How do people restore colored interiors?

[DAYLEY/CHALLENGER]

I did mine with  the SEM method.......Black  but you can do colors...

[MJS73]

So if you had a nice set of door panels, and console, and you set them to Just Dashes, would they cover them in vinyl, or just dye them?

The first link in my earlier reply shows how they vacuum form new vinyl to the panels.  They can do this with any hard plastic object.  Like was mentioned, they drill a series a very small pinholes around the object, and place it on a vacuum table.  New vinyl is heated first, then sucked onto the object by the vacuum table, where it is bonded to the object.  They do not do any dying, it's all re-finishing. 

Advantages are that you have a new surface, so scratches, etc. do not show up.  Some have said that the grain is not EXACTLY like the originals, but neither are the repros.  I also feel that the new vinyl is a good gauge and is more durable than painting or dying old ones.  To each his own, but after seeing the results I got, there's no way I would try to clean up an old set. 

And I've heard too mnay horror stories about repros being too short, not fitting, etc.  For my money, get them re-finished at Just Dashes.  The cost is very similar to repros.  Check out the finished product in the second link in my earlier reply.

Mike

[Challenger_7]

Guys !!! The man is saying he has a very nice set of door panels and console !! So why mess them up by recovering them? We are all dying to keep our goods as original as possible. Dying them should be the first and only option if the items in question are still looking original and good. Other options should be considered only if the items in question have been messed up.
My car was turned into all red interior before I bought it. I am changing its looks to Plum Crazy with white interior, and I went through the process of removing old colors in order to put on the new ones. Under the red, I discovered white and black panels. The dash was recovered as it was in terrible shape.
I did order new door panels from YearOne and they fit like a glove. All the rest of the stuff is being dyed with excellent results. I am still looking for the rear seat panels as mine are in terrible condition, and I do not want to cover them.
In my case, car paint was used on the old panels and to remove that is a real headache, but must be done in order to get down to the original plastic grain pattern. So jeryst, whatever you have which still looks good, dye it and save much money buddy, but more important is keep it looking stock.
See attached photos of how my car was when all red.
Good luck, Farouk

[MJS73]

That's a lot of red.

Mike

[72hemi]

When I went to Mopar's at the Strip last year Just Dashes had some door panels that they restored and as some people may love how they look, I personally do not. They look like someone glued vinyl to the door panel and in no way shape or form look original. I would take repops with incorrect grain way before considering applying vinyl, but that is just me.

[jeryst]

Thanks for the pics Farouk.

Does anyone have pics of an original stock red interior? I'm mostly interested in the dash area, to see if everything was red, or if some if the pieces remained black.

[72hemi]

As I recall the gauge panel remained black (woodgrain if rallye gauges) and the radio bezel and heater or ac control unit. Everything else was red.

[Challenger_7]

Very true Mike too much!
As 72hemi said, here are some photos to confirm the colors. You may see some cars with a black steering colomn or even horn push button. This would probably be due to left overs from a conversion . But honestly, I am no refereence on this, just photos from the web. Aslo I believe some differences existed between years and models. Mine is a 71 and no red interiors came on a 71. One sure reference is the photo of a brochure showing all the red there should be. By the way jeryst, what is your car?
Hope this helps.

[MJS73]

Challenger_7, what seats are those?  There's another thread here somewhere about identifying seats that look just like that.

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=43381.0

Mike

[Challenger_7]

Mike, they are photos of different cars, challenger, cuda and maybe also a charger amongst them, but they are all 70 models.
Farouk

[MJS73]

Here is the console re-finished by Just Dashes:











Someone's gonna ask what it cost, so I'll just say it...it was $500.

Mike

[Challenger_7]

Ouch ! I feel the price is too steep if you compare to a complete e body dash that we are getting through Nick's for the same price!
Mind you, the job is very neat, but the small channel running around is gone, and the pattern is not identical to the original one.
I have seen some consoles offered on ebay but never paid attention to the price.
Mine was broken on the side where the weakest point is, and I was lucky to find an original one through an old timer here. I bought it for maybe $150, it was a steal as it was perfect, but green in color. I cleaned it, painted it and installed a new plate (chrome/wooden one that goes on the top) which I had ordered from Yearone, and it is just perfect. I was lucky there

[72hemi]

The console looks really nice, but for someone who is doing a restoration back to stock that process won't work primarily because you can tell that the part has been covered with vinyl. For someone who does not car that the interior be totally correct I'm sure that is a good alternative.

[MJS73]

I agree it was expensive, but you get what you pay for. The finished product is absolutely beautiful and I'm very happy with it.  I'm not sure how you compare refinishing a console to buying a new dash, though; it's apples and oranges.  You're comparing a newly-manufactured production piece to a hand-redone piece.

I agree the grain is not identical (and that's been discussed here before) but if you put a chip of the original vinyl and a chip of the Just Dashes vinyl in front of me, I wouldn't be able to tell you which was which.  So if you're doing a points-judged car, this isn't the way to go.  I've deviated from the broadcast sheet and fender tag, so it doesn't matter.

For anyone doing a car they intend to drive and not trailer to points judgings, this is a great way to go.

[jeryst]

It does look very nice. Thanks for the pics.