Vinyl Upholstery Paint Used for Pontiac Restoration
Posted on July 15 2022
Over the years Al Hale has restored both his and customers’ cars using vinyl upholstery paint. The first occasion was the restoration of his 1981 Cadillac Eldorado, and the most recent was with a client’s car, the 1971 Pontiac LeMans Sport featured here. For the past ten years Al has used ColorBond exclusively to get the job done right.
Pontiac introduced the Lemans in 1961 as a trim package on the then new Pontiac Tempest. Positioned as a sporty subcompact car, the LeMans became its own model in 1963 and later grew to intermediate size. In 1964 the LeMans spawned the legendary Pontiac GTO, a high-performance option package. The GTO became its own model in 1966. Our feature car is from the third generation of the LeMans series and was offered in three trim levels: LeMans GT-37, LeMans and the top-of-the-line LeMans Sport.
Al’s client loves his LeMans Sport and brought it to him for some work. The project started off relatively simple, just minor body work and a decal wrap. It grew from there. Including using vinyl upholstery paint to recolor the vinyl top, dash, and door panels. The top was changed from white to black, while the original beige interior was changed to black. All painting was done using ColorBond LVP Refinisher.
Dash restored with LVP Refinisher
LVP Refinisher is formulated for painting leather, plastic, and vinyl. It looks great, dries to the touch in 45 seconds and forms a molecular bond within 10 minutes. It won’t flake, crack or peel and is durable while still allowing the surface textures to show through.
Al’s first experience with LVP Refinisher was about ten years ago when used it on his 1981 Eldorado. Previously, he had used vinyl upholstery paint from another manufacturer which turned out horribly. When researching a better paint option for the Eldorado, he came across ColorBond. After seeing the great results people were getting with LVP Refinisher he decided to give it a try. Al says he was thrilled with the results and has used it ever since. Including changing the interior color of his restored 1987 Chevy C10 pickup.
Top painted with LVP Refinisher.
Al says preparation before painting is key. The preparation needs to be as perfect as possible for the best paint bonding and finish quality. He starts by cleaning the vinyl of dirt, wax, grease, and oils using a variety of cleaning materials including ColorBond Prep Cleaner, which was used on the vinyl top, as well as alcohol and Rapid Prep.
ColorBond Prep Cleaner is a liquid non-solvent, aqueous-based cleaner. It removes dirt, grime, and oil and is used on everything from leather to soft plastics, it's been engineered to remove compounds and releasing agents that typically spoil most interior paint jobs. Prep Cleaner is recommended for use before the application of all ColorBond products.
Painted with LVP Refinisher
After cleaning, the next step in Al’s preparation plan was application of ColorBond Adhesion Promoter to all the surfaces that would be painted. Adhesion Promoter provides a primer like base that ties the plastic surface and the vinyl upholstery paint together with a strong molecular bond. As a result, Adhesion Promoter prevents flaking, cracking, and peeling. Al said it really makes the paint bite.
Finally, Al sprayed LVP Refinisher. Starting with a light coat followed by another 2-3 coats that became heavier as they progressed. Overall, Al used 12 cans of the vinyl upholstery paint, with half of those needed for the vinyl top.
“LVP Refinisher is a great product and I recommend it to everyone” says Al. “I wouldn’t use anything else.”
Great job Al!
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