Both of my Fieros dash speaker grills have faded to a sort of blue color and no longer match the dash color. Can these be dyed?

quote Originally posted by sjmaye: Both of my Fieros dash speaker grills have faded to a sort of blue color and no longer match the dash color. Can these be dyed?

I dont see why not, the fabric was dyed in the first place. Its something ive been meaning to do myself.

quote Originally posted by User00013170: I dont see why not, the fabric was dyed in the first place. Its something ive been meaning to do myself.

I am only familiar with water based dyes like for clothing. This being something like a polyester mesh I thought it would take something different. Stronger to make the color change permanent and resistant to the UV rays.

Any ideas?

quote Originally posted by sjmaye: I am only familiar with water based dyes like for clothing. This being something like a polyester mesh I thought it would take something different. Stronger to make the color change permanent and resistant to the UV rays. Any ideas?

Not being much of an expert in textiles I was going to take one to the local 'yarn' store and ask them directly.

Most electronic stores like Radio Shack sell speaker grill cloth that is UV resistant. Mine haven't faded and I have had them since 1998.
Cost is about $12 and a sheet will do many cars worth of grill covers.
I know a few who have order from here as well:
http://www.speakerworks.net/grill_cloth.html

And they have a selection of colors as well:


$12.00 gets you a piece that is 36" X 67" which is enough to do about 18 sets !!

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Happiness isn't around the corner...
Happiness IS the corner.
ZZ4 Powered !!

[This message has been edited by Oreif (edited 04-16-2007).]

quote Originally posted by Oreif: Most electronic stores like Radio Shack sell speaker grill cloth that is UV resistant. Mine haven't faded and I have had them since 1998. Cost is about $12 and a sheet will do many cars worth of grill covers. I know a few who have order from here as well: http://www.speakerworks.net/grill_cloth.html And they have a selection of colors as well: $12.00 gets you a piece that is 36" X 67" which is enough to do about 18 sets !!

OEM seems to secure the fabric with "spot welds". How did you secure yours?

[This message has been edited by sjmaye (edited 04-16-2007).]

I dyed a couple of sets. After a thorough cleaning with Castrol SuperClean, I rinsed them well and let them dry. Then I dropped them into some Ritz Dye. Think the color was something like Blue Jean Blue. Anyway, it had Blue Jean in the color name. Came out looking much better than the light blue that they were. Don't know if they're back to the original color, but they look more like they belong there.

quote Originally posted by sjmaye: OEM seems to secure the fabric with "spot welds". How did you secure yours?

I used contact cement along the edges only where it wraps under, nothing on the "surface" at all. Glue one long side, then pull it snug so it's not too loose, when you glue the other. Then do the same with the ends. I found Graphite grill cloth is an exact match to OEM. Charcoal also works well as is closer to the darker top portion of the dash.

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3.4L S/C 87 GT www.fierosound.com
2002/2003/2004 World of Wheels Winner &
Multiple IASCA Stereo Award Winner

quote Originally posted by sjmaye: OEM seems to secure the fabric with "spot welds". How did you secure yours?

I cut off the old cloth and attached the new cloth the same way as fierosound. The only difference is I used a regular black.

You can see pics at:
http://www.polkaudio.com/ca...talls/view.php?id=13

quote Originally posted by Oreif: Most electronic stores like Radio Shack sell speaker grill cloth that is UV resistant. Mine haven't faded and I have had them since 1998. Cost is about $12 and a sheet will do many cars worth of grill covers. I know a few who have order from here as well: http://www.speakerworks.net/grill_cloth.html And they have a selection of colors as well: $12.00 gets you a piece that is 36" X 67" which is enough to do about 18 sets !!

In real life, does that black match the dash pretty well?

quote Originally posted by User00013170: In real life, does that black match the dash pretty well?

It's not as much of a "match" but more of a subtle accent.
Personally I like it as it kind of highlights the speaker area.

Rodney Dickman has pre-cut replacement speaker grill cloth.
I've used it on my Formula. Good stuff.

All right, I'm going to give up the secret of Fiero speaker grilles. This is what works for holding the new fabric on; it's what GM did when they made them in the first place.

They're glued on. Not just around the edges.

Start by removing the old fabric (pick an edge loose and peel), then wash the grilles thoroughly - a scrub brush helps. There's a lot of the old adhesive down in the holes, so wash them one more time. Now let them dry while you cut your new fabric. Presumably you're using speaker grille fabric; get the UV resistant stuff for longest life.

OK - stand the grilles on their pegs and give them a light coat of the spray adhesive. Now, carefully (you only get one chance) lay the fabric onto the grille and gently rub it down. Now, let the glue set for 15 minutes - the factory had a jig that allowed the whole process to be done at once but we don't, so be patient.

Next step; flip the grilles over. Grab the spray adhesive; imagine the side of the grille and the fabric laying on the table to be a V shape. Now, spray into that V all around the grille. Yes, some will get on the back of the grille; no problem. Make sure you get the sides and back edges of the grille - and the fabric - all around. Now, wait about 30 seconds for the glue to get tacky - then carefully fold the excess fabric over the edges and down into the backs of the grilles. Got it tight and stuck down all around? Good, let them dry for 15 minutes.

The factory had a hot-wire cutter that dropped onto the back of the grille and trimmed the fabric. You can use an X-acto knife or utility knife; if you want to get fancy then unscrew the head from the X-acto knife and unscrew the tip from your soldering iron / woodburning iron. Looks like the same thread, doesn't it? Go ahead, screw the knife head onto the iron and let it heat up well. This will make trimming the excess fabric a breeze. Once you've trimmed all around (follow the groove left by the factory cutter) then just peel the excess fabric off of the back of the grille.

This puts the new fabric on to stay; it'll look nice for years. If you don't glue the fabric to the face of the grille it'll flop and pulse when the music plays loud...

quote Originally posted by Whuffo: This puts the new fabric on to stay; it'll look nice for years. If you don't glue the fabric to the face of the grille it'll flop and pulse when the music plays loud...

Unless the cloth is stretched over it like the grill cloth is suppose to be. Actually on mine I cut out the center holed area so it is all open.

...you can also give them a light 'dusting' of spray paint - and then you can go any color you want...

...and yes I know this is NOT the proper way to do it, but it works and did not seem to make any noticable difference in the sound (I am sure that it would affect it in some way, I just didn't hear the difference.

[This message has been edited by Mickey_Moose (edited 04-17-2007).]

Actually the "design" of grill cloth is greatly over-rated. Spraying them vs. new material will not give you any noticable difference in sound quality.

You say 'how come you say this'? For many years I've been a musician. I've used speakers that had no covers, wire covers, cloth covers, and in rainy weather in outdoor concerts, green garbage bag covers. The sound seems to go through all these absolutely equally.

Now some audiofile will dispute this because in a sound studio with a sound meter they can measure some small differences. However, the human ear will not hear this in a car, or even in your living room. It has to do with the fact that unlike your dog, you just don't have that good hearing

I may recover my faded blue speaker grill cloths, but, I may just spray them.

Arn

the one time i messed with 'em i just painted them with the same vinyl paint i was using on the rest of the dash. worked good and worked out that it matched the dash instead of looking like two patches on the dash. but i have to say i can't speak to how it worked accousticly. i just painted them as part of modding the dash (putting a center channel in) just to match things up. i had moved my left/right front speakers to the floor. can't see it affecting the sound though.

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...010924-2-010566.html

I did this back in my college days when I didn't want to pay for new cloth. All you need is some glue and clothes pins or similar, otherwise it's free and matches the factory colors and fabric 100%!

Bryce
88 GT

$10 for cloth from Rodney Dickman, plus a can of spray adhesive for about $5 and you're done.