SEM Paint Results....

Has anyone ever used the tan SEM paint? i have had some quite disappointing results to say the least. i ordered 3040 desert tan for my 85 bronco and well.... i wouldn't describe this colour as 'tan' id say more of a salmon lol.

Is this the colour of the SEM paint or is there an issue with my mix here...

Any input would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Matt

Yep I used SEM on my black reproduction door panels for my '82 F150.

I got their Midnight blue and the arm rest along with my sunvisors were precolored in midnight Blue.

Wouldn't a 1985 Bronco have 'sand beige' interior?

The universal color value for that is 2-1148 according to PPG.

I always thought of saddle, or buckskin, but I'm not expert at interior colors.

I do know that SEM has a wide variety of standard colors, and their outlets will mix to formula match most manufacturers interiors.

"Desert tan" sounds like military camo, and that IS pretty pink.

Yep Sem will mix custom colors but you have to get them a mix for the color.  Its what im trying to figure out for my '56 Fairlane cause I need to paint the reproduction vinyl dash pad but I cant find what medium blue is correct.

Something new like our trucks though there should still be a mix chart for interior colors.

Rusty_S85 wrote

Yep I used SEM on my black reproduction door panels for my '82 F150.

I got their Midnight blue and the arm rest along with my sunvisors were precolored in midnight Blue.

What is the code for the SEM Midnight Blue that you used? That looks pretty good. Does it look like a factory color to you in person? Is it one of their pre-mixed colors, or a custom?

I just did a bunch of research on interior colors this week, as I'm not happy with what I have seen (and done) so far. My interior door panels were painted with a Dupli-color fabric/interior paint before I bought the truck, and it was way to pale and dull. I recently RE-painted them with the Color-Bond blue from LMC, and while it applied nicely, I don't like the shade of it...it's too dark, and the shade is way off for my 1984 blue.

I did a bit of a deep dive the week researching SEM availability here in Canada, and it turns out there are no retailers mixing the Color-Coat product in the whole country. It has to do with the new national VOC regulations, but they are not allowed to import the bulk product any longer. Canada has outlawed these products. What SEM is offering here is the Sure-Coat product, which is supposedly the same thing but in  a water-based forumla. They don't mix it in regular rattle can aerosols, I would have to buy it buy the quart or gallon, and then spray it with my own gun or buy a Preval kit. It was all sounding very promising, until I found out that the 3042 Dark Harbor Blue was one of the few colors SEM was not able to create a formula for when converting from Color-Coat to Sure-Coat. Oh well.

My point in all that is that I am now looking for some SEM color recommendations. I can order the pre-mixed color aerosols here, and worst case scenario I'll see if I can get Vinyl-Pro or one of them in the US to mix up some Dark Harbor Blue for me.

SEM code for midnight blue is 15433 in color coat and 17013 in classic coat.

There's also this page here in Gary's bible.

Midnight blue looks way too dark on SEM's page, but what do I know?

Edit:  SEM's chart shows FORD midnight blue as 3030.
Maybe that is a much closer match?

Matt - That IS disappointing!  I would contact SEM directly.  The gentleman I spoke with, Dave Anderson, was very helpful.  I've forwarded the email conversation we had to you so you'll have his contact info.

Please keep us apprised as to what you find out.

Thanks Gary, Email received! I will try contacting them when they open (I assume 9AM) as it just says line busy at the moment however they may have an auto decline for international numbers but i will have to wait and see.

Will update as soon as i have some info

If I'm not mistaken, this is Saturday.  And I would expect the office staff to be home today.  

Yup, probably right, ill try Monday

I pulled up my order history from amazon and its not midnight blue by name I call it midnight blue as it looks just like the OE blue that still exists in the kick panel vent region that didnt get exposed to much light.

One I got is their Shadow Blue #15043

Here are a few more photos from different angles in slightly different light conditions to show the close match the SEM paint was to the precolored arm rest pads I got.







Photos were taken back in Nov 2016 when I did it, truck has been sitting since early 2018 when the balancer destoryed the crank so I cant get a photo now to show how its weathered sitting in the sun cause the interior is quite dusty as I keep the windows cracked.  But I hope to do a comparison photo down the line though once I get the truck going again and if they didnt weather too good being neglected ill just buy another set of door panels as they werent but $100.

That Shadow Blue looks really good Rusty. Thanks for the details, I appreciate that.

No problem, I was glad I came across the color cause it matches so good.  Once I get my truck finished I plan on stripping the interior down and repainting all the trim pieces as well as the dashboard itself to freshen everything up.

On the brown I believe we used SEM camel for the 82 F150 I threw the 5.0 coyote in at work, he wanted a brown interior but this camel looks to be a bit closer color wise to the dash shown above.

Rusty_S85 wrote

Here are a few more photos from different angles in slightly different light conditions to show the close match the SEM paint was to the precolored arm rest pads I got.

Those pictures look great Rusty!

So, according to my post on FB, a lot of people seem to be really pleased with the ColorCoat off the shelf "Bluemist" color, and I'm really impressed with your pics of the "Shadow Blue" version. So...I'm going to do a little experiment this coming weekend. I called the Canadian distributor, and ordered one can of each...it was actually all they had anyway...lol, and I'm going to see which one matches up to mine the best. Worst case scenario I will order some custom mixed stuff (Dk Harbor BLue) out of the US, but if one of the off the shelf colors works, then it will be far less expensive for me to do.

Bluemist color applied in a couple other pictures.

PS: Matt, sorry for the thread hijack man!! Gary can possibly move my portion out if you want it cleaned up.

Matt
 My 1983 F100 is the same as your picture the lower dash is lighter than the rest of panels,I did install new dashpad W/O speaker opening had it dyed but it looks like your pad ? my orig seemed to match lower dash but NOT the rest of panels, let us know what you make out I have my pad out no to do the blend door repair and waiting for my new OEM style heater core from Dennis Carpenter, and I woulf like to dye my dash pad to match lower dash.

Matt
 Any word on this ?

I'll let Matt update us on where he's gotten to in the end, but here's a bit of background.

He tried calling SEM but couldn't get through, so asked me to contact them.  I did via email and they got back very quickly saying:

Hey Gary,

Since the whole virus thing I am it for tech help and with everyone home it gets pretty busy on the phones, as well as the e-mail so my apologies for the delay in response.

 Our formulas were created from the swatches that Ford sent us each year and the info they gave us along with the swatches. The formulas were matched to those swatches and have not changed over the years. What does happen quite often is that the stores that mix will sometime forget to agitate the toners and if they are not mixed thoroughly and poured off, not only will that formula be off, but every formula mixed with that toner will be off as well. and if a toner has reached its shelf life, there can be color shift with that toner also.  The store should start with a fresh set of toners, well agitated, and try the formula again.

Matt then reached out to the outfit in the UK that mixed the paint and provided them with the above info from SEM.  After some discussion I think the route they are going is to mix paint to match Matt's color by scanning one of his parts.  But I've not heard that they've done that yet, so don't know how successful that was.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I asked Vinyl Pro, who appear to have both an excellent track record mixing SEM products as well as outstanding customer service, if they could ship to Matt in the UK.  They told me:

When shipping to the UK it gets a little more difficult because we cannot ship anything hazardous, like solvent based coatings (Color Coat).  We can however ship SEM’s Sure-Coat water based dye by air.  Sure-Coat can be used for refinishing most leather, vinyl and hard plastics.

I passed that on to Matt and he said he'll give the local people another shot and then go with Vinyl Pro if he has to.

Bringing this one back up as I am looking to paint a couple faded plastic pieces (maybe all of them except the dash if they come out good).

I spoke with SEM and was given these steps:

        1. 39362 Sem Soap - grey scuff pad give it a good scruff then rinse off. Dry. Removes water based stuff
        2. 38353 Plastic and leather prep. Spray on a wipe off in one direction with dry cloth. Removes solvent
        3. Test with acetone on back. If melts then use promoter 38363.
                a. Spray and while wet apply a coat of color
                b. Apply color so it's wet
                c. As soon as it's dry (5 min), do another coat
                d. 2-3 coats is all that's needed (NO?)
        4. If nothing happens to the plastic with acetone test then use 77723
                a. Spray a wet coat but let it sit 5 minutes to flash
                b. Then apply color so it's wet
                c. As soon as it's dry (5 min), do another coat
                d. 2-3 coats is all that's needed (NO?)


The (NO?) is in there because I called a shop that mixes SEM aerosol and they say 5-6 light coats which is much different than 2-3 wet coats. ?

Big question is that I've seen mention of both promoters (77723 and 38363) on this forum. Has anyone done the acetone test and confirmed which one is needed for the trim plastics (doors, pillars, etc)?

kramttocs wrote

Bringing this one back up as I am looking to paint a couple faded plastic pieces (maybe all of them except the dash if they come out good).

I spoke with SEM and was given these steps:

        1. 39362 Sem Soap - grey scuff pad give it a good scruff then rinse off. Dry. Removes water based stuff
        2. 38353 Plastic and leather prep. Spray on a wipe off in one direction with dry cloth. Removes solvent
        3. Test with acetone on back. If melts then use promoter 38363.
                a. Spray and while wet apply a coat of color
                b. Apply color so it's wet
                c. As soon as it's dry (5 min), do another coat
                d. 2-3 coats is all that's needed (NO?)
        4. If nothing happens to the plastic with acetone test then use 77723
                a. Spray a wet coat but let it sit 5 minutes to flash
                b. Then apply color so it's wet
                c. As soon as it's dry (5 min), do another coat
                d. 2-3 coats is all that's needed (NO?)


The (NO?) is in there because I called a shop that mixes SEM aerosol and they say 5-6 light coats which is much different than 2-3 wet coats. ?

Big question is that I've seen mention of both promoters (77723 and 38363) on this forum. Has anyone done the acetone test and confirmed which one is needed for the trim plastics (doors, pillars, etc)?

Scott, I painted my trucks entire interior, using their instructions and products, with fantastic results. I think I also did 3 wet coats. It's been awhile so I'm a bit foggy, but if you look at my Truck build in the projects section, I have pictured exactly what I used. Check that out and if you still have questions, shoot me a PM and I'll look more in depth for exactly what I did.