1957 best red vinyl dye for dashboard

[cliffcostello]

I am in the process of refreshing my 1957 Thunderbird's interior this Winter. I bought 57 red vinyl dye from CASCO, and used a spray gun to do my vinyl paddeddash. I did all the recommended preparation work, however, the color is more like the color of Tomato Soup .. not the brighter red the dash was originally. In fact, the color doesn't look good with the rest of the interior. Has anyone else re-dyed their red 57 padded dash, and if so, where did you buy the vinyl dye, and how well did it match? I spoke with CASCO, however they insisted the color (and code on the can) was the correct 1957 color. Well, I've had several of my fellow Thunderbird owners look at it and they agree with me .. the color just doesn't look correct. Any advice on color, brand, or who to buy from would be much appreciated. HAPPY NEW YEAR all you TBird nuts!

I've attached several pictures of the dash color so you can see the slight mis-match.

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[lbc3]

Well, there are 50 shades of red. Me, I'd buy whatever ones I could find that look to be close and test them. Wasteful, but that is the definition of this whole endeavor, imho.

 

[SkidJames]

Do you have a company nearby who makes up aerosols of car paint? If so they may offer a matching service whereby you take them a piece of the vinyl interior that you want the dash to colour match to, they scan it and make up a rattle can of vinyl paint for you. I did that when I got my 57 and the drivers side Ivory White door cap was badly marked. I removed and cleaned it and the local company that I've been using for almost 50 years made up both an aerosol of vinyl paint, and also a matching gloss one so I could paint the chipped metal channels that the door cards sit in.

 

[cliffcostello]

Do you have a company nearby who makes up aerosols of car paint? If so they may offer a matching service whereby you take them a piece of the vinyl interior that you want the dash to colour match to, they scan it and make up a rattle can of vinyl paint for you. I did that when I got my 57 and the drivers side Ivory White door cap was badly marked. I removed and cleaned it and the local company that I've been using for almost 50 years made up both an aerosol of vinyl paint, and also a matching gloss one so I could paint the chipped metal channels that the door cards sit in.

Thanks for your reply ... in fact, I decided to look into that. I am talking with the body shop that did some repair paint work on my 57 Thunderbird last year and see if they have recommendations on paint suppliers they deal with who can do exactly what you recommend. I was going to take the upper plastic door trim and see if they could do an approximate match of that. Interestingly however, I just got my reupholstered seat back from the shop. I had purchase the National Parts Depot foam and seat vinyl .. 57 Red. Wow, when I got it back, it doesn't even match the other reds already in my interior. I realize my 57 is Flame Red in color (which has an orange tint), but my original interior colors were different and "darker" color red. So I am now questioning whether to just replace the door cards, arm rests, and upper plastic trim with new as well and hope to get all to match. Oye Vie .. this project just continues go grow. But I am going to check out your suggestion and appreciate your comment. Thank You!