My 1998 has the "medium neutral' leather interior color code (521/522) and I've been trying to find the appropriate paint color to help refinish some of the plastic pieces that are scuffed. My interior door bezels are mismatched so I decided to use them as my experimental pieces. A lot of discussion I've found regarding paint-matching the interior focused on greys so I thought I'd start a thread specifically on my experience trying to find a match for the medium neutral color and potentially hear new options from other members.
As part of the prep all pieces were 1) washed with soap and dried, 2) sprayed with SEM adhesion promoter, 3) hit with a 3-4 light coats of color, and 5) 2-3 coats of SEM Low Luster Clear
Since SEM has a very good reputation I started there. Lesson 1) DO NOT TRUST THE ONLINE PAINT CHIP PDF. When viewing on my computer, the SEM Lt. Neutral (15863) looks like the correct color. IT IS NOT. I don't have any pictures of this, but the paint color is more akin to what you'd see in a GMT800 or maybe an Escalade. I initially picked this color because of the 521 code and how it looked online, but definitely a mistake.
So next I went with the "medium neutral" (15883). When you look at the pictures below you'll probably think I grabbed the wrong color somehow. I know I did after comparing it with the dash fuse cover. At this point, I actually thought something was wrong with can I got from the store and bought A SECOND can on Amazon just to check. Same grayish color with very little brown.
Frustrated, I took a half-day off during the week to drive to the nearest SEM distributor and chat in-person. I brought him the painted sample and fuse cover for comparison, and explained the full process. He looked, did some test sprays and confirmed with a can they had in stock--all very gray and muted brown--and nothing like what I would expect. He then took his paint chip page and compared with one from an older binder. Unfortunately, when compared together it's very easy to see how poorly they match. The old paint chip is slightly glossier and has more brown tone in it than the current color. He explained that I'm not the first person to raise issue with color matching and that the quality has been an issue in the last couple years due to supplier challenges. He even just re-sprayed the interior in his 90s Ford in a black color and stated that 2 out of 6 bottles came out with a different sheen than the other 4. He said that making a custom pint is always an option at about $100 and would take about a week.
At that point I decided to go with the other brand I've commonly seen, Colorbond. There are two 3-digit codes I wanted to try: 158 (Medium Neutral II) and 650 (Neutral Tan) but as of this post have only been able to find/try 650. The color is definitely a lot closer than SEM but sprays on rougher. This is negated once the clear coat is sprayed but I could definitely see/feel a difference. Since I was much more satisfied, I sprayed the instrument cluster bezel and lower dash plate as well to get a bigger comparison. When next to other large, OEM-color pieces it is evident that they're not the same color, but it's not too terrible. I wish I could get my hands on an affordable can of 158 just to see what the difference is, though.
All pictures will be in the following post.
As part of the prep all pieces were 1) washed with soap and dried, 2) sprayed with SEM adhesion promoter, 3) hit with a 3-4 light coats of color, and 5) 2-3 coats of SEM Low Luster Clear
Since SEM has a very good reputation I started there. Lesson 1) DO NOT TRUST THE ONLINE PAINT CHIP PDF. When viewing on my computer, the SEM Lt. Neutral (15863) looks like the correct color. IT IS NOT. I don't have any pictures of this, but the paint color is more akin to what you'd see in a GMT800 or maybe an Escalade. I initially picked this color because of the 521 code and how it looked online, but definitely a mistake.
So next I went with the "medium neutral" (15883). When you look at the pictures below you'll probably think I grabbed the wrong color somehow. I know I did after comparing it with the dash fuse cover. At this point, I actually thought something was wrong with can I got from the store and bought A SECOND can on Amazon just to check. Same grayish color with very little brown.
Frustrated, I took a half-day off during the week to drive to the nearest SEM distributor and chat in-person. I brought him the painted sample and fuse cover for comparison, and explained the full process. He looked, did some test sprays and confirmed with a can they had in stock--all very gray and muted brown--and nothing like what I would expect. He then took his paint chip page and compared with one from an older binder. Unfortunately, when compared together it's very easy to see how poorly they match. The old paint chip is slightly glossier and has more brown tone in it than the current color. He explained that I'm not the first person to raise issue with color matching and that the quality has been an issue in the last couple years due to supplier challenges. He even just re-sprayed the interior in his 90s Ford in a black color and stated that 2 out of 6 bottles came out with a different sheen than the other 4. He said that making a custom pint is always an option at about $100 and would take about a week.
At that point I decided to go with the other brand I've commonly seen, Colorbond. There are two 3-digit codes I wanted to try: 158 (Medium Neutral II) and 650 (Neutral Tan) but as of this post have only been able to find/try 650. The color is definitely a lot closer than SEM but sprays on rougher. This is negated once the clear coat is sprayed but I could definitely see/feel a difference. Since I was much more satisfied, I sprayed the instrument cluster bezel and lower dash plate as well to get a bigger comparison. When next to other large, OEM-color pieces it is evident that they're not the same color, but it's not too terrible. I wish I could get my hands on an affordable can of 158 just to see what the difference is, though.
All pictures will be in the following post.
