Re-Coloring Blue Seats

[Shadoobie]

I have a blue interior that I've replaced most of the panels in and everything looks great but the seats. While they don't have any wear, the gorgeous baby blue has faded considerably over time. It becomes even more obvious when paired with the vibrantly colored interior panels. Does anyone know where I can get a dye of that color or of any spray can paint to match it?

[Frog2Spider]

Unfortunately not Shadoobie.
SIMM Vinyl Dye is the best, but not to be used on a 'wearing' surface, like a car seat. Best to buy some seat covers and save for new upholstery.

[RRoller123]

I dyed my entire interior but have never done the seats (i.e. a wear surface like a seat) with dye, but Edd China did one on Wheeler Dealers on a Bentley and it was amazing how well it turned out. Did not seem to be a difficult process, and there was dye available specifically for seats. The Bentley was leather, that may make a difference, possibly no suitable product for vinyl?

[johndemar]

I think I had pretty good success changing the color of my seats. I went from tan to black when I painted the car about 6 years ago. Used SEM landau black and took my time doing it. Took the seats apart and cleaned them well. Used the prep spray first then applied multiple light coats.

It's held up pretty well and I often wear light colored, long sleeve, cotton shirts to protect my old skin, and haven't noticed any transfer. But I agree that any kind of dye, paint, will wear some. Just take your time and do it right, and I think you'll be happy with it.

SEM has lots of colors, so hopefully something will come close enough for you.

[Shadoobie]

On John's advice, I did some digging through the SEM vinyl paint codes and I found one I think might just do the trick: wedgewood blue 15133. I'm going to try a can on my old panels and see if it matches up. I'll post back the results.

[Observer]

I used Dupli-Color High Performance Vinyl Paint for my seats and interior and it works great so far

[rridge]

I think SEM wedgewood blue is as close as you are going to get premixed in a can. Most auto paint stores sell vinyl upholstery paint and can put it in an aerosol can. They can also match the color exactly. I've had mine scanned in the past and it matches a formula for blue that was used on the exterior of Volvo 240's in the mid-1980's. That pigment formula is already in many paint center data bases.

The original blue vinyl is very high quality but blue pigment is unstable and can be turned grey by both sun and petroleum solvents. Blue interiors have been out of fashion for some time yet many Spider 2000's came with them. From time to time used blue interiors that are still in good condition become available.