My wife and I recently tore the interior out of my truck to do a deep clean since it probably hasn't been cleaned since the day it left the dealership. Well now she's suggesting we paint the interior pieces. I've probably read every post on here about SEM vs Duplicolor paints. I'm just curious what the durability difference is? All the auto parts stores around me have plenty of the Duplicolor Medium Gray readily available but the SEM stuff I'd have to order. So if I don't get enough to do all of my interior, i'd have to wait for more to come in. I guess for those who have painted the entire interior plastic pieces, how many cans of SEM did you use? TL;DR, How durable is the Duplicolor vinyl and fabric paint? How many cans of SEM did you use to paint all of the interior plastic with no color change? (just refreshing my gray interioir)
I used Duplicolor to make a complete color change to black, complete with painting a beige carpet black. I bought two or three cans at a time. When all was said and done I used about a case *BUT* it's cheaper buying by the can at O'Reillys than buying a case on Amazon. Go figure. I've been fine with the durability. It's starting to rub off on the seat belt buckles because I didn't bother to tape off the latch buttons, but I'm fine with that. I wasn't going for a show truck, I'm building a solid driver.
I have been using the duplicolor for some time. Ive been happy with the results. I did my dash, console that I took out of a 2004 Tahoe, and front section that I built. All matches. The Tahoe console was beige. Its now gray. Oh, and yes, thats a Chevelle-Camaro shifter in my 97 Silverado. I custom built it all except for the handle itself.
Agree with TechNova on that and will add that a big part of the durability is going to be from proper cleaning, degreasing, and the use of adhesion promotor. I'm not sure what Duplicolors "system" is but Sem has a full line of products that go hand in hand and should be used with the dye.
After cleaning with soap and then grease and wax remover, I used Vinyl Prep, Color, then Satin Clear Gloss on mine. I'm no expert at this but, it all came out nice.
I have used SEM paint before, and didnt like. That being said, anything in a spray can is DIY. No real pro uses a spray can. They have spray guns and the tools needed to make the job more efficetent and cost effective. As mentioned, prep is everything. The painting is the final step. Its all about the prep work. When I got the beige center console out of the 2004 Tahoe, to put into my 97 gray interior Silverado, I first used SEM. It sucked. I spent several hours doing the prep work. The SEM didnt match the interior color, and didnt take to the plastic very well at all. So I went back with duplicolor. I had to strip off the SEM paint with acetone. After enough time for the acetone to dry well, i repainted with duplicolor. Its been good ever since.
yes and no, we do use some spray cans but only if it is a 1K product and for small areas. Absolutely agree prep is everything, neither will work if prep is bad. For plastics we say when it is clean, clean it again.
Most paint systems like PPG and DuPont etc have the capabilities to mix vinyl dyes and interior colors along with the supporting cleaners and adhesion promotors. You can tint it to match or reduce it if you're not wanting to bury the texture in something. When you buy the stuff it's going to be a reasonable representation of what the factory color is which may not even be close to what that color is on your 25 y/o faded stuff so besides ease of application and a better finish there are other advantages to buying it in a quart can. Most paint jobbers are pretty cool if you walk back in there with a piece and the can of color you bought and do some tinting for you Not many spray can products in the shop I'm at besides some of the e-coat colored products and a few other rust/corrosion protection type items. Nothing more aggravating to a painter then a spray can that wants to toss little droplets of material onto the finish at the end of every stroke.
I scrubbed my interior pieces with Barkeep's Friend, rinsed them with water, and shot them. That easy. 20200401_090450.resized by Erik the Awful posted Apr 1, 2020 at 9:21 AM I washed the carpet at a car wash, sprayed it, combed it, sprayed it, combed it, sprayed it. Now it's about a year later and I need to do some touch-up spraying on the carpet. 20200319_164815.resized by Erik the Awful posted Mar 19, 2020 at 8:38 PM
