice is shoot THIN coats, did you hear me I said THIN COATS!! Don't be in a hurry and DO NOT spray another coat until the 10 minutes is up or it will look chunky and rough. Also make sure to spray in a garage where there is a roof, no direct sunlight and no wind. Also try to spray on days when its dry and not raining, moisture can make it bubble up. Also don't spray when its cold out, spray in at least 55 degree weather. Spraying should take at least 1 hour for this part.
WARNING!! One thing that I neglected to mention. Some of you might have noticed that in some of the pictures you see me wearing a mask. I bought this mask at Walmart for 5 dollars and it was worth every penny. PLEASE O PLEASE wear a mask guys, the fumes will seriously mess you up. When I did the driver side door I thought I'd save a few bucks and do it without protection, boy was that a mistake. I was dizzy, felt nautious and my muscles twitched for a couple hours after I did it. I couldn't concentrate on anything for about 24 hours, it seriously scared me. I vowed never again would I spray without a mask on. So please, save your lungs and your life and buy a mask, preferably like the one I'm wearing with a vent in the center and not a cheap 2 dollar mask.
Lets see how we did - This is by far the most fun part of it, SEEING YOUR NEW INTERIOR!! Basically after letting it dry for about 30 minutes, take off all of the newspaper, notebook paper, or whatever you used to tape it off. You might find little parts of overspray, drip marks, or crooked lines. The best way to repair this is to use Q-Tips and dip it in the break cleaner, use one side to take up the dye and the other to wipe and dry. For larger sections of over spray, just reclean those areas with paper towels again, like before. To make crooked lines even, sometimes you can use a sharp knife to shave off small parts of dry dye.
I'm happy as hell at how this turned out. Unfortunately I can't put my dash panels or the dash vent back on until the drying time is up. This would be a good time to tell you, MAKE SURE YOU LET IT DRY FOR 4 DAYS!!! If you spend 5 hours dying your dash like I did then touch it before 4 days I'll come over there and kick your ass!! Seriously though, the oils from you hands will make the dye come off later on down the road, so let it dry, breath, and adhere to your dash for 4 days minimum!! You may need a second car to drive during those 4 days, fortunately for me I've got a crappy old '94 Dodge Spirit as a winter car, and for weeks like these. Well, lets see how I did...
The Finished Product - Ok here it is after letting my interior dry for 4 days. I'm pleased as hell at how it turned out, better than I ever thought. If you look closely the bottom of the center console bezel is still that elephant brown color, I won't dye that black until Larry Elam paints the panels Dark Shadow Gray. I've poked, prodded, and messed with it and so far nothing has come off, I think letting it dry and breath for 4 days made it stick REALLY well!
Tips: After your 4 day dry time, take a clean cloth like an old soft sock or t-shirt and just kind've go over it like your sanding with sand paper. It helps smooth out the excess dye and makes it nice and smooth. Not only that but then you won't have black soot looking stuff on your hands or clothes. If you ever have any questions or just want to talk dye, contact me via email or Instant Messenger, Good Luck!!
What it looks like today!! - This tutorial was actually made about 2 months ago so all the pictures you just saw are relatively old. Most of you are probably wondering by now "After 2 months how is the dye holding up", let me tell you guys, the dye has NOT scratched, faded, cracked, chipped, anything what so ever. It is by far the best mod I could've ever done for my interior. On a scale from 1-10, I vote this mod a complete 10!!! If you followed my instructions to the "T", you won't have any problems with it later on down the road. Even in the intense heat of the summer sun it has stayed in tact just fine, as the heat from the sun makes the dashboard expand the dye expands with it, amazing stuff!!
About 3 weeks ago Larry (my body/paint guy) put on my Roush Stage 1 kit/ Stalker side skirts, he fixed my door, and repainted my panels. Here are the pics of my interior today. I can't express how much LOVE I have for my interior now, in my opinion I now have the perfect interior for my car. The Dark Shadow Gray panels matching the exterior looks so freakin sweet and really ties the car together. The little shiny silver specks in the paint are absolutely gorgeous when the sun hits it. My only interior mod left is to get rid of the flames on the gauges and I'll be set. Good Luck guys, message me for any questions!!
Materials you will need
SEM Vinyl Dye (Can be purchased online for approx. $10 per can, also called SEM Color coat, don't be confused by this, it IS the vinyl dye. People here have used VHT dye as well and seemed to have great success with it, though I have never actually used it, you can give it a shot.)
Regular Autozone Break Cleaner
Paper Towels
Painters Tape(Blue painters tape, can be purchased at Autozone as well)
Regular White Notebook Paper(Legal or letter sized is fine)
---------------------------------------------------------
Total Approx. cost = $50.00 Tops
(Note: For the parts I dyed, I only used 3 cans and still have a 1/2 can left over
)
This is a bit of a long story, but designing the perfect interior for my mustang has not been easy. I looked and looked at different mustang interiors and after a long search I finally found the one I liked. So here's the plan, I needed to dye the top half of my interior including doors completely black, and I wanted Larry (my body/paint guy) to re-paint the red paneling to match the color of my car which is Dark Shadow Gray. Lastly I need to get rid of those flames on my gauges but I like the white faced w/ blue lighting, so later I will buy the exact same gauge but without the flames (Nu View gauges makes them).
Background - At this point in the story I had already dyed both my doors and the pillars/air vent of my dash. In the pictures below I'm about to dye the top half of my dashboard (which turned out to be the hardest and most time consuming).
Taking apart the dash - The next few pictures below I took to show you the insanely awesome job the SEM dye did for my doors. Its nuts how long and the patience you need to make this look great, but its totally worth it in the end. The pictures directly below those are shown so you can see how I took out the interior paneling of my dash.
Taping it off - This is by far the hardest and most time consuming part of dying. By this time I had already dyed both doors, along with many smaller removable pieces, and taping it off is my most dreaded part. I know it wouldn't seem like it, but this next part took me 2 hours to do. The more time you spend taping it off in the beginning, the less time you will spend repairing your screw-ups later (Trust Me)!!
Time to shoot it!! - I know I didn't show this part, but I thought it would be pointless for me to take pictures of me cleaning the dash with break cleaner. Here's how I did it though, its actually very simple, just fold a section of paper towel off, spray it a little with break cleaner and wipe down the dash. The break cleaner dries REALLY fast which is nice.
After that came the actual spraying part, which in the past was pretty easy but the dash was much tougher because of all the little nooks and crannies. I basically sprayed 5 light coats letting it dry at least 10 minutes between coats. Doing this is crucial if you want an even non drippy looking dash, and don't worry if your first coat looks like @ss, its supposed too. Every coat after the 1st will start looking better and better, until about the 5th coat it should look VERY solid and smooth. My best advice is shoot THIN coats, did you hear me I said THIN COATS!! Don't be in a hurry and DO NOT spray another coat until the 10 minutes is up or it will look chunky and rough. Also make sure to spray in a garage where there is a roof, no direct sunlight and no wind. Also try to spray on days when its dry and not raining, moisture can make it bubble up. Also don't spray when its cold out, spray in at least 55 degree weather. Spraying should take at least 1 hour for this part.
WARNING!! One thing that I neglected to mention. Some of you might have noticed that in some of the pictures you see me wearing a mask. I bought this mask at Walmart for 5 dollars and it was worth every penny. PLEASE O PLEASE wear a mask guys, the fumes will seriously mess you up. When I did the driver side door I thought I'd save a few bucks and do it without protection, boy was that a mistake. I was dizzy, felt nautious and my muscles twitched for a couple hours after I did it. I couldn't concentrate on anything for about 24 hours, it seriously scared me. I vowed never again would I spray without a mask on. So please, save your lungs and your life and buy a mask, preferably like the one I'm wearing with a vent in the center and not a cheap 2 dollar mask.
Lets see how we did - This is by far the most fun part of it, SEEING YOUR NEW INTERIOR!! Basically after letting it dry for about 30 minutes, take off all of the newspaper, notebook paper, or whatever you used to tape it off. You might find little parts of overspray, drip marks, or crooked lines. The best way to repair this is to use Q-Tips and dip it in the break cleaner, use one side to take up the dye and the other to wipe and dry. For larger sections of over spray, just reclean those areas with paper towels again, like before. To make crooked lines even, sometimes you can use a sharp knife to shave off small parts of dry dye.
I'm happy as hell at how this turned out. Unfortunately I can't put my dash panels or the dash vent back on until the drying time is up. This would be a good time to tell you, MAKE SURE YOU LET IT DRY FOR 4 DAYS!!! If you spend 5 hours dying your dash like I did then touch it before 4 days I'll come over there and kick your ass!! Seriously though, the oils from you hands will make the dye come off later on down the road, so let it dry, breath, and adhere to your dash for 4 days minimum!! You may need a second car to drive during those 4 days, fortunately for me I've got a crappy old '94 Dodge Spirit as a winter car, and for weeks like these. Well, lets see how I did...
The Finished Product - Ok here it is after letting my interior dry for 4 days. I'm pleased as hell at how it turned out, better than I ever thought. If you look closely the bottom of the center console bezel is still that elephant brown color, I won't dye that black until Larry Elam paints the panels Dark Shadow Gray. I've poked, prodded, and messed with it and so far nothing has come off, I think letting it dry and breath for 4 days made it stick REALLY well!
Tips: After your 4 day dry time, take a clean cloth like an old soft sock or t-shirt and just kind've go over it like your sanding with sand paper. It helps smooth out the excess dye and makes it nice and smooth. Not only that but then you won't have black soot looking stuff on your hands or clothes. If you ever have any questions or just want to talk dye, contact me via email or Instant Messenger, Good Luck!!
What it looks like today!! - This tutorial was actually made about 2 months ago so all the pictures you just saw are relatively old. Most of you are probably wondering by now "After 2 months how is the dye holding up", let me tell you guys, the dye has NOT scratched, faded, cracked, chipped, anything what so ever. It is by far the best mod I could've ever done for my interior. On a scale from 1-10, I vote this mod a complete 10!!! If you followed my instructions to the "T", you won't have any problems with it later on down the road. Even in the intense heat of the summer sun it has stayed in tact just fine, as the heat from the sun makes the dashboard expand the dye expands with it, amazing stuff!!
About 3 weeks ago Larry (my body/paint guy) put on my Roush Stage 1 kit/ Stalker side skirts, he fixed my door, and repainted my panels. Here are the pics of my interior today. I can't express how much LOVE I have for my interior now, in my opinion I now have the perfect interior for my car. The Dark Shadow Gray panels matching the exterior looks so freakin sweet and really ties the car together. The little shiny silver specks in the paint are absolutely gorgeous when the sun hits it. My only interior mod left is to get rid of the flames on the gauges and I'll be set. Good Luck guys, message me for any questions!!
