SEM color questions - OBS matching

[someotherguy]

Curious if anyone here has matched existing grays in the 90-94 interior, and 95-98 interior, with SEM and which colors did you pick? They've got a few grays and I'd like to try to match, instead of having to paint everything. The 90-94 is a bit lighter than 95-98 of course.

They've got "warm gray" "medium gray" "Thomas bus gray" "storm gray" "opel gray" "medium slate gray" ... jeezus! :D

Richard

[BHB]

I've gotten damn close, but never a dead ringer. You can have a bodyshop supply who carries SEM mix an exact match up for you.

[someotherguy]

Eh, not looking for anything better than "damn close." :D But with all those choices, looks easy to go "way damn off."

Richard

[BHB]

So take a small panel (fusebox cover) go to a supply house that carries the stuff and compare. Then ask the guy behind the counter "can I take this can outside and look at it in the light???" Walk in and out 8 or 9 times, until you find the damn closest one, like I do. :eyecrzy:

[MeanGreen95]

So take a small panel (fusebox cover) go to a supply house that carries the stuff and compare. Then ask the guy behind the counter "can I take this can outside and look at it in the light???" Walk in and out 8 or 9 times, until you find the damn closest one, like I do. :eyecrzy:

Thats what I did. I have the SEM color that matches my factory grey dash in my 95. Ill get you the code off the cap when I go to the shop later today.

[chevbum1]

Any update on this? I have a 94 with the dark grey dash and a lighter grey for the door sill etc. I got some of the sem medium slate gray based on the color of the cap. It has a much bluer hue to it than the original. Has anyone had better results with one of the other pre mixed gray colors?

[chevbum1]

Also wanted to add that I had a 93 before with the tan interior and used SEM's 15723 Monterey. It was a perfect match with the stuff that had not yellowed from the sun.

[someotherguy]

No update yet; I picked the 17173 GM Medium Gray based on comparing the cap to a '96-up trim piece (the triangle that covers the mirror bolts.) I haven't used it yet to paint the dash but just picked up the stuff I need to clean it so hopefully will be doing the job in the next few days.

The interior is going to end up being a mix of both early and late model OBS gray so it's going to have a bunch of mismatch anyway, and it's a work truck, I just wanted to try getting it close as possible for the dash.

Richard

[Shwa Kid]

I take it you're dead set on SEM? Seems to be the going thing around here...

I'm just asking because I've had paint colourmatched and made for me before that matched perfectly and held up. I commented about it before but it was put down in favour of SEM. (Matched paint was about $17CDN/quart).

btw, what's superior about SEM? (I tried searching, found nothing relevant)


*EDIT* I don't think I meant quart, it was a Litre, whatever that is...

[01xtreme]

btw, what's superior about SEM? (I tried searching, found nothing relevant)


SEM smells good when you spray it. lol... It's alright, I would say its better than duplicolor, but I would much prefer matched paint. I think people like it because it's one of the better spray paints, but it still doesn't compare to real paint sprayed from a gun.

[someotherguy]

SEM is just a higher quality product than the Duplicolor or other so-called interior dyes. It does a good job for a rattle can product. I'm building a work truck, not a show truck, so I'm not going to go to the hassle of "real" paint for it. I've got way too much other more important work that needs to be done, but I am willing to take some time to at least make it look decent. I think it came out great...

http://www.someotherplace.com/bb/projects/35hd_108s.jpg

The tan you can see on the inside supports of the dash is the original color. The dash bezel itself was maroon. The knee bolster and glovebox cover were originally gray already. Two coats did an excellent job of coverage on all the parts.

EDIT - by the way, there's already a mix of colors in the factory pieces. The dash shell and bezel are molded in a dark (almost black) plastic then painted. The glovebox lid and knee bolster are molded in a "close" color and then painted as well. Then all the accessory pieces like the fuse cover, dash vents, ashtray, etc. are molded in color and not painted, just like the door panels (well at least the manual window panels, since they aren't vinyl covered like the power panels), seatbelt retractor covers, etc. So the stuff doesn't all match in the first place. The 17173 GMC Medium Gray that I chose in the SEM line is very, very close to the factory color - I'm pretty happy with the results. I cleaned the parts to be painted with TSP substitute and it really got the oils and stuff off of them, so much that I'm kind of afraid to clean the non-painted parts with it because it's going to "dry" them out. I just scrubbed those gently with water and car wash soap.

Richard

[MeanGreen95]

SEM is just a higher quality product than the Duplicolor or other so-called interior dyes. It does a good job for a rattle can product. I'm building a work truck, not a show truck, so I'm not going to go to the hassle of "real" paint for it. I've got way too much other more important work that needs to be done, but I am willing to take some time to at least make it look decent. I think it came out great...

http://www.someotherplace.com/bb/projects/35hd_108s.jpg

The tan you can see on the inside supports of the dash is the original color. The dash bezel itself was maroon. The knee bolster and glovebox cover were originally gray already. Two coats did an excellent job of coverage on all the parts.

EDIT - by the way, there's already a mix of colors in the factory pieces. The dash shell and bezel are molded in a dark (almost black) plastic then painted. The glovebox lid and knee bolster are molded in a "close" color and then painted as well. Then all the accessory pieces like the fuse cover, dash vents, ashtray, etc. are molded in color and not painted, just like the door panels (well at least the manual window panels, since they aren't vinyl covered like the power panels), seatbelt retractor covers, etc. So the stuff doesn't all match in the first place. The 17173 GMC Medium Gray that I chose in the SEM line is very, very close to the factory color - I'm pretty happy with the results. I cleaned the parts to be painted with TSP substitute and it really got the oils and stuff off of them, so much that I'm kind of afraid to clean the non-painted parts with it because it's going to "dry" them out. I just scrubbed those gently with water and car wash soap.

Richard


That looks real good. How did you do the bezel? I have a spare one and id like to tape it off and paint it grey as well.

[chevbum1]

I take it you're dead set on SEM? Seems to be the going thing around here...

I'm just asking because I've had paint colourmatched and made for me before that matched perfectly and held up. I commented about it before but it was put down in favour of SEM. (Matched paint was about $17CDN/quart).

btw, what's superior about SEM? (I tried searching, found nothing relevant)


*EDIT* I don't think I meant quart, it was a Litre, whatever that is...

SEM stuff usually has a very close match to most factory colors already mixed and ready to spray in an easy rattle can (if you can find the correct name for the color you have:biggrin:). I can never seem to find a place that can get a good color match for common exterior auto paint and it is really not worth the hassle when the SEM stuff is as close to a match if not closer than what some paint store monkey can mix. And you know it will be consistant from can to can should you have to do another small piece down the road after your custom mix has past its shelf life. The quality is very good, does not scratch easily.

Another thing is the simi satin finish is a great match to the original. And for around $12 bucks for a can that will do pretty much the whole interior, it's hard to beat. There may be another brand that works just as good. Anyone know of another brand of ready to spray stuff that might be another option?

P.S. no I don't work for SEM:biggrin:.

[Shwa Kid]

Those pieces look great! I esp like the 2 toned bezel (I don't know if it came stock that way, I have the old interior)

Thanks for the info, seems I'll have to get some for myself. The paint I have is great but you can't spray it, and it's getting to be a PITA esp with a whole interior upgrade coming up (I have most things painted already, but I'm gonna need new door panels for power and my dash could use some touching up).

Srry to hijack, but seeing as BHB is here, what was the colour code you used on your red RCSB with the tan and brown interior? (irrc you painted that one, or at least the area around the radio) I would figure it out myself, but being colourblind I tend to Fvck that up a lot!

[someotherguy]

No threadjack worries, the intent of the post was to figure out which color to get, and I figured it out. :D

The bezel is two-tone as original on the 95-up interior.

It's a freaking royal PITA to tape it off, at least this one was, I figure there's probably a little variation from the factory but the color broke right in the middle of that thin flat area between the two colors. No big deal when the factory masks it because it starts out as all charcoal colored. Going back with gray on top of the old maroon I had to mask very carefully for it to come out right. It's not perfect but damn close.

Richard

[MeanGreen95]

No threadjack worries, the intent of the post was to figure out which color to get, and I figured it out. :D

The bezel is two-tone as original on the 95-up interior.

It's a freaking royal PITA to tape it off, at least this one was, I figure there's probably a little variation from the factory but the color broke right in the middle of that thin flat area between the two colors. No big deal when the factory masks it because it starts out as all charcoal colored. Going back with gray on top of the old maroon I had to mask very carefully for it to come out right. It's not perfect but damn close.

Richard

Cool. I need to get mine taped up and sprayed but ive had other stuff going on.

[Lo Life]

someotherguy,

Did you paint the charcoal area of your bezel as well....i touched up a few areas of my bezel with the SEM 'Medium Gray' as well and like you said the color was very close to matching the factory color. I still need to find a paint that matches the charcoal part of my bezel, i have a few black areas showing through on mine.

[someotherguy]

Nope...the charcoal looked fine, although chalky after I cleaned everything. I used TSP substitute since TSP isn't commonly available anymore; I think the sub is sodium carbonate, I mixed it roughly 1:1 with water because I wanted it strong for degreasing. It left the plastic parts looking a little bit like they'd been out in the weather...

Richard