Brighten white vinyl boot

[Maxdaddy1$]

Have a white vinyl boot on my 68 Newport that is very “grey”. What is the best option to whiten it up?
Thanks

 

[CBODY67]

The "grunge" may well be because of the PEARL in the white trim code deteriorating and agig. NO cleaner will remove that that I've found.

One of the things Chrysler did back then to make their interiors "sparkle" next to a similar Ford or GM interior was to put a pearl tint on the vinyl and metallic threads in the cloth for the seats. Many missed that, until you put the color swmatches of material next to each other.

The best comparison is between the 1973 (pearlized) interior vinyls and the 1974 (non-pearlized) vinyls. The added (1973 and prior) pearl makes the 1974-era vinyl look very plain, by comparison, unfortunately. I was not aware of this until an upholstery shop owner showed it to me in about 1973.

In getting my '67 CE23 cleaned up after I bought in (1981), there was/is some areas near the corners of the front bucket seat backs that looks grungy, like somebody with greasy hands had been there, but no cleaner I found could remove it. That's when I determined it was from the pearl tint deteriorating/fading . . . which is why no cleaner would remove it.

ALL vinyls, inside and out.

Just my experiences,
CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

You can try a couple products, like this one,Amazon.com but if the pearl is faded, wait for a sale at Legendary and buy a new one.

I just went through recoloring my pearl white interior. It's a two stage deal... Paint the white and then the pearl coat. Kind of a pain, but it does come out nice. A pint of white and a pint of pearl will coast you ~$250 and then you'll need lacquer thinner and adhesion promoter. I used a Harbor Fright purple spray gun. You'll also need a paint shaker as stirring the pearl won't cut it. I bought a Harbor Fright pneumatic shaker. Got it on sale, but $150 is the regular price.

So... Recoating it obviously doesn't make sense. Anything else like SEM paint is going to be too white and stick out like a sore thumb.

My seat coated in new pearl white.

 

[The Mechanic]

Hey Big John, What was the name of the 2 stage paint you used to re-do your pearl white seats? They look great!! I have pearl white interior also.

Thanks

 

[Big_John]

Hey Big John, What was the name of the 2 stage paint you used to re-do your pearl white seats? They look great!! I have pearl white interior also.

Thanks

I got it from Kolor Korrect-Your Source For Classic Car Paint . It's lacquer paint with a flex agent added. Paint a white base coat and then spray the pearl, which is basically clear with "pearl" added.

I probably am wrong by calling it a "2 stage" paint, but it is done in two stages, base and pearl.

It's expensive... $450 for the two quarts of paint that I used. That was enough to paint two seats and all the door panels with almost 1/2 left over. In hind sight, I could have done it with two pints, but it would have been very close with no margin for error at all, so two quarts was really correct. It was thinned 1:1.

It's best if you've sprayed lacquer at some time in your life... I debated on having a pro do it, but I decided that I have painted enough lacquer (although it's been years) that I could do it.

 

[volksworld]

good info...was thinking about re spraying my convertible boot pearl white ...its currently a blue that neither matches the car or the interior...wondered if SEM had anything that would work....now I'm thinking by the time I buy the paint it will almost be the cost of a new boot...

 

[The Mechanic]

Thanks for the information Big John!! I will give them a call.

 

[Knebel]

For that price of recoloring it id gobwith Legendary and get new covers.