Hey guys,
Looking for a little advice here. Got a 68 Cutlass convertible that's a bright red with dark red interior. According to the body tag, those are the original colors.
So I have the dash off to redo the wiring harness behind it and clean up the gauges.


I'd love to have a black interior and was planning to paint/dye everything. I figured I'd ask what you guys thought about this. I know it's a pretty big undertaking but the dark red interior really limits any exterior colors I might want to paint. There's a bunch of wear and tear on the interior, so it needs to get painted one way or the other.. Should I leave it dark red, or go through the whole process and change it to black?


Thanks
Jim

 

Color choice is really a personal decision. I guess it depends on whether you plan to keep it or resell. Some collectors prefer the cowl tag to match the car exactly. If you paint it to suit your liking, no harm done IMO. Black interiors go with any exterior color,especially bright red.

 

Right, and the original motor/trans is long gone... It's an LS conversion already so originality is out of the question.


Has anyone dyed their entire interior?
I'm starting to see what a big undertaking this is... What I'm actually worried about it is painting the dash frame up near the windshield....

 

Well then that changes things a bit. Go for it! I have re sprayed by rear seat and door panels with Duplicolor vinyl/fabric dye. Turned out looking like new, which was the goal. Overall impression of that product was 9/10. I deducted 1 point because it took a long time to dissipate the paint smell. Appearance and wear I rate it 10/10.

 

Dash metal? Take out the winshield and do it right.

When you do the paint or dye it's really really important to clean the parts thoroughly to get rid of any silicone based products that may have been used by a previous owner. Also use an adhesion promoter especially if you decide to go with SEM paint or it won't adhere as well.

 

I used SEM Landau Black to change a complete Parchment interior to Black and it turned out great. Everyone asks who did my interior. I tell em I did! As per previous posts, getting the vinyl CLEAN is the key to success. SEM has a cleaner that works great. Clean it and clean it again. Can't be too clean. If a part somehow gets a small nick, you can touch up spray without redoing the entire area.

 

Thanks guys... Yeah I've been reading a ton about painting plastic and painting/dying vinyl... bunch of opinions but they all revolve around cleaning the hell out of the part.


Probably won't start painting until after Christmas, use this weekend to clean up the wiring harness like originally planned.. will post pics when I can...


thanks for all the advice.
Jim

 

Happy cleaning and de gremlin-ing anything with the wiring harnesses! Looking forward to the results pics when you get it done. Now go spend some time with your family and enjoy Christmas.

 

I have a white interior. When I bought my car, the door panels were BAD! Years of leaking meant rust color came from the back side of the vinyl and nothing would clean it. Bu for the most part, other that the discolor, I had very few damage to the vinyl.


On the advice of my trim shop guy, I went to a marine store and got marine vinyl dye. Marine applications are pretty severe. He color matched to a piece from a new Legendary Seat set. The panels came out looking new and still look that way 5 years later. Marine dye is not cheap, and a quart cost about $200. Although I did not change color, dying some of the rust colored orange areas was almost like changing colors.


Scrub, scrub and scrub again and use a degreaser just like you are degreasing before painting.

 

I have also used SEM landeau black paint. It is really nice paint to spray, and seems really durable when applied properly.

 

Is that last picture of lower speaker grilles? I did not k kw these cars had thay ad an option. Anyone k kw if it was an a 1972 S model?

 

They are fresh are grilles

 

Those kick panels are from non AC cars. Notice there are 2 chrome pull *****? The upper one allows outside air to flow to the upper vent on that side, while the bottom one opens the flapper directing air to the lower one. That system only works when the car is moving at a rate of speed, and best flow rate when one of the windows is opened a bit. On non AC cars, the center of the dash doesn't have a vent - it's a fill in. Also the upper vents on the non AC cars are a different style and attachment.

Non AC


AC (also note lower dash air vents, sometimes called 'crotch coolers') The areas behind the kickpanels on an AC car also are the location for vacuum dashpots, and the kickpanel has no venting whatsoever.

 

thanks! my 72" S is an AC car, and does not have speakers grates there sadly. i would like to add some speakers, but do not want to shy too far from factory for resale value

 

Just buy an extra set, and put speakers in them, then swap the original ones back in if need be.

 

Totally understandable. I went with door speakers cut into the carpet. They are visible but not overpowering.

2008_0314MILLER0019.jpg?t=1260404608

 

The 68 red interior isn't reproduced correctly by anyone. If you're interested in selling it I may know someone that's looking for it

 

Since it's winter time I'll throw in that temperature makes a difference. The dye I used seemed to be more picky about the air temperature than regular paint. I had to re-dye a part at a higher temp. And clean it well.

 

I recently dyed all my interior panels under the thread "78 royale interior upgrade finally finished!" check it out if you want, could be helpful to you. I had no problems and the panels came out excellent for a complete color change. the best thing to do after a thorough cleaning is to scuff the panels with sem scuff and clean or equivalent along with a grey scuff pad and water. gives it just the right tooth for the adhesion promoter. read the cans as few do and you will be good to go. anyone with patience can pull it off with great, lasting results. good luck if you go for it, dave