Wood grain on my "new" 72 Plymouth Suburban still look like wood but the color is fading. I have read all threads on the subject. Any updated recommendations. - Lemon Pledge - Water based wood stain - Shoe polish - ...
Or, paint. That is what I'm going to do on my Colony Park. Paint over the decals in dark brown, then use a woodgraining tool and black paint to simulate the grain. If it works, awesome. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. I'm not spending a grand on new woodgraining, then pay to have someone apply it. The existing decal panels look like crap, and no amount of shoe polish or anything else is going to improve things, so anything I do to it is going to be better than what is there now. The car is worth $3K anyway, so I'm not going to spend a ton messing with it.
If you are determined to keep the original woodgrain vinyl, you could prep the finish with SEM vinyl prep then do a thin spray of SEM colorkote in brown, so you would add color but still be able to make out the grain pattern on the vinyl. I haven't tried this myself, but I have worked with SEM products on interior vinyl with good results, and to get full color coverage, it takes several coats, so if you went easy with the product, you might get the desired results without covering up the grain pattern.
Subscribed to your thread. Interested in seeing opinions on this. My "new" '76 Montego wagon has faded woodgrain too. Otherwise it's in great shape (minimal cracking, peeling, etc).
When I brought home my 85 Colony Park last fall I wanted to brighten the wood up. On a hunch, I tried out a product that I had been using for years on the vinyl top on my 92 Fleetwood Brougham. I have had several cars with vinyl tops and most of the products I have tried in the past always resulted in speeding up the fading or cracking process. The vinyl top on my Caddy is burgandy....darker colors are always more sensitive to the sun. The product is called Vinylex. It is available in a spray bottle. I have always gotten it at Pep Boys. Other parts/auto stores may have it. It is about 10 bucks a bottle, but worth it. So I tried it out on the Colony Park and was super pleased. It brings out the grain and helps tremendously with the fade. A little bit of the product goes a long way. Spray on and wipe it around with a soft cloth. I have been using it now for close to 10 years (from 1st purchase with the 92 Caddy) and I swear by the stuff. Good luck.
Looking for exactly that kind of fix on my woodgrain which is actually very good with a little fade in spots. Amazon and WalMart had the stuff....looking forward to trying it and thanks for the tip!
