I did talk to SEM and they sent me a set of step by step instructions. There are several sections depending on material: Leather, Vinyl, Plastic. The process is pretty straightforward, I just need to know what the material really is, or at least how it related to SEM's definition.

In my view, vinyl is flexible, plastic is hard and not as flexible, and leather speaks for itself

 

I've got a red one. Love it.

 

One of those lace on wheel covers has been on our van for 30+ years. It's so hard that if you took it off and threw it on the ground, it'd probably shatter haha.

 

Mine is so worn in that its shiny lol. Couple small chunks out of it and the lace moved a bit but its so attached it legitly looks like part of the steering wheel. Its out lasted the bandana that was hanging from the rear view mirror which disintegrated a few years ago haha.

 

Cool. And, I think it is "leather squeaks for itself".

 

I heard from Dashes Direct today;

"The dash pads are made from vinyl. We suggest using either NAPTHA or warm water with Dawn dish washing liquid to clean the dash. Make sure all the mold release is off the dash pad or the paint will not stick"

Based on that response, I'm going to follow SEM's directions for vinyl and use all their products to be 100% safe. At least then if something goes wrong, I may have some recourse.

Here's hoping..

 

Sounds like a plan!
I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out.

 

A body man I know who does a lot of custom work told me to wash everything with lacquer thinner and DO NOT TOUCH any of the area to be painted as the oil from your fingers will transfer.

Here's a couple of pictures of the red dash I installed in my truck before I acquired the Opal Gray interior and after painting it with the SEM Opal Gray.

 

Agreed - a good plan. I tend to think that SEM knows what they are talking about regarding their products, so I follow their advice religiously. But, the guy that did my seats told me that most people use too much paint and tend to fill the grain, so I would be sparing with how much you use. SEM told me that two light coats will cover the black.

 

Two light coats is fine (just perfect) in my experience and, yes, prep is key. I used some sort of abrasive orange hand cleaner and a scrub brush followed up with a wipe down with denatured alcohol. I used I think Bull Dog brand adhesion promoter, this was what the paint store recommended and it seems to work well.

Gary - didn't you get your eyeballs amputated today? Why are you back so soon? Perhaps your corneas didn't have the correct purchase?

 

Today, I got the water pump off, I have to clean up some stuff before I put the new one on. I found out why it was making strange noises and threw the belts off and started leaking like a sieve when I parked it.

 

I've seen that when the pump is frozen and someone starts their engine...

The impeller did a nice job of cleaning up your backing plate!

 

The backing plate off my old pump had like 1/4" of scale on the back.

 

The last time I saw mine (Mar 2008) I was so worried about the pitting I installed a new plate.

The TRW pump (from I don't know when) is still going strong.

 

Mine had play in the front bearing, and the entire inside looked like rust puke. Scale was EVERYWHERE. I bought a NEW Autozone water pump for $30 with a lifetime warranty. 1200 miles later, no problems from it.