Interior Dye? How to remove scratches?

[Mysticle31]

I have a bunch of scratches in the back of my car where things have been hauled around. I've also got some discoloration from the sun of plastic panels. Especially the speaker grills. They are big time off. I find that strange. Even the underside of the speaker panels is a different color. Perhaps they were replaced.

Nevertheless, I'd like to dye/paint them. What is a good match to the rest of the interior to use? I have the beige interior.

[25Horseplay]

Some paint supply shops have a computer that you can take a part in and they can computer match the paint. Just take a good unfaded piece to match up.

[todd00]

the thread below discusses this topic. you might want to look at it.

http://fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5511

[Mysticle31]

Well, I think I'd rather dye when paint. I just don't want the panels to be a different color then the seatbelts, and dash.

[Pu241]

I've also got some discoloration from the sun of plastic panels. Especially the speaker grills. They are big time off. I find that strange. Even the underside of the speaker panels is a different color. Perhaps they were replaced.

It's called "UV burn" where the UV from the sun has decomposed the pigments and or plastic in the panels. You shouldn't be too surprised at the range of colors of the supposed "same color interior", since each panel or pairs of panels, may well have been made by different molders, from different suppliers, formulations of additives, and stabilizers as well as pigments.
So they"age" differently!

.... I think I'd rather dye when paint

I think your going to find it hard to get a dye that will stick to most of the interior panels because they are polypropylene, and very little sticks to it for very long. There are some paints that have built in adhesive promoters like the Fusion brand of plastic paints. Strangely enough, the most sun damaged panels will likely cause the paint to stick better. Because the surface has been "functionalized" by the UV degradation giving the paint something to stick to.
I really think your only option is paint, but I've been wrong before!

Pu241

[Deathshead]

no matter what even with the fusion paint, it seems like after a week if you touch your arm on it, all the paint sticks to you,..

or the tinyest bump turns into a nasty scratch...

having it upolstored would be your best bet, there are alot of cool fabics out there like alacantra, (the fake suede stuff you see in rally cars.) that would be easy to apply with some spray adhesive and it would hole up very well.

[Mysticle31]

I remember using the cheapest burgundy paint/dye on my Ranchero and it worked well. Didn't really come off.

Is the Festiva made of different material not just plastic or vinyl?

[Tim]

Another idea would be to go to the junkyard and find some undamaged plastic parts and swap them in.


Regards,

Tim

[Dave G]

Armor All will help. Won't take out scratches, of course, but it will look considerably better. My new old Festiva must have had a dog riding in the back a lot because the panels were all scratched up. They look ~OK now.

Note that if you do put Armor All on it, paint will never again stick to it!

[Deathshead]

dont use armor all!!!!!! It drys out the plasicers in the plastic and promotes cracking, learned this detailing cars in florida, a 5 year old car with armor all on the dash every weekend, the dashes are all cracked up.

use 100% silicone..

[Mysticle31]

Is this stuff any good? It's called Ford Tan Mazda tan maybe?

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=VHT%2DSP978&N=700+115&autoview=sku

It's here too.

http://www.egauges.com/vdo_acce.asp?Subgroup=Plastic_Paint

[Mysticle31]

Anyone ever notice their dash is a different color then the rest of their car? Mine (and the e-brake cover, and the column cover) is more of a chocolate then a tan. The rest of the car is more tan except for the most reward panels which have reddened more because of sun though the back window. Which color do I want to match?

[xlence]

the thread below discusses this topic. you might want to look at it.

http://fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5511

How do I retrieve this link so I can look at some of the different interior paint options?

[Smedley]

Anyone ever notice their dash is a different color then the rest of their car? Mine (and the e-brake cover, and the column cover) is more of a chocolate then a tan. The rest of the car is more tan except for the most reward panels which have reddened more because of sun though the back window. Which color do I want to match?

Thats the way the tan interior came. The dash and to covers were a chocolate brown and the rest is/was a tan. If you are going to repaint the rear parts like stock, the tan is what you want. If you are feeling really wild, then you could paint any color you want - purple, orange, green!

[garylau]

I recently saw a product being used on one of the TV shows where they do custom work on pickups. I wanna say it was "Trucks!" but it might have been something else. Anyway, it was a spray that they used on the plastic parts of a door panel AND on the upholstered part of it. It came out looking nice, but I don't remember the name of the product. Anyone?