Carpet Dyeing

[fwappy]

Anyone heard or had any success in dyeing the carpet in their car? I just picked up a killer interior at the salvage yard, and all that I need is the carpet. Currently mine is tan and very clean. I'd actually like it to be a bit darker black than the original slate/anthracite carpet color. Is this a good idea, or should I spend the extra bucks and rip it out, while having the lighter gray color?

[ivo316]

Search, someone did it and it came out great, there is athread with pictures and recommended products.

Found it !

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=77111&highlight=carpet+dye

[JasonC]

I did mine a couple of months ago. I used dupli-color black and it is holding up so far.

[fwappy]

Ok, sweet. I guess the real question is, how do I get the carpet out from under the dash? It seems stuck up in there. Do I have to rip all that stuff out. Damn, getting it back in is gonna be worse.

[Teaguer]

Ok, sweet. I guess the real question is, how do I get the carpet out from under the dash? It seems stuck up in there. Do I have to rip all that stuff out. Damn, getting it back in is gonna be worse.

No biggie , most people just cut around the heater core and leave that little piece under there .

When it goes back in all that will be covered by the center console anyway .
Plus the rear part that goes up to and underneath the rear seat is a seperate piece already .

[jex]

yea...you can dye it and it will look great if you do it correctly. I had a tan interior in one of my previous e30's. I put black seats in and then I dyed the door panels, floormats, carpet, and headliner black! My tan carpet had some stains that the black dye covered up wonderfully! The end result was definitely easier than changing the carpet (I have done that before too).

I used VHT dye. In case you're curious, I ordered it from summit racing.

[fwappy]

yea...you can dye it and it will look great if you do it correctly. I had a tan interior in one of my previous e30's. I put black seats in and then I dyed the door panels, floormats, carpet, and headliner black! My tan carpet had some stains that the black dye covered up wonderfully! The end result was definitely easier than changing the carpet (I have done that before too).

I used VHT dye. In case you're curious, I ordered it from summit racing.

So you didn't pull the carpet out, eh? Just pulled off the trim and such?

How did the headliner come out? I figured I'd leave it tan, but black sounds sweet, too.

[Jscotty]

When I had my 77 Pontiac the previous owner dyed the carpet red which looked pretty good until it rained and I got red dye all over my white shoes.

[M42Technik]

The carpet is rather simple. You just have to remove a lot of pieces:

Seats, entire center console, panel just below steering wheel, the panel under that, and the metal piece behind all that. Side speakerhousing pieces, hood latch, covers on rockerpanels, pop up the rear seat to get the rear piece of carpet off...you will eventually see the heater core.

Just take your time and cut around it as close to it as possible, thats if you're replacing it. If you're dying it, just mask lots of stuff off to avoid overspray.


Now the headliner: DONT DO IT. ITS A HUGE BITCH. Get a reputable, quality shop to do it. You have to remove the front and rear window, the weatherstrips, the side shadowline, side windows, sunroof, and then you can remove the headliner. Then its a bitch to get the new one in, and then put it all back in correctly.

[jex]

I just pulled out all of the easy stuff. As far as the headliner goes, I left it in and sprayed it while everything was out. I taped up the edge of the glass...it is easy to get off of glass if you get some overspray on it.

Honestly, the headliner looked great! I'd do it again in my next e30.

[M42Technik]

I just pulled out all of the easy stuff. As far as the headliner goes, I left it in and sprayed it while everything was out. I taped up the edge of the glass...it is easy to get off of glass if you get some overspray on it.

Honestly, the headliner looked great! I'd do it again in my next e30.

This is the way I wish I had gone, it is too troublesome to replace it.

[E30Driv3R]

Did mine a few weeks ago, it looks 1000000x better! post pics of the Roof liner, i wanna see waht it looks like. some said it wouldnt stick to to the roof very well.

[jex]

Like I said, I used VHT dye. It is excellent! It had no problem sticking to the headliner. Just be sure to use many light coats because (if you look hard) you can notice uneven spraying.

I wish I could post pics of the whole interior i dyed....but I havent had that car in about 2 years. I blew the engine and ended up parting with the car. I did dye the seats and door panels in another e30 I had (from tan to black)...and I do have a pic somewhere that shows that. I will look for it and get it posted if you want.

[jex]

well..here is the pic anyways lol.

I did smudge a couple spots on the driver's seat (got a lil anxious, but it was an easy fix). The seats and door panels were previously tan.

Everything held up quite well. The driver's seat would wear some with frequent use though. I just kept some extra dye and touched it up when needed. The door panels never scratched or flaked on me (I even scratched some on purpose just to see!)

[ivo316]

well..here is the pic anyways lol.

I did smudge a couple spots on the driver's seat (got a lil anxious, but it was an easy fix). The seats and door panels were previously tan.

Everything held up quite well. The driver's seat would wear some with frequent use though. I just kept some extra dye and touched it up when needed. The door panels never scratched or flaked on me (I even scratched some on purpose just to see!)

Excellent job, looks great. :D