Anyone have any experience or know of a way to redye/repaint a faded dash, armrest, and kickplates?

 

I've never done it, but i understand there is a paint/die for this... You might wanna check here: http://www.50resto.com/ Also, repost your question in the detailing section where you might get a better response... Welcome to the forums...

 

They sell vinyl dye at your local pep boys (or whatever) in cans. It also works good on many (most) types of plastics. It smells like hell, and it isn't a paint, it's a dye. It's very thin, and prone to drips/runs, but, if you get drips or runs, dont panic, dont try to fix them whatever you do. It's a dye, the drips and runs will soak into the piece as it dries. No sanding ahead of time, the original textures will pop through.

I haven't actually used it in a car, but it's very popular in the pc modding community for repainting drive bezels, since it doesn't add thickness and stop trays from sliding properly or buttons sticking. Also, embossed lettering (like a DVD-RW logo, or the play buttons) show through. The original orangepeel texture of the plastic shows through. It looks like it was always black (or whatever color). You can scratch it, and see that it penetrates down, its not a layer on top.

Good stuff, I've repainted just about everything I have that's plastic with it, no problem. A plastic kick panel I'd test it first in an inconspicuous place (backside of the piece) to make sure there's no crazy reaction, but everything I've used it on has come out great. If it's a PVC type of plastic (polyvinyl chloride) it's chemically similar to vinyl. ABS plastics are different but it seems to work there too.

There's also stuff like Krylon Fusion, meant for plastics, it's a paint with special adhesion additives for plastic. It's good too, but I prefer the dye if I can get it.

Make sure the stuff you're dying is clean clean clean. Clean it with dishsoap, rinse, rub it down with 99% alcohol. If you want to dye a black piece another color, dye it white first.

Really easy to use, and I plan to redo my old mitsubishi's interior with it this winter.

 

All I can say is, please don't do this yourself. There's a lot to consider when doing this kinda project. What happens if you get overspray? Do you have a cleaner that'll take it off? I bet not. What happens if the color looks awful and doesn't match? Then what will you do with it.
The crap you buy in a can, can most likely cause the dye on your dash to bubble up and peel. It's too strong, and dashes react really bad to stuff like that, they are quite sensitive and don't have a strong topcoat. Not only that, but you will NOT get an exact match!!! I do interior repairs for a living, so take it from a pro. Here's a website for you to check out, contact them see if there's somebody in your area that can do the job for you. www.CreativeColorsIntl.com
And also, in response to the above post, plastic has no response to products like that. Vinyl on a leather seat side, or on a door panel are pretty safe too. Dashes are the exception, and you can't compare the two. IMO, don't suggest things unless you have first hand experience.

 

About 10 years ago I pulled out the entire interior of my '82 Capri, and PAINTED every piece with a dupont paint with some flex additive mixed into it. The outcome was VERY suprising - and this included the soft dash pad and the paded console/arm-rest.

The prep was easy. I didn't sand anything, except the areas that were sratched or nicked up pretty good. I used Mineral Spirits thinner to clean/strip all the plastic of any cleaners/solvents. Once I had a clean, dull surface I sprayed away. Once re-installed, I rubbed it all down with some armor-all and it looked awesome. Sorry, no pics

I drove it for about 18 months before I sold it and all the parts were still perfect, even the arm-rest.