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Hello,
Hoping for some advice on interior color matching. I am redoing the interior on a '72 coupe using a combination of mostly new parts and re-dyeing some original panels. The new panels are all manufactured by CA and were ordered as '72 Dark Saddle. With the original panels I have applied two coats of '72 Dark Saddle Dye from a spray can (also made by CA). The original panels have come out noticeably lighter than the purchased panels and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it. Ideally I would like the panels I sprayed to match the color of the panels I purchased. Any tips on how to improve the spray can results? Do you think applying more coats of the spray color will darken the final product? I'm also wondering if using '73 Dark Saddle might be closer to whatever color CA used on the new parts? Open to opinions. Thanks in advance.
Additional coats will not change the color as long as you have adequate coverage at first. Best bet is spray the new panels. They are sprayed anyway as reproductions. CA must just have gotten the color batch wrong either in the can or when making the repros.
Which matches the original color of your interior pieces best, the dye or the new panels? Have you called Top Flight (the name Corvette America is currently using) about the color mismatch, and did you use their primer or just spray the dye over the original color? I will say that in my experience some of Top Flight's 70-72 saddle colors haven't always matched the original colors well.
Originally Posted by RocketJSquirrel
Additional coats will not change the color as long as you have adequate coverage at first. Best bet is spray the new panels. They are sprayed anyway as reproductions. CA must just have gotten the color batch wrong either in the can or when making the repros.
While some hard parts like seat backs are spray dyed, Corvette America's door panels, dash panels, seat covers, head liners, sun visors and any other part that is vinyl or vinyl wrapped is not dyed but instead is covered in colored vinyl. The same is true of soft interior parts from Al Knoch.
Which matches the original color of your interior pieces best, the dye or the new panels? Have you called Top Flight (the name Corvette America is currently using) about the color mismatch, and did you use their primer or just spray the dye over the original color? I will say that in my experience some of Top Flight's 70-72 saddle colors haven't always matched the original colors well.
While some hard parts like seat backs are spray dyed, Corvette America's door panels, dash panels, seat covers, head liners, sun visors and any other part that is vinyl or vinyl wrapped is not dyed but instead is covered in colored vinyl. The same is true of soft interior parts from Al Knoch.
Thanks for the reply. I believe the new parts represent the correct color as they include a mix of panels, dash, headliner, consoles, carpet and seat covers, and despite the different materials (hard plastic, vinyl, fabric, leather etc.) the color is quite consistent. It's the parts painted with the spray paint that seem lighter and wrong, however they are also very consistent within themselves. The spray painted parts are only the rear quarter panels, upper rear panels and windshield trim panels. I have not spoken to Top Flight yet but plan to on Monday. I suppose the spray could be a bad batch except that the three cans used were bought at different times and from different retailer's stock. The original panels were lighter than the new parts and slightly darker than than they now post painting. I prepped the original panels with isopropyl alcohol to degrease followed by two light coats of the recommended adhesion promoter. Two coats of dye used.
Tonight and I looked at other brands of interior color and found this interesting... Top Flight (CA) lists their repro parts color options as "70 - 72 Dark Saddle" and "73 Dark Saddle". Their dyes have the same options. However, looking at colorings from Performance Choice at Mid America Motorworks they offer "71 & 72 Saddle" and "68, 70, & 73 Dark Saddle". Looking at the swatches for each the 68, 70 & 73 Dark Saddle matches the color of my new parts and the swatch for the 71 & 72 Saddle color matches the spray paint color. Even though all parts and spray paints were ordered specifically for 72, I think the parts are painted in 73 Dark Saddle. See the pics below. The darker swatch is 73 and and the other is 72. The range of "saddle" colors in the C3 line up is certainly confusing.
2025 c3 ('68-'73) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2024 C3 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
I had a similar problem. Bought seat backs and other small parts. The seat backs were pretty good, the seat belt parts way too light. They sent me a can of dye which I also used on an E-brake console. They were a bit light and looked very dry so once the color was cured I used an interior detail spray and it added a bit of shine and depth that deepened the colors just enough to look better.
Originally Posted by Floydy
Hello,
Hoping for some advice on interior color matching. I am redoing the interior on a '72 coupe using a combination of mostly new parts and re-dyeing some original panels. The new panels are all manufactured by CA and were ordered as '72 Dark Saddle. With the original panels I have applied two coats of '72 Dark Saddle Dye from a spray can (also made by CA). The original panels have come out noticeably lighter than the purchased panels and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it. Ideally I would like the panels I sprayed to match the color of the panels I purchased. Any tips on how to improve the spray can results? Do you think applying more coats of the spray color will darken the final product? I'm also wondering if using '73 Dark Saddle might be closer to whatever color CA used on the new parts? Open to opinions. Thanks in advance.
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72 Dark Saddle Color Inconsistency
