I would second the "look good" part, as I am more than satisfied with the results on mine. Did use SEM products (soap, vinyl prep, paint) and strictly followed instructions. Will it last? Don't know and propably will not find out in this life. The 1st picture shows the "before" condition and you can clearly see that the surface shows some stain, touching it feeled a little "sticky". Don't know how old the paint was. Peeling off the old paint was a pita, but the result is worth it (for me at least). 2nd picture is after repaint.
I would advise you to "paint" original headrests only. I would not try to repaint the reproductions. I don't think the paint will stick to them very well. Duane
In case you prep the parts right I do not see any reason why it should not work. I also found this thread helpful: http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/pearl-vinyl-dye.323583/ Maybe someone knows which SEM paint is closest to the sandalwood you have.
I repainted the green headrests I got to replace the missing ones in my '70 Coupe with SEM in the correct blue color. Followed the instructions, and 6 years later they still look great.
I have used interior lacquer on headrests with good results. The lacquer bites into the material. It works on dashes as well. My bet is SEM is just lacquer.
I correctly prepped and painted a repop set. paint just flaked off. for a customer too. i gotta figure out another way now. or try again?
If you used lacquer paint won’t flake off. No primer necessary. Just clean. I have painted three sets of bucket seat headrests and at least 5 dash pads with Lacquer. None pealed. Of Course aftermarket material could be different,
Originals were not made of vinyl I believe they are Urethane? I have a GM service bulletin that tells how to paint all interior parts. Bench seat headrests are vinyl however.
Dave the headrests I painted were aftermarket. i think the plastic/urethane/what ever they are made of, is different than the old originals. I have done old stuff with good success too. Lacquer , where the hell do you get that these days? LOL. Plus, to boot. the interior in car is not original. It has been redone in a bright white vinyl. so I scanned it for color match. Adhesion promoter, etc... Just FYI, the aftermarket ones are crappy. full of pin holes, especially where they have that bead that kinda looks like a seam. He had no headrests, soooo we went with these.
Yes, you are probably correct about them using different materials now. I have bought quarts of Lacquer in original colors from Auto Color Library and Towet paints makes spray bombs with it. Krylon is Lacquer based and works very well too. Especially the Krylon Fusion.