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HybridZ

Changing my seats from white to black


leftover z

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When I bought this '77 Z about 3 years ago, it had some gawd awful seats that were dark blue and tan. They were cloth, stained, had a couple cig burn holes, stunk, and were just plain ugly. I found out later they were from a '86 Toyota MR2.

 

So I went on a journey to find original Z seats. I found a really nice set that had new foam and covers from a 240Z. The only problem is they were WHITE, and I wanted black. But they were in such good shape, and the price was right, so I bought them.

 

After I yanked the Toyota seats out, I realized the 240 seats I bought had different seat rails. Crap. Had to put the Toyota seats back in.

 

So I hunted down a set of 280 seat rails off Evil-Bay. They were "supposedly" for all 75-78 280Z's. WRONG. The 75-76 are different than the 77-78's. These seat rails I bought were for the 75-76, and mine is a '77. CRAP.

 

Finally got a set of correct seat rails. Decided I couldn't wait to dye them, plus the weather was too cold and my garage is not heated. So I installed them. I guess white seats in a black interior didn't look too bad. Much better than the Toyota seats. And much more comfortable.

 

Weather has improved, so yanked the seats out and proceeded to dye them black with the Colorbond Vinyl Dye.

 

Pics of my progress...

 

 

 

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BTW, I contacted the Colorbond folks to see how many cans it would take to dye Z seats. They said "1.7 cans per seat". So I went ahead and bought 5 cans, just to be safe, figuring about 2 cans per seat, and an extra can for possible touchups, and I wanted to freshen up my armrests.

I did both seats and both armrests with 2 cans, and the 2nd can is not empty yet :banghead:

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How comfortable are those model seats? My 82 280zx dual suede/leather are nice because of the design IMO but comfortability is at an average. I like the sports car type looking seats the older Z's had so im just curious how they feel to sit in :]

 

Well, since these seats were completey redone with all new foam/padding, they are quite comfy. There are alot of aftermarket seats out there, but some of them have such high side bolsters, they make it a chore to get in and out, especially if your Z is lowered and/or you are tall (I'm 6'2). So in a nutshell, they feel great 2thumbs.gif

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good stuff man, i did this with my dash and interior vinyl pieces of my car... the interior vinyl dye is great durable stuff, just make sure you really let them dry before putting them in. The smell of the dye can be really strong. but it looks great man!

 

Yeah thanks man. I was a little impatient putting the seats in. The dye is suppose to be "cured" in 15 minutes, I waited about an hour, and put the seats in. I had to retouch some spots. Also, the temp is suppose to be 60 or warmer. It was only 57, so don't know if that made any difference. I will probably pull the seats back out this summer and shoot another coat.

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  • 3 months later...

My car has brown tweed seats... and they are ripped up... I found a used set of white seats and I am going to try and do this as well. Where did you buy the dye? A long time ago I dyed some vinyl in a Camaro I owned and I just used some stuff from a local store and it was fairly good. Looking for some options.

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Got my white seats... got these from the junkyard out of a 2+2. They are in good shape, only one tiny tear on the pass side bottom half of the seat on the the side. Got the pair of seats, taillights, and tons of other small items for $75. Now need to clean these up and spray them black!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Jim, I am curious how the vinyl paint has stood up to the constant bending of the material due to getting in and out of the car. I painted the back and sides of my Cherokee seats with duplicolor vinyl paint and the paint started flaking off the sides of the seats immediately. In addition to the paint flaking off the seats the area on the center arm rest where my elbow rests has also started flaking. So yes the paint looks good on parts that don't bend, but anything that bends or folds cant withstand Duplicolor, even if you sand it first. Which I did.

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