1994 With light and dark gray interior what SEM color

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Knuckle Dragger

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I'm going to be swapping my dash out as soon as it cools down. I found a dark Gray dash on Ebay and Hobbs hooked me up with some of the trim I was just curious what color interior dye/pain you guys used, assuming you have the dark Gray interior of course. I'm on the fence deciding if I'm going to respray everything or just clean it all up well. I dyed the console and double din center trim a year or so back with SEM 15813 Medium Dark Pewter and it's close but not quite right.
 

someotherguy

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Not exactly an answer but some info that may help you determine the correct color. When I did the 95-up interior in my 3500HD project, I needed the lighter gray color that the new interior uses. I chose SEM "medium gray" pretty sure it was the # 15393 and it was a pretty good match, although still seemed somewhat lighter than the factory color. So with that, it would likely be way too light for the 1994 interior.

Dash, gauge bezel, knee bolster panel, kick panel are all SEM medium gray. The fuse panel and the air ducts are original (molded in color on those)
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Again everything is SEM medium gray other than the air ducts and the glovebox release button housing, which as you can see are slightly darker.

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FWIW the SEM holds up amazingly well, but I did follow the instructions to the letter. I cleaned all the pieces meticulously with TSP substitute and the two different grits of scotchbrite pads, then was super careful handling them so oils from my fingers didn't contaminate the cleaned surfaces. You may not be able to find "real" TSP (trisodium phosphate) but TSP sub worked great for me. Don't forget the SEM adhesion promoter.

Richard
 
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I'm going to be swapping my dash out as soon as it cools down. I found a dark Gray dash on Ebay and Hobbs hooked me up with some of the trim I was just curious what color interior dye/pain you guys used, assuming you have the dark Gray interior of course. I'm on the fence deciding if I'm going to respray everything or just clean it all up well. I dyed the console and double din center trim a year or so back with SEM 15813 Medium Dark Pewter and it's close but not quite right.
What color did you end up going with? I want to respray my dark gray trim but I can't find a color match
 

FA31

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Not exactly an answer but some info that may help you determine the correct color. When I did the 95-up interior in my 3500HD project, I needed the lighter gray color that the new interior uses. I chose SEM "medium gray" pretty sure it was the # 15393 and it was a pretty good match, although still seemed somewhat lighter than the factory color. So with that, it would likely be way too light for the 1994 interior.

Dash, gauge bezel, knee bolster panel, kick panel are all SEM medium gray. The fuse panel and the air ducts are original (molded in color on those)
You must be registered for see images attach



Again everything is SEM medium gray other than the air ducts and the glovebox release button housing, which as you can see are slightly darker.

You must be registered for see images attach


FWIW the SEM holds up amazingly well, but I did follow the instructions to the letter. I cleaned all the pieces meticulously with TSP substitute and the two different grits of scotchbrite pads, then was super careful handling them so oils from my fingers didn't contaminate the cleaned surfaces. You may not be able to find "real" TSP (trisodium phosphate) but TSP sub worked great for me. Don't forget the SEM adhesion promoter.

Richard
Did you paint your dash in the truck, meaning, didn’t remove it?
 

someotherguy

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Did you paint your dash in the truck, meaning, didn’t remove it?
Absolutely not - there's no way you can properly clean and prep any of the interior plastics with them still in the truck. It requires a thorough washing with TSP (or TSP substitute, easier to find and seems to work just as well), you scrub it with that and a fine gray Scotchbrite pad, rinse well, careful not to touch with your fingers on the areas you'll be painting. Then adhesion promoter, and a few coats of color, follow the directions carefully and it will turn out nice.

Propped up outside drying in the sun.. as you can see on the inside area, this used to be a tan dash.

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Richard
 

FA31

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Absolutely not - there's no way you can properly clean and prep any of the interior plastics with them still in the truck. It requires a thorough washing with TSP (or TSP substitute, easier to find and seems to work just as well), you scrub it with that and a fine gray Scotchbrite pad, rinse well, careful not to touch with your fingers on the areas you'll be painting. Then adhesion promoter, and a few coats of color, follow the directions carefully and it will turn out nice.

Propped up outside drying in the sun.. as you can see on the inside area, this used to be a tan dash.

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Richard
Impressive! Wanna pull my dash for me?
:)

I want to do a double din install & would prefer to get a new double din gauge bezel, but I’m not looking forward to taping it off and painting it to match.

The prep and painting don’t bother me at all, I can’t stand fumbling with tape.
 

someotherguy

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Sometimes you gotta step back, before you can move forward.

Those parts were all pulled from other trucks so I could build one from the ground up.

What started as a beat $300 parts truck 1994 3500HD 6.5td (blown and missing)/5 speed, former flatbed construction company truck
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Got a full teardown...
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Got a 1996 Vortec 7.4/newer version 5 speed (integral slave cylinder/release bearing style), bodywork, paint job, and full 1995-up interior swap
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Then it got a wrecker unit
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Then it got a full wrecker bed :)
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Whenever a job seems like it's too big, sometimes you just need a perspective adjustment.

Richard
 
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