Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Only 4 light coats. It has excellent coverage.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

I thought you might like the SEM doc.

Sam, I've used it to do a complete color change on the ZX from gold/tan to med gray/blue. Looks brand new now. I am getting some peeling on the vinyl shifter boot, but the rest of it has held up sitting in the sun for nearly 2 years. One of these days I'll finish the car.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

Hey Scott,

Ya I recall you sending me pictures of that ... I think that I told you that i plan on either doing black or tan ... or just keep it as brown. I really like the clean look of tan though. I think that I'm going to first get a vinyl sample of the color and then match that. Because I don't know about dying the seat, I still think they may come off when i don't want then. lol ... any updates on the shell?

Sam

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

SEM has nearly dozen shades of tan/browns in thier color chart. I would pick the color/s from there 1st, then shop for vinyl/fabric/carpet. 1AAuto will make the molded 1st gen carpet out of any color/carpet type they have on thier webpage.

$100T2

iTrader: (1)

Yep.

And I think I'm going to get rid of all that black carpet, etc, because I want to do tan and black with mahogany trim now. Keep the dash black and some of the other hard plastic stuff black, and tan for the rest... Mahogany wheel, shift ****, and some trim on the doors, make it classy, kinda like an old Jag or something.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

depending on how good your carving skills are, you can do the whole arm rest and door pull out of wood. I would probably do it as a 2 piece deal though. I would get like for or five 3/4" piece by how ever long the armrest is and glue them together as it might be stronger and last you longer, the problem with single pieces like that is one Cost, and 2 they tend to warp over time. I can probably just do a quick one out of pine just to show it. Would be a nice project and pine, with just a natural stain would blend in better with the tan interior you plan on doing for that s3. Make sure you use UV resistance varnish though ... probably already knew that. I think i'm going to mock one up now lol just for the heck of it out of pine.

Sam

neektar

iTrader: (2)

I purchased a can of SEM color spray a few weeks back.

The color is firethorn red and doesn't match the original burgandy color of the car at all. Does anyone know the shade that will?

Also, just for ***** I decided to paint a faded grey doorpull with the red-ish SEM paint. I've left it for two weeks in my back yard exposed to rain, snow and sun and so far no peeling. I've even tried to scratch it off with my fingernails and no such luck.

Paint is overall good in quality, I just wish I knew the shade!

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

^ Did you take a piece in to be matched to compare to their color chart? Also with the burgandy/maroon it is prone to extreme fading.
If you cannot come up with a good match. Obtain the color code from the Mazda dealership of for your interior and see if the local paint guys can mix some for you.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

For those color matching plastic parts, match it to the backside of any plastic piece, color goes clear through. For the red, SEM #15463 Gloss Cabernet and 15273 Napa Red are the closest on my color chart, but neither is a perfect match. For the gray, I used the Granite 15053 but 15413, Thomas Bus Gray will work, little more blueish and 15163 Presidio is very close also. For the brown, 15023, Cordovan Brown is about the only choice.

Neither of the reds are quite right and there are 3 colors of gray that can work. My best suggestion is to do the entire interior if one is going to do it. The worst fading is most often the rear wheel well covers and rear plastic piece under the bottom of the hatch. If that's all one needs to restore, do all the hard plastic pieces in the rear. With the break at the B-pillar, if the color is a little off, it will be barely noticeable.

Now, if one is feeling adventurous, some automotive paints can be used on the interior with a simple additive. Talk to your paint supplier. When I looked for a color to use on the ZX, none of the SEM pre-mixes matched the shades of bluegray soft goods I used. My supplier mixed up a pint of Lesonal, with additive, from a color I pulled out of his books. I ended going back for a 2nd pint, but I will have plenty left over for future touchups.

If going this route, primer/paint can be applied with a $50 touch up gun. I started out using an airbrush on most of the small parts, but when it came to the dash and large cover pieces, one needs a touchup gun for an even coat. With the air brush, the coverage area was so small, the paint was flashing before I could get the larger pieces coated.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

And if you cannot afford a spray gun or do not have a air compressor. You can buy those aerosol cans that will attach to a feed bottle.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Some updating on the color matching of the Sem paints. Originally when I went to the paint store and we compared the color chart the Palomino looked like a good match. After using it the color was a few shades lighter. So today I went back and told them. We found another color that was darker and the guys went ahead and tried it on some cardboard. It looked promising so I will let you guys decide. The new color for the match is Camel.

The darker color is what I was looking for. Also are pictures of the change from the original brown to the camel.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

More pics.

glosoli

that tan looks real nice

or camel, i mean

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

the first picture in that second last post ... is that the stock brown color? Or is that painted?

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

The brown color is the stock color that is on my 85 Se.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

hmmm those actually look alot lighter than my stock ones ... did you scrub them with a 0000 steel wool in that picture? And get them all cleaned up? because that might be the changing factor ... or it could just be camera too

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Light clean up with the 0000 wool but picture taken with a 7.1 megapixel digital camera.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

The earlier browns/tans are much lighter than the S3 brown.

thunder01

trochoid, did you actually compare a piece of plastic with the SEM colour chart for the burgundy color? I see that they have a Burgundy on the chart and was wondering how close a match it is. The dealer color code for the 7's burgundy interior is C2.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

The burgandy piece that I compared the unfaded backside to the color chart falls in between the Cabernet and Napa, neither one is a perfect match nor close enough as I would like. To get a better match, I would take a piece to an autobody paint supplier and have them mix up a color that is closer than the 2 SEM colors. The mix formulation should also include an additive for application on plastics along with a flattening agent to reduce the goss factor of the paint to somewhere between 60-80%.

If you don't have a compressor and touchup spray gun, many suppliers can put the paint in rattle cans for ease of use and applicarion. If you have other items on the car that you plan on refurbishing/restoring, the touchup gun and compressor are a good investment.

All comparissions were done in bright/direct sunlight with no cloud cover.

thunder01

I have a can of Plasti-kote is called dark red. the plastic top shows a great match (well close enough) but when I sprayed the under side of the interior plastic it's too redish.
I don't think there will ever be a perfect match. like you said this color fades the worst of them all.

bliffle

Yeah, I'm trying to restore or replace some faded burgundy on my 85SE. It's badly faded compared to the 85GSL. I've never found a color match, so I've been searching the JYs for burgundy bits. I have a halfass plan in mind to take some faded pieces and migrating color from the unfaded underside to a chemical vehicle that can be applied to the faded sides. maybe I'll use a palm sander with a dust colletor, abrade the colored surfaces, collect the dust, mix with the adhesive chemical and apply to the faded surface.. Something like that.

I tried all the spray paints and Rit Dies and was not satisfied with the results.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Here are some more results with the SEM paint with the Bulldog adhesion promoter. The # for the Black is 15243 and is called Satin Black. The pictures are from changing it from brown to black. The reason the brown is so shiny is because I took the picture after I sprayed the adhesion promoter.

neektar

iTrader: (2)

That an interesting shade of black. Not too shiny and not too dull. Any idea how that compares to the newer cars' OEM black? I decided to just paint my interior black (think it'll look way better than the burgundy) and now I'm trying to get that New out of the dealer black look going.

Looks good. Is the adhesion promotoer nessicary? I used the SEM vinyl prep for the smaller peices I've painted and it seems to hold very very well. No fade so far and no chipping even when I try sctraching it off. So that's good.

Looking forward to seeing a nice finished product. Looking good..

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

SEM recommends that you use a adhesion promoter on plastic pieces. I wanted to make sure that the adhesion was very good because of the dash being a very exposed part. On vinyl, leather or carpeting the adhesion promoter is not needed.

SEM only has 3 shades of black. The one I'm using, gloss black and what they call Landau black which may be equivelent to the newer cars.
Thanks for the input. This project is for a fellow member on his yellow SA.