Jon K
07-03-2007, 11:26 AM
So this morning I woke up - I had purchased VHT vinyl dye about 3 months ago. I told myself that while I am looking for a job I will take my dashboard out and dye it black because the tan one was (ugly) sunburned around the gauge cluster which was detracting from my cars overall appearance. I want to do the whole car black with tan door inserts, but let's take baby steps.
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20E34%20525i%20Interior/dash1.jpg
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20E34%20525i%20Interior/dash2.jpg
Originally, for whatever reason, and I might be yet to find out, BMW tucked all the wiring harness that goes from the left side to the right side of the car up inside the dashboard, wrapping around all the air ducts and wire tied between 10 - 20 times throughout. I relocated all the wiring so that it now sits UNDER the air ducts - I figure if the air ducts fit over the wiring comfortably, and the dash fits over the air ducts, there's no reason the wiring cannot be down there. I guess during assembly BMW does things in another order that makes their method better, but if I tried to put it back together the way it came out, I'd have to first tie all the wiring to the dashboard about 10" of length, then try and keep the wiring up as I insert the dash. NOT FUN.
So now that I have it out, I cleaned it with simple green and a rag, let it air dry a couple mins, and had at it with the VHT dye. The one thing I will say - I wish VHT used those spray cans that have that feathering/fan spray pattern because I have used those to spray primer on wheels before and they are SO smooth. I did not have any issue with the cans/nozzles VHT uses, but I just hate the typical spray paint tip because if you let the can go too low, you start to get some aerosol bursts with the medium. Anyway, I didn't let the cans run too low while doing this because of that experience, so I prob about about 1/10th left in each can. I will use it on parts that aren't in plain sight - unlike a dashboard!
So here it is, after 2 coats of spray.
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20E34%20525i%20Interior/dash3.jpg
I am letting it try for probably about 6 hrs before putting it back in. I won't attempt to clean it or anything until a couple days from now.
I'll have to see if I have any other pics, but if you look in this pic you can see discoloration on the dash in front of the gauge cluster:
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/E34%20525i%20Photos/paint1.jpg
Hard to see, but the flat portion of the dash at the windshield and such had very prevalent sun burn. Big maybe 2.5 - 3" splotches of black. Thought it was mold at first and was like "WTF!" then realized its burns probably due to the convex of the windshield perhaps it rectifies the sun, dunno.
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20E34%20525i%20Interior/dash1.jpg
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20E34%20525i%20Interior/dash2.jpg
Originally, for whatever reason, and I might be yet to find out, BMW tucked all the wiring harness that goes from the left side to the right side of the car up inside the dashboard, wrapping around all the air ducts and wire tied between 10 - 20 times throughout. I relocated all the wiring so that it now sits UNDER the air ducts - I figure if the air ducts fit over the wiring comfortably, and the dash fits over the air ducts, there's no reason the wiring cannot be down there. I guess during assembly BMW does things in another order that makes their method better, but if I tried to put it back together the way it came out, I'd have to first tie all the wiring to the dashboard about 10" of length, then try and keep the wiring up as I insert the dash. NOT FUN.
So now that I have it out, I cleaned it with simple green and a rag, let it air dry a couple mins, and had at it with the VHT dye. The one thing I will say - I wish VHT used those spray cans that have that feathering/fan spray pattern because I have used those to spray primer on wheels before and they are SO smooth. I did not have any issue with the cans/nozzles VHT uses, but I just hate the typical spray paint tip because if you let the can go too low, you start to get some aerosol bursts with the medium. Anyway, I didn't let the cans run too low while doing this because of that experience, so I prob about about 1/10th left in each can. I will use it on parts that aren't in plain sight - unlike a dashboard!
So here it is, after 2 coats of spray.
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/My%20E34%20525i%20Interior/dash3.jpg
I am letting it try for probably about 6 hrs before putting it back in. I won't attempt to clean it or anything until a couple days from now.
I'll have to see if I have any other pics, but if you look in this pic you can see discoloration on the dash in front of the gauge cluster:
http://blowneuroz.com/mygallery/E34%20525i%20Photos/paint1.jpg
Hard to see, but the flat portion of the dash at the windshield and such had very prevalent sun burn. Big maybe 2.5 - 3" splotches of black. Thought it was mold at first and was like "WTF!" then realized its burns probably due to the convex of the windshield perhaps it rectifies the sun, dunno.