Interior Seats and Dash restoration

[Yukongk]

Well, like many of you, I had paint peeling on my dash (upper pewter color, and lower shale color). I have searched high and low for a solution to no avail, and was about to remove the dash pad and power wash all the paint off and leave it black/unpainted. Then I stumbled onto a leather restoration site because I wanted to also repair a hole in the driver seat cover. Turns out the dye's they sell for leather restoration are compatible with hard vinyls and plastic as long as you use a plastic primer. I ordered from leatherworldtech.com but there are a handful of sites that sell water based dyes and are dedicated to leather restoration. The main items you will need is:
-color matched dye
-plastic primer
-topcoat
-prep cleaner
-leather protectant/conditioner
-foam brushes
-thick paint sponge
-acrylic brush (if you need to paint in tight areas)
-green vinyl scuff pad
-grey leather scuff pad
-leather adhesive
-leather filler
-600 and 1000 grit sandpaper
-hair dyer (if you want to speed up drying times)
-a lot of paper towel to keep your space clean

I will use this thread to post my progress and will upload pics. I'm happy to answer questions.

Attached is a pic of the first part that needed to be restored.

 

[Yukongk]

So I sprayed a "Prep cleaner" onto the surface and wiped it with a lint free paper towel. I then took a green scuff pad and CAREFULLY scuffed the area to be painted. You need to take caution with this step so you don't end up peeling up more of the factory paint. Once dry, I applied "Plastic Primer" with a foam brush. Make sure you apply it evenly without drips. I let it dry 8 hours and then applied a second coat of primer (company says you can use a hair dryer to speed up drying times). Once dry, I applied a light coat of Shale "Dye Colorant." The idea is to BUILD the color with 3-4 coats of dye. If you apply too much dye on any coat, you will be able to tell it was painted and you might cover the grain of the plastic. Do not try to completely cover on the first coat. Here is what it looked like after 2 coats. I ordered "low gloss" dye which is a little too dull for my dash, but once it is fully cured, I will use an interior cleaner to shine it up slightly. I also purchased a top coat in semi gloss that I will experiment with.

Edit: uploaded a clearer pic.

 

[Yukongk]

Now onto the grey area (the actual color is medium Dk pewter). I prepped the area and applied 2 coats of primer yesterday. This morning I applied a coat of colorant. I will post pics once I get a few coats on there.

Something to keep in mind: Over the years the factory paint may change color due to uv rays ,etc, so some areas will require you to paint more than just the peeled area. You may want to paint a whole section for better blending.

On a side note, my seats were filthy and looked like they needed to be replaced. I cleaned them with a degreaser and they look like night and day. I purchased a "leather filler" and adhesive to patch holes and fill scratches. I am just waiting for the right time to dye them since I won't be able to use my Yuk while the dye is curing!

 

[Yukongk]

Well, here it is. Looks pretty good. I could have peeled a larger area of the existing paint and made a "seam" in an inconspicuous area, but I'm happy with how it looks now, so I'll stop here.

 

[BubsXL]

Looks good. Would you mind sharing where you got the stuff.

 

[Yukongk]

Looks good. Would you mind sharing where you got the stuff.

Yea, http://leatherworldtech.com
There are many sites that sell their own kits/products. I happened to find this site and their CS walked me through the process, so I ordered from them. Make sure you get water based dyes, not solvent based. I'm doing my seats now, I'll post pics when done.

 

[Yukongk]

Drivers Seat Cover Before.......
(Note the creases and cracks and the hole in the seat. One panel was dry and rough like sandpaper. This seat cover was really ready for the trash. My restoration came out great considering how bad the condition of the seat cover was)

 

[Yukongk]

After......
DISREGARD THE "dot" YOU WILL SEE IN ALL MY PICS. My iphone 5 has a piece of dust in the lens.

 

[Yukongk]

Passenger seat after......
(Don't have a before pic but it was the same color as the drivers side, but in slightly better condition with only a couple of scrapes and cracks that I used adhesive and filler to fix)

 

[Yukongk]

Driver side door handle before.......

(At first I thought it was just dirt in the cracks but upon cleaning and further inspection, I realized the paint was worn off)