69schemers

I have read several old posts and it is very clear that some people are not sure if they sprayed SEM dye or paint on their interior. Or at least were not very specific. This has me very confused on what has and has not worked. Some say they dyed their interior with SEM Color Coat which is not a dye. It is a flexible paint. The SEM dye is called Classic Coat.

I am looking at changing my interior from red to black and have to change the color on hard plastic and vinyl. Changing out the seats, so they will not be part of the equations.

I plan on using SEM, just not sure which product line though. Also, on the color, does anyone know which shade of black is the closest to production? Satin black or Landau.

Thank You,

VETFEVER

Bumping for interest sake

vetfever

7T1vette

SEM ColorCoat is an "elastomeric recoloring agent", a.k.a. VINYL DYE.

I have used some of the SEM spray can stuff and it is fine; but it does not have the same 'sheen' as a new car interior...it is a bit on the dull side (more flat).

Liquid SEM ColorCoat is what you really want. You can purchase it at about any professional auto body paint supply store. And they can mix it to your car's interior color code or to a sample part you bring in. You can spray it with your own spray equipment, or, if you don't have any, you can purchase a $10 Pre-Val bottle sprayer (and gas canister) at the same paint store. It works fantastic and will make your interior look just like it came from the factory. You need about a pint of SEM, unless you are doing the seats, too. The entire interior (I mean everything) would take something less than a quart, even if you gave all parts 2-3 coats. For the entire interior, you may need 5-6 gas canisters.

You just need to clean surfaces WELL (all the years of Armor-All need to be completely stripped off!!! Detergent & water; rinse, rinse, rinse; dry completely, then spray 2 light, covering coats of SEM C/C. As long as the parts have never been "dyed" or painted with something other than a quality vinyl dye, you can change colors and/or spray about as many coats of SEM on that you want. It is very thin, has very dense pigment content, dries quickly and doesn't fill-in surface grain. You can't say the same thing for any interior 'paints' or even other brands of 'stuff' labeled "interior dye".

Use the right stuff if you want to have a good, lasting recolor job on your interior. I've even used it on my [originally black] leather-wrapped steering wheel. Five years and about 15K miles later there is no wear, no chipping, no peeling, and no loss of color. Since it was leather, I wiped it down first with some lacquer thinner to get rid of any surface oils. I guess that worked pretty well...

69ttop502

Good info. What would you have to do if your interior was already painted with unknown products. Is there some sort of stripping that needs to be done before the SEM product. I know mine has been recolored at some point in the past. Sorry to hijack but felt this info might come in handy as well. Thanks.

Bill

7T1vette

You can still recolor it with SEM ColorCoat. But, the new coating will only hold up as well as the 'stuff' under it. If your present coating is not peeling/chipping/flaking off, shooting it will ColorCoat may do fine.

If you do need to remove a prior coating, I have heard that oven cleaner will work on solid parts (not seatcovers or thin vinyl stuff). I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS TO SEE IF IT ACTUALLY WORKS. If you want to try it, put some on the back side of a part to see how it affects the part before putting it on the 'good' side.

69schemers

7T1vette,
What color code did you use?

7T1vette

#412 for 1971 model. Some books list this as "Dark Blue"; others as "Medium Blue". It definitely is not dark blue. But, the SEM mix I got was a very good match to the "all-original" interior. There has been some change of hue due to sun-bleaching on the upper dash pad, so some difference between pieces. But, that was normal for a new car in that era.

69red

I have used SEM color coat on four interior restorations. It is great stuff and sprays easily. SEM also make a clear coat if you want the sheen more glossy. It is very durable on vinyl and plastic, but I have had it show signs of wear on leather. Landau Black matches original Corvette black well. If you have it custom mixed at a paint shop they will match the sheen for you.

spikebot 81

I did a complete interiour restro on a 81. Light camel changed to black. I used SEM color coat #15243 satin. Gloss was too shiny. The satin matched new black trim parts purchased from several different vendors. Clean is name of the game. I also used SEM prep spray just before painting.
5 yrs now and holding up great. Leather seats from 2001 C5 where not colored

Sniper4x4

spikebot 81, that satin black interior looks clean enough to eat off of, is your steering wheel a 14" if you don't mind me asking where did you locate it?

thanks,
Ralph

Easy Mike

Sniper, this thread is two years old. You might want to try a PM to SpikeBot.

Sniper4x4

lol

Good eye

eksine

I know this is an 8 year old late reply but since nobody answered it. the difference is spelled out in their literature which can be downloaded on their site via PDF



Color Coat is not a dye, but a fade resistant flexible and permanent coating.restore or change the color of most vinyl surfaces, flexible and rigid plastics, carpet and velour.



Classic Coat is for renewing or restoring leather and vinyl.



So from that description for interior plastics like door panels, dashes, and other flexible plastic trim, use color coat. Classic coat is for upholstery like seats, that's the general gist from what I can tell. However I believe they are both elastomeric paints so if you used classic coat on plastics it might still be no problem, you can test it out on a test panel. I however want the color choices from the classic coat series, they have 2 sets of color charts, it might be possible to select from the classic colors even if needing the color coat paint. I'd ask the paint shop if they can mix or convert those colors. at the very least they will be able to color match. Also something important. I have bought the gallon size of SEM trim black and use the harbor freight green gun at 25.5 PSI and it layed down dead flat, I mean it looks professional AF. why 25.5 PSI? because on my tekna prolite it is set for 17 PSI, so I left the air regulator alone, my theory is that if an air pressure works for one gun, it might reproduce the same result if you allow the next gun to keep the same air volume as a baseline. their spray can produce an ok result however a spray gun has the best finish. they have discontinued their thinner, which is a shock however use any urethane reducer, I used tamco slow reducer, dead flat finish. I also sprayed a whole spray can into a ziplock to test and it froze the bag, I let it warm up and sprayed it from the gun, even finish but some orange peel, it needs more reducer. the cans require reducer with a 1:1 mix ratio. I added a little more than 1:1 to get a dead flat finish
example of what I did, black parts are SEM trim black, the rest is tamco base coat/ clear coat

7T1vette

Classic Coat is SEM in an aerosol can. Color Coat is SEM in liquid form. I don't know that there is any difference in the formulation of them. I much prefer the liquid SEM that I can have mixed to match an interior color code or to match a sample part. With the liquid SEM, you can specify how much flattener you want put into the mix, as well as get ANY color you want. With the spray can SEM, you can only get the colors that are available from SEM and the sheen is 'whatever you get'.