Thread: Cedar Interior
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Old 10-28-2018, 09:26 AM
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bluecoupe
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Default Re: Cedar Interior

I don't think pics will accurately depict the results, at least my camera won't. It wasn't the colour they had to match, but the sheen also. When I went to pick up the paint, they had about a dozen spray-outs that they held up to the glove box door under natural and artificial light and had me compare from an angle and head on. When I removed the various parts that I wanted to re-dye,and compared them to each other only some of them where a 100% match with each other, some where slightly lighter, some where slightly darker but I never noticed until I compared them to each other. Surface texture will reflect light differently and aging and UV rays can affect the appearance of the panels, so the dye that matched the glove box door didn't 100% match some the other trim panels and it's also very possible they never 100% matched from the factory. I've seen new cars at dealerships where from certain angles and degrees of light, the bumpers don't match the rest of the car, especially lighter colours such as silver, beige, light blues, etc. What I ended up doing was re-dying all of the lower dash and center console panels to ensure continuity of colour and sheen. What I ended up with is a much more durable surface, that still has the look of the OEM rubberized surface but doesn't scratch or peel like it. I've had many compliments by Crossfire owners on how well my interior paint has held up. They complained they have experienced peeling paint issues and I told them I had the same issues. No one had realized the panels had been re-dyed and most touched the panels to confirm they were no longer rubbery even though they looked original. Nothing is perfect but this worked to my satisfaction. I should note that I did start with the tautflex product (which necessitated shipping a part to Australia for colour matching) the SLK folks are using, but the colour match wasn't nearly as good. Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Like all work, the key to success is in the prep.