yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

[Tracy C.]

Ok I admit it,

I'm a perpetual "dinkaholic" and one of my favorite phrases to hear is "it can't be done with satifactory results"...

I recently picked up a large roll of NOS "thick" style red seat belt webbing at an estate sale. (it is the color on the far left below) I've also followed recent threads here about the correct shade of red for early Corvettes.

It just so happened that I also have a pair of original door panels from a 59 from a parts lot I purchased... So I decided what the heck and started dink'n around.... I think we have a winner!

The pic below shows the results from my experimentaion. These pieces are placed over the vinyl that was under the metal insert on the original door panel. Here the vinyl was always protected from UV fade and therefore truely original color.

The resulting colorization in this webbing is extremely consistant, permanent and doesn't alter the original soft, silky texture of the webbing.

What do you all think? Has there been any artical in the restorer on this topic?

tc

[Terry F.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

I have heard of others doing it. Did you use regular store bought dye? Thanks, Terry

[Tracy C.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

There is nothing particularly special involved with this, just trial and error to get the process down pat..

tc

[Chris H.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

Tracy, which one do you think is closest to the trim? From my computer screen it looks like the center one?

Next question is whether the webbing actually matched the vinyl back in 62. I was not around and would not remember if I was!!

Chris

[Tim G.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

I have a '66 with red seat belts and the exact same fading happened on exposed parts due to sunlight. I washed the belts by hand with soap to clean any dirt off and dyed the belts with spray dye. They turned out great, very pliable. They may not be acceptable for a perfectly restored car, but this is a 29,000 mile original with slight ageing on the interior parts and they fit in very well.

[Chris H.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

Has the spray dye's changed in the last 15 years?

I sprayed my faded sunshades and they looked great. Now though the top sides have really faded while the bottoms look nice. I guess I will clean them up and respray.

Chris

[Mike E.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

Don't presume that all the parts were a perfect color match. The dash pad tended to be a little lighter/oranger than the seats and the radio console area. The seat belts tended to be a bit oranger. The door panels matched the seats pretty well. I documented a low-mileage red interior Wisconsin car (not a lot of sun) back in 1974. Given the colors that I saw on your picture, I'd say the ones to the right are more accurate in terms of original color than the left.

[paul bowers]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

tracy
the carpet area around the tunnel between seats is faded do to sun exposure is there a dye that might brighten that area up, carpet color is 57 vent. red,
if so where do i get that kind of dye thanks
paul

[Tracy C.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

Hi Paul,

I haven't experimented any with carpet... I will eventually try something however. The carpet along the bottom of my door panels is faded and will not look good next to the new stuff I'm putting on the floor.

If you find something, let us all know,

tc

[Tracy C.]

Re: yes Virgina, seat belt webbing can be dyed..

Chris,

I agree the middle one is dead on for color match, but I do not know if it is technically correct.

If I had an unfaded original 62 belt (or at least part of one), I'm confident I could brew up a dye that would match it with enough trial and error. I certainly have enough of this material to play with.

BTW, Is 62 the only year the 4 panel webbing was used on?

tc