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Here are a few pictures of how the new trim surrounds turned out with the Corvette America Dark Blue Dye with no clear coat. I have not tried to dye any of the original trim pieces as I will try to see if cleaning them really well will make them all look new again.
Alright. here we go. I had to dig deep in my library for these.(sorry for terrible quality)
you can treat it like regular paint on metal and plastic pieces. you dont need any specialty flexible topcoats, just something that is compatible with the paint type and wont fry up.
(id suggest scuffing up the paint lid and spraying it with color., let it dry and spray the clear you want to use to see if its compatible.) If SEM interior clear is compatible, i would use that, it lays out nice and dries pretty evenly. you can spend the extra bucks for same brand paint if you want.
here is a photo of my compartment doors.
Original Plastic frame and metal button rings is painted with CA paint/dye and clearcoated with 3 dollar gloss laquer from lowes.
The Door frames are replacements with only CA paint/dye. https://i.imgur.com/ITRz4hy.jpg https://i.imgur.com/UgRc7Eh.jpg
You can see the richer color with the clear looks nicer with the carpet color. the non clear flat paint looks at least 2 shades off and greyed.
here is everything clear coated with replacement carpet. after fully drying you can see the shine die back to a semi gloss lustre. looks good to me ( i just gotta fix the crack in my old frame) good luck https://i.imgur.com/CvAquPq.jpg
Just take a piece with the color you want to the pro auto body paint supplier. They can mix the liquid dye to get the color match you want.
The few in my area aren't interested and don't sell liquid interior dye.
Really hoping to get some tried, tested, proven colour matched liquid dye that doesn't grain fill like you state the SEM stuff doesn't.
Every attempt at colour matching I've ever tried in my 25 years of playing with cars has never yielded a close enough colour match, whether that be by sample, by eye or by computerised spectrometer.
From the sounds of things - the non-grain filling liquid dye is not available in pre-mixed OEM colours, therefore I guess the only way to be sure of colour match will be to use the rattle cans from the vendors which from what I've read, from a colour match perspective are decent.
Unless anyone can point me in the direction of genuine dye, pre-mixed to oem colours?
EDIT: The reason I'm so bent out of shape on getting a correct colour match is because the areas I'll likely need it are not plastics, but the leather seats and vinyl door cards in silver, about the worst colour you could try to color match - got to be spot on for a full seat cover.
Last edited by Last Triumph; May 7, 2021 at 08:26 AM.
Here are a few pictures of how the new trim surrounds turned out with the Corvette America Dark Blue Dye with no clear coat. I have not tried to dye any of the original trim pieces as I will try to see if cleaning them really well will make them all look new again.
This is the same as how mine turned out after painting with CA's dark blue paint, if it makes you feel any better. I ordered the SEM semi gloss clear spray. It gets here Thursday. I'll let you know how it comes out when I get done.
Last Triumph, I hate to say this but the only real option might be to dye everything to assure that you get a great match. It sounds painful but if you want perfection, going all the way, comes with the territory. Ike
Last Triumph, I hate to say this but the only real option might be to dye everything to assure that you get a great match. It sounds painful but if you want perfection, going all the way, comes with the territory. Ike
I hear you. I',m mentally prepared to replace the entire door card and seat cover if I have to, but I'm prepared to try with dye first, given how great people say it is.
Of course, I could get lucky and the areas of concern might just clean off.... althoughI'm not living in hope - car doesn't arrive until the end of the month.
I live in hope someone on the forum will pop up and say something like "Hey, I did areas of my '78 Pace car silver interior with **this** product, look, isn't it amazing, you can't tell at all....." to which I will rejoice and make a confident, non-experimental purchase.
I will jump in with a few comments. First, I dyed my tan interior in my 77 with SEM black. I was told the most important thing is to make sure the surfaces are fully cleaned, and I used all the recommended products to ensure that, and it has all stuck well. Black is an easy match, and I mean matching to brand new Corvette American inner door panels.
Now....as for color matching. These cars from the factory had horrible matches. The dash rarely matched the door panels, which was a slightly different shade than the seats, etc. Its another one of those things that I guess 1970's American car manufacturers were "ok" with. So to Last Triumph, I am with you on the goal of a matching interior, but I think you may end up using SEM dye on more than you hoped for, if you want it all to match. I would not count on doing one component and thinking it will match the others,....especially if any sun fading has occurred. The fix is to do it all. But,.....maybe you will get lucky.
I will jump in with a few comments. First, I dyed my tan interior in my 77 with SEM black. I was told the most important thing is to make sure the surfaces are fully cleaned, and I used all the recommended products to ensure that, and it has all stuck well. Black is an easy match, and I mean matching to brand new Corvette American inner door panels.
Now....as for color matching. These cars from the factory had horrible matches. The dash rarely matched the door panels, which was a slightly different shade than the seats, etc. Its another one of those things that I guess 1970's American car manufacturers were "ok" with. So to Last Triumph, I am with you on the goal of a matching interior, but I think you may end up using SEM dye on more than you hoped for, if you want it all to match. I would not count on doing one component and thinking it will match the others,....especially if any sun fading has occurred. The fix is to do it all. But,.....maybe you will get lucky.
Good point, well made.
I'm just giddy at the thought of owning a Corvette again. The inspector said the passenger side is like a brand new car, with just areas of yellowing where drivers skin touches stuff on thd drivers side - upper door cars, steering wheel, seat base etc. I guess that with sun tan creams and other skin oils over 40 years,, it's easy to see how it happens.
Real leather seats need to be cared for much differently than vinyl. Leather needs to be 'fed' regularly with something that keeps the leather soft and pliable. Vinyl covers can just be cleaned and coated with a polymer protectant. It is best to use a good leather dye for leather seats. Vinyl dye can be used, but then you could no longer 'feed' the underlying leather to keep it from drying out. For your situation, replacing the driver's seat cover [hopefully with a good color match] and then recoloring the remaining vinyl interior parts with good matching dye is the way to go.
Most auto parts stores do not carry anything but aerosol cans of "dye" (if it really is dye). Have you gone to paint stores that supply auto body shops with paint? They almost always sell liquid vinyl dye and can 'adjust' the dye to get good match. Not sure why you are having the difficulty in finding good product. If you live in a small town without any auto body repair shops, maybe you should take a trip to the nearest larger city. Use the web to find nearest places and call them to see if they can solve your problems.
Hello, I am dyeing my interior with dark blue. It is a flat with no shine. With the "satin" clear coat from Corvette America seal the dye from fading and add some shine? Is there any reason I shouldn't clear coat it?
This is the interior paint the factory used. Unfortunately it's no longer available. Primarily because the tints are toxic.
You'll notice on the cans different sheen levels.
If you go to auto color library and find the the info for your year, posted are the sheen levels of the different interior parts.
This is a pic of my old seat cover I painted 35 years ago in 1975 silver. Went back to saddle, but the color held up better than the seats construction did.
The best system available today would be SEM color coat mixing sytem. Can be mixed to oem colors and sheen level.
Lastly, most of this confusion could be avoided if 7t1vette would stop insisting SEM is some sort of magical dye for interiors. Clearly from their own data sheet iit is not dye. However, best product to use IMO
Here's a question - according to here.... https://www.corvsport.com/1981-c3-corvette/ there are two trim codes for some colours, for example silver grey is 132 or 152. I'm assuming (?) that is either BG or StL production?
Which is which?
My car is St Louis but I don't have access to the trim tag right now.
Here's a question - according to here.... https://www.corvsport.com/1981-c3-corvette/ there are two trim codes for some colours, for example silver grey is 132 or 152. I'm assuming (?) that is either BG or StL production?
Which is which?
My car is St Louis but I don't have access to the trim tag right now.
I guess on colours like black, the exact colour match permits some slight variation, but with silver, it's either correct of its not.
I totally buy into to concept of getting proper liquid dye and not just grain filling paint with an elastomer - I just need someone to give me a steer of how to get the right stuff in the right color.
Keep in mind you are trying to match 30 y.o. OEM Silver. Even if the Paint Vendor did a perfect match in the store..once it cures on the interior parts it will probably look "Off".
I'm guessing you brought an original interior piece to the paint vendor for him to match your piece to his paint/dye?
