[Rob in NH]

I would like to paint my dash pad but don't know which paint to use. I always used Mar Hyde products but my supplier doesn't carry it. I would rather use a name brand rather than an off the shelf spray bomb. Any recomendations?

[tekheavy]

Check out SEM Color Coat Flexible Coatings.

[MUSLCAH]

Just clean the crap out of it....use window cleaner...then prep sol, ...scrub scrub scrub. Then apply one thin (see through ) coat of sealer...then paint with a single stage of your choice....with some flattener. Do a few spray out cards with diff amounts of flattener.

And get color on that sealer in 15-20 minutes

[Entropy11]

SEM Color Coat is the best I’ve used so far. Landau Black #15016 was the one I needed.

[scott70]

Call kolor korrect,,,,they have the product and answers you need. I was very pleased with their product. They have the factory color formulas too for near exact comparisons. I resprayed some of my dash and,door panel. Did the whole kick panels. They knew what the factory used for different sheens on different parts too. On my 70 gto the vinyl dash and the metal part were both dark saddle but the metal part around the VIN had a little texture to it from the factory. They knew it and had a paint that duplicated the factory texture. I was impressed. The top of my dash was faded but the rest had good color. I got the dark saddle and did the top and blended into the good color. Color Matched perfect to factory and you really cant see the blending. Used bulldog as the adhesion promoter. Rattle cans or quart cans you mix and spray with a gun. Only thing is it aint cheap.

[72projectbird]

I use SEM all the time. Landau Black is the perfect match for black interiors.

There's companies that'll custom mix SEM in spray cans if you can supply a swatch. I did that with a 83 saddle interior Trans Am. It was spot on.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by 72projectbird

There's companies that'll custom mix SEM in spray cans if you can supply a swatch. I did that with a 83 saddle interior Trans Am. It was spot on.

TCP Global did that for me but in quart cans. It was pre-mixed ready to spray using my color codes. Perfect match for my Dark Turquoise.
https://tcpglobal.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQj...IaAm4gEALw_wcB

[TxSportCoupe]

Originally Posted by tekheavy

Check out SEM Color Coat Flexible Coatings.

SEM man came out and took my original upper rear door panel and made a perfect matching dye to my existing panels so my new dash, kick panels, etc. would match. Came out perfect. Used SEM on my boat project. That dye has been sun bleached, baby oiled, sun baked and walked on for years and it looks factory brand new. Does not fade or peel. Used a gasoline rag on the vinyl as my cleaner, softener, promoter. That dye is stuck like Chuck!


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[78w72]

Originally Posted by TxSportCoupe

SEM man came out and took my original upper rear door panel and made a perfect matching dye to my existing panels so my new dash, kick panels, etc. would match. Came out perfect. Used SEM on my boat project. That dye has been sun bleached, baby oiled, sun baked and walked on for years and it looks factory brand new. Does not fade or peel. Used a gasoline rag on the vinyl as my cleaner, softener, promoter. That dye is stuck like Chuck!


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its not a dye, its paint.

[burd]

Go to your auto paint store, it is called Dye, I had 2 qts mixed, paint for the hard stuff, dye for the soft, there is a diff.

[78w72]

what brand is this dye?

[Hammertime Mike]

I've had good luck using colorbond brand paint on all my interior parts.

[65madgoat]

SEM paint is xlnt

[Greg Reid]

X2 on the SEM Color Coat...Mine has held up perfectly for ten years now. Upper and lower back seat, kick panels and console lid all still look like the day l painted them. Straight out of the can.

[bdk1976]

I've reshot interior panels with SEM Landau black and they came out EXCELLENT and have held up with major use for many (15+ years)

Right now I am working on a '65 with Metallic RED interior. I bought two cans of dye from our host and can say I am unimpressed. The color is very flat - somewhat orangish(?)- and decidedly less 'metallic'.

Luckily I have only painted the completely faded kick panels and a spare red door panel from an old Lemans (so I could compare apples/apples against my originals). While it looks 'ok', and at least gives a uniform/new look, it just looks 'off'/lackluster if you know how stunning an original '65/'66 red interior looks. Right now I'm planning to clean the originals and reinstall for now rather than make them look worse with this dye since this is just a driver I was going to refresh the interior on a bit.



1) you cannot get the pieces clean enough - then clean with wax and grease remover and put on rubber gloves to handle.
2) use an adhesion promotor like bulldog or SEM
3) Mix dye thoroughly and use light coats! Keep nozzle clear to avoid spattering

[Trevor78]

It often comes down to what colour you are wanting to match, not every brand has it or a specific brand is a better match. And the name of their colour may not match your interior name where it can be a broad match for many variations. As others will have posted over and over, the black is a common one to match, but any darker colours are more susceptible to needing a flat clear coat just as GM did, mainly for the matching metal in front of dashpad. You don't want the same reflective glare off that area as some of the satin finishes in the remainder of the cabin.

In some instances of custom interiors or an unusual factory colour, or perhaps trying to match faded original parts, the exact match does not exist. Specialist paint companies can mix to samples and add the correct sheen and to be either a hard surface like metal and plastics, or flexible like upholstery, vinyl and rubber.

I had to do this with my Saffron tan leather. Another trick is that they often mix the paint up in larger quantity than needed so any left over can be added into extra cans or into a tin for future use and touch-ups. Here's a few quick pics showing both hard and flexible paint mixes, done separately, and the original leather. And just to mix it up and show that variations still exist, the offcut sample shown with the speaker grille was sourced many years after the seat leather shown below. Totally fine, or you end up with an interior that looks dipped in paint with no variation! Mine still uses black and original camel trim to offset the look.

Saffron tan paint match VG Auto paint speaker grille sun (1) by Ben, on Flickr

Firebird dash grab handle modified touched-up Saffron tan (5) by Ben, on Flickr

Firebird bucket seat belt guide saffron tan paint match by Ben, on Flickr

[76TA462]

For my Firethorn lower door panels I did a light scrubbing, followed by Dupli-Color Prep-Spray, then Adhesive Promotor (Color Bond bought from Ames) and finally the Ames Spray Dye. I U-Tubed the process. Not a perfect color match to the upper door vinyl but close to the plastics in the back and under dash, and I did not expect a perfect match (even the factory didn't do that). Very happy with the outcome. And not as difficult as I thought it would be.

[RamAirBirds]

So, Has anyone ever painted / Dyed a Seat with the SEM process?
My Son is building what was a 10,000 original mile Rust Free Fontaine Blue 65 Tempest.
Has the original AQUA Bench Seat that he needs to be Black. As nobody makes the correct seat cover or door panels we had been considering this option?
Any positive Results out there?
Side note: Funny that he bought this car from the family of a man who inherited from his grandmother and had passed away. He was in process of taking car apart and converting it into a GTO....It took a 25 year old enthusiast to want to "put it back into Bench Seat Tempest form. Funny, Many years ago the opposite would have been the norm. Of course he is putting a 65 dated 421 Tri-power 4 speed in the car now.

[78w72]

i have had/seen a couple firebirds with painted vinyl seats, didnt work out good at all. seats are very high wear items & any of these paints will not last on them for very long. & they are paints, even the ames product says paint right on the can... but their description calls it a dye too which is what leads to the confusion of people calling these types of paints dyes.

there are real dyes out there but they are mostly for fabric like the RIT brand dye used for clothes etc. but wont work on vinyl or plastic parts.

https://secure.amesperf.com/qilan/De...A&web_access=Y

[burd]

SEM is back ally Resto stuff, go to a auto body paint store, get 2 Qts mixed, one paint, one dye, you can do anything, I would spray seats or mats.
I had my parts sprayed by a pro, 25 years later it’s all still good.
I recently found a nOS GM camel pkg tray, I’ll swap out the sprayed one, it looks way way better. Sometimes nOS parts are the way to go instead of spraying.