jmillatime

Does anyone know what the right color of SEM is for the tan interior?I am looking to clean up a few pieces Thx!

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

Check the SEM main website for the color match. They have awesome customer service as well.

davmar

Rather than trying to match colors on a computer monitor from a web site find a shop that sells SEM vinyl/leather paints and take a part (if possible) with the color you want and match it in-store. Even if you can't take a part to the store, drive your vehicle to the store and take the SEM color chip booklet to the car and pick your best match. I did that for the "milk chocolate" colored steering wheel (which had portions where the color layer was worn off) on my SC300 and got a near perfect match with SEM #15723 "Monterey". Clean surfaces to be painted with denatured alcohol before painting. Because the paint is in a spray can and there isn't enough masking in the world to make me comfortable with spraying a component inside the car I spritzed the paint into a small container and used a 1" foam brush to coat the steering wheel rim (after masking the center and protecting the carpet, don't use newspaper unless you want ink on the carpet). It took three coats to provide complete recoloring. I have been advised to wait days, at least, before putting a repainted vinyl or leather part in service. The picture below shows the result, the rim (leather) was painted and the center (vinyl) is original. I also repainted the parking brake handle which also had worn spots.
Sometime next week I will post the results of repairing and repainting the cracked front seat skirts, which are the beige color seen on the lower half of the dash. If the result is a good color match I will include the SEM color number I will use for that part.

Derrzy

Damn. That looks really good. A perfect match!! How is it holding up on the steering wheel?

1JZPWRD

iTrader: (59)

That is my thoughts also. I just painted one with SEM GMC black leather. I hardly ever grip the steering wheel with both hands, usually a finger or two at the most.

davmar

The front seats are out of the car for reupholstering so the steering wheel isn't in use. Because the vinly/leather paint is thin when dispensed from a spray can it soaks into the leather. That is why three coats were required. Because it is actually soaking into the leather pores I anticipate it should hold up well in service but that is just speculation at this point. Again, it probably is best to let is dry for days before using, particularly on a surface like a steering wheel or parking brake handle which sees constant contact with your hands

O. L. T.

iTrader: (17)

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davmar

As as been noted on this forum the skirts on the front seats that hide the base mechanism are prone to cracking. As also has been noted OEM replacement skirts are not available for love or money. Both of the skirts on my '94 SC300 were cracked above the hole for the seat back release lever. I'll detail how I repaired the parts in this post.
To repair the skirts it is necessary to remove the seat(s) from the vehicle. To do this pop off the plastic seat bolt covers and remove the four bolts mounting the seat(s) to the floor. Disconnect the electrical harness and remove the seats from the vehicle (careful to avoid damaging paint or interior trim).
Once the seat has been removed lay it on it's side on a padded surface and remove the Phillips head screws attaching the skirts. Two of the switch buttons are push-on and can be removed by prying them off (recommend a auto trim removal tool wrapped in plastic tape). The seat back release lever is attached with a retainer clip. Access to the clip is very limited. I used a grabber tool (pictured below with other supplies) to reach in and grab the clip and pull it out, the advantage of using such a tool is that it grips the clip so that it doesn't fall into the mechanism when it is pulled out. Once the release lever is removed partially remove the skirt and disconnect the harness to the electrical switch that controls the seat back tilt. Completely remove the skirt and dismount the switch by removing two screws. There is an auxilliary skirt held on by screws which I removed so that it could also be repainted.
With the skirt removed repair can commence. The first task is to reinforce the skirt on the inside where it is cracked. I recommend a thin (.062", .083" or .125") piece of acrylic (Plexiglass) , polycarbonate (Lexan), ABS, or rigid PVC about 3/8" wide and 1-1/2" long. I had a sheet of .083 acrylic laying around the garage so I used that. If you don't have any of those materials but do have a plastic supply retailer locally, e.g. Tap Plastics, you can probably get a very small piece of scrap material at little or no cost there. The surface where the crack is located is curved so I heated the reinforcing strip with an electric heat gun until it was soft and laid it over the cracked area and pressed on it to bend it to match the contour. Allow the reinforcement to cool and then lift it off. If possible work a little flexible waterproof adhesive into the crack itself by flexing it open and then rest the skirt so that the gap is closed and apply a coat of adhesive over the area a little larger than the reinforcement strip and press the strip back in place. Allow to cure overnight before handling further. Once the adhesive is set flip the skirt over to start repairing the vinyl surface. I recommend lightly sanding the top surface with #220 grit to smooth and prepare the surface. Clean the surface with denatured alcohol before starting vinyl application.
The vinyl repair kit contains small containers of uncured vinyl in various colors. I didn't expect to match colors exactly but I wanted to get close to allow the subsequent paint application to better cover the repair area. I placed about a third of the white vinyl in the mixing container and then added brown drop by drop until the color started to get close to a match (about four or five drops on the pointed tip of the mixing/application tool in the kit. I then added a drop of yellow and a drop of green and mixed thoroughly. After trying to fill the crack and other divots in one go I found that removing the textured release paper also tended to pull out the material in the holes. Instead, I just filled the holes flush and cured the vinyl with a heat gun which doesn't require contact with the material. Be very careful not to overhead the vinyl. Apply heat for a few seconds at a time and check the surface with your finger, Once it is hot to the touch, stop. The vinyl also looses gloss when it cures. Several applications may be required to get the surface flush, but the vinyl cures better in a thin layer. Once the surface is smooth to your satisfaction apply another thin coat over all areas without texuture, press the selected texture release paper sheet down onto the surface and use the tip of an electric clothes iron (set to cotton heat) to rub over the texture sheet until it is hot enough to cures the vinyl, again, caution is in order to avoid overheating. Wait several minutes for the area to cool. To improve release I grabbed something frozen from the freezer and held it on the area to cool it below room temperature. Peel back the release paper. The release paper doesn't ever seem to release completely and some vinyl sticks to it. The cured vinyl can be scraped off with finger nail. I had to repeat the process a dozen times on one skirt until I was satisfied with the result, the other skirt, which was less damaged, only took a couple of applications to make right. Pictures below show the results. The most damaged skirt still appears a little rough in the photo below but that is an extreme close-up, From several feet away, once painted, it doesn't attract attention. You may want to keep working with the vinyl until it is even smoother. Because the vinyl was heat cured it is possible to proceed to repainting immediately.
Thoroughly clean the parts with denatured alcohol before painting. For the beige vinyl in my car I used SEM Color Coat #15143 "Sandstone". That color is a near perfect match. Use multiple light spray coats until the parts are fully and evenly colored. Allow to dry overnight before handling further.
Re-attach the skirts in reverse order to removal and re-install the seats.
Description of photos below:
1. Photo of repair supplies used, and grabber tool used to remove lever retainer clip.
2. Reinforcement strip across cracked area on the inside of the skirt.
3. Top surface after reinforcing crack and lightly sanding.
4. Surface after vinyl repair but before painting.
5. Both skirts after painting, driver's side top and passenger side bottom.

Biddles

iTrader: (2)

This is a pic I took earlier, just a quick spray not finished, really just a test. Color match is perfect, the # is 17293 Toyota Ivory. Of course this is just one interior part, I only painted the rear seat belt buckle cover which cracked when uninstalling the interior so I could dynamat. Comparing it to a panel I did not remove. It looks a hair brighter, but you can't see how dirty the panel on the car is. Everything will be cleaned and redone in a week or two hopefully.

SEIDO

iTrader: (1)

Is there a website?
Where do you get SMS Paint?

Studiogeek

iTrader: (6)

I got mine on Amazon first. I also purchased a large box of it from a member 2 years ago.