The interior diamond vinyl in my 1970 car is in good condition but, there is a place on the transmission tunnel vinyl where it touches the floor where it looks as if some oil or something similar has come in to contact with it and has dried, and the vinyl has gone 'stiff', and the edge has 'curled up'. If I was to tried to flatten it out I think it would split/tear. Does anyone know of a way to clean up the vinyl so that it becomes soft again.?

As always, any help gratefully received

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

ARMOR ALL!

Seriously though, I had similarly old and ( seemingly ) dry vinyl on my current project car interior. The reverse side was covered in much too much old glue, so I set to with a naptha-based ( at least it smells like naptha ) Tar & Glue remover recommended by my local auto paint supplies shop....

Strangely, I found that this had the effect of making the vinyl come up like new on both sides. It became much more supple, much more black than it was before, and the stuff took off most of the glue too. I was surprised.

Obviously this is a cleaner, so you would expect it to take more out of the vinyl than to put anything 'back in', but it does seem fairly oily and my paint supply guy says that it will not hurt. The vinyl still looks great, even several months after cleaning, and has not dried up again.

Thanks for that Alan.

Is there a make or any other ID on the cleaner you used?

You have got me thinking now. Paraffin is an oil based cleaner ( which I haven't yet tried, with ( as far as I know) similar characteristics to Naptha. I may ( very carefully) try some of that.

I've just ditched an old bottle of Armor all. Fortunately as both my cars have been in bits for years I never used it on them.

Andrew

Abas, is Paraffin a brand name in the UK? In the US paraffin is sold in blocks for home canning of food (similar to candle wax).

I used lacquer thinner to remove all the old glue, didn't hurt the vinyl. Naptha is not as harsh as lacquer thinner, so I'd follow Alan's rec since it also removes the glue.

Panchovisa

Paraffin over here is sold as a liquid heating oil and probably as a wax too like in the US. It can also be used as a cleaning fluid, but its not too harsh as it is oil based. I used to use some when I ran out of WD40 for cleaning up oily old motorbike parts. Having said that I have tried WD40 on this oil stain on the diamond vinyl I have tried to remove and it won't remove it or soften the vinyl. Back to trying Naptha I think

Andrew

Is there a make or any other ID on the cleaner you used?

Hi Andrew,

The can I bought has the brand name "CONCEPT Tar & Glue Remover" from Concept Chemicals and Coatings Ltd:

Concept Chemicals

You should be able to get hold of it either direct from them or from a more local supplier.

Cheers,

Alan T.

Andy, Naphtha in the UK is known as 'Coleman Fuel' and apparently is used in camping stoves - presumably therefore you can by it from camping stores ? I'll be looking for some myself and trying it out on a recently purchased 2nd hand diamond vinyl set. Cheers, Dave

Just adding to this old thread:

Item to refresh: very stiff and mildly dirty 240z shift boot.

1. Wash with soapy hot water, full immersion: softens when hot but stiffens when cooled. No more dirt.

2. Lexol Leather conditioner rubbed on outside and inside. Darker colour but no softening. Still too stiff to use.

3. Turtle Wax Tar and Bug remover (old can from 90's) rubbed on inside and outside. Darker but no softening. Still to stiff to use.

4. Coleman Naptha poured then rubbed on inside and outside. Darker but no softening. Still to stiff to use.

5. Vaseline rubbed on inside and outside. Darker but no softening. Still to stiff to use.

6. Vaseline loaded boot folded and stuffed in zip-lock bag to let time have a go.

My recommendation for CLEANING is hot water and soap then Naptha or Tar and Bug remover wipe.

To be Continued (Time then heat gun on deck)

Edited September 23, 201212 yr by Blue

I tried this stuff to remove glue on the pretty side of the vinyl. Works great with a rag.

It also makes the vinyl black and shiny as Alan mentions above for the Concept Chemicals' Product that he gets @ ~ 0 longitude.

abas,

I think Alan has nailed it. When I started my car project, I purchased a quart can of "3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner" from my paint supply store.

It didn't damage vinyl or anything else, removed glue, and worked great. If something needed to be re-glued I would then clean residue of the 3M cleaner with a wax, grease, and silicone remover made by Grow Automotive. In my opinion, strong solvents like lacquer thinner are way too caustic and could damage paint and vinyl. Just something that worked for me.

Dan

Original Owner hls30-20419

2012 ZCON:

1st place stock 240z

Best Exterior

Gold Medallion

Edited September 23, 201212 yr by AZ-240z

Eastwood sells a product for restoring old/tired vinyl. It works well and a little goes a long way...not to mention, it's reasonably priced.