C2 Vinyl repair

[Dwight P.]

My 65 Coupe door panels are original. The driver side panel has several small cracks or breaks where the drivers left elbow rests. And there is also some discoloration. Is there a product or a method to remove the discloloration and repair these cracks?

Thanks,

Dwight

[Jack H.]

Re: C2 Vinyl repair

That's typically the way C2 door panels 'die'... Fatigue cracks along the arm rest area.

You can attempt repair and some are amazed at the results! Try the Yellow Pages in your neck of the woods, you're looking for a vinyl repair person who specializes in doing automotive & restaurant work (you'd be surprized how many of the vinyl seats/booths in restaurants get torn and are repaired vs. replaced). Typically, these guys advertize 'invisible' repairs and depending on their skill and how close they can match the original texture, IT CAN BE DONE!

As to discoloration, you're left either having the vinyl repair fella paint/stain the vinyl with die or doing it yourself. Black vinyl is typcially pretty easy to match. The trick to getting a good 'take' with vinyl spray paint is ALL in the surface prep (getting residual dirt/body oil out of the fabric before painting/staining it).

You'll find SEM makes a solid vinyl paint prep solution for this application. It's available from most automotive paint supply houses, listed in several Corvette parts catalogs as well as in the Eastwood catalog. But, if you don't get the vinyl surface prep'd properly OR you apply the vinyl spray paint too heavily, you can expect the newly applied color to flake/chip off over time as you touch/brush against it....

[Dwight P.]

Re: C2 Vinyl repair

Jack:
Thanks for your time and information. I will search the local yellow pages as you suggested and proceed with caution.

Dwight