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The Club

that Travels

Maintenance

Dash Spots
Brian Hartl
I bought a 1992 Allante that set outside in the hot AZ sun and as a result it has several black spots on a gray dash the size of half dollars.Any advise on how to remove other then a dash mat?
Gerald Aquilina
It is my belief that the spots cannot be removed. They are the result of UV interaction with the chemicals and pigments within the vinyl. The dash can be repainted with a vinyl paint/stain. It first has to be scrupulously cleaned of all products. I would then recommend a sealer before re-painting to prevent the dark spots from coming through the new paint/stain. Companies such as LeatherMagic sell the products to refinish vinyl. A re-spray is a messy and tedious job but if done well gives a good result.

Keeping the dash out of direct sun and applying a UV protectant (like 303 Aerospace Protectant) will prolong the re-spray job.

(2( 1993 V4J Pearl Mist and Opaque White
Will Ayers
I second 303. Just picked up my 89 which thankfully had slept in a garage most of its life. Brown and saddle interior trim looked like it never had an application of anything but dust - it took 3 coats of 303. Use it on the black door handles, rubber antenna boot as well - even though those are all faded and/or cracked by now. It will help from wash to wash.

This is marine and aviation-grade stuff with no silicone. On some of my cars, I even apply some on the outer corners of the seats near the side and back windows, after I've applied Lexol. Just an extra step of UV protection.

I have a dye guy locally, but they are hard to find. Call around to local interior shops and see if they have someone they can recommend to color-match and mix up some dye. When dyeing interior, always do the matching and dying outside in sunlight - never under UV light in the shop, and don't rely on "spectrometers." There are more variations in the computer than you can imagine. Eyes-on match/dye both in full sunlight.
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