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Parchment Sport Mat Repair

Bullitt74

Newbie
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
12
Hey folks - I am trying to restore my parchment Sport mat for my 73 Driver. It’ll need a lot of repair, which I plan to use RTV on the underside with tape and vinyl repair compound on the top.

The question is - should I dye it? I sprayed a test area with SEM off-white, and it is tough as nails…color won’t come off with my shoe, scotch brite or paint thinner! Trouble is, it won’t have that spreckled look. If I dye it, it’ll look pretty nice, but won’t look quite right. I feel I don’t have a lot to lose, as ir is pretty much junk otherwise.

Starting to understand why Dennis Carpenter hasn’t put the parchment mat out yet…likely they can’t get the speckled look quite right.
 

1970 Palmer

Full Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2020
Messages
455
I have used the SEM vinyl dye product on seats and on a dash before and it really held up well.

As far as adding the color specks I would order a can of the same product in a dark color and spray it on a toothbrush. Take the toothbrush with the wet paint and use a popsicle stick to flick across the toothbrush and splatter the paint specks onto the newly painted floor mat. I would likely take you a couple of test panels to determine the best splatter method. I remember doing something like this in art class as a young kid on posters and T-Shirts. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Good luck
 
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Bullitt74

Newbie
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
12
That’s a great suggestion. I will try it on a test piece to see if I can get a consistent pattern!
 

Slowleak

Bronco Guru
Joined
Sep 12, 2013
Messages
3,732
Loc.
Georgia
I have splatter painted stuff using a plain old plastic spray bottle with adjustable nozzle. That might be something to experiment with too.
 

1970 Palmer

Full Member
Joined
Mar 2, 2020
Messages
455
Another idea is what we used to call spider painting. The off white base color needs to be still wet, or at least very newly painted. Take the trim contrasting color and spray it at a very low air pressure. The paint comes out in a very fine string and by over lapping it, it looks like spider webs. No it's not original looking, but would give you a very different look, and would help hide some of your patch repairs. Just an idea.
 
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OP
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Bullitt74

Newbie
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
12
SEM vinyl dye dries really fast. I might try some perforated paper to use as a stencil. First have to try to repair the tears…trying some 3M windshield adhesive on the backside and aluminum foil tape…
 
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