Hello everyone, new to the site hope I can get some information on the proper color names of interior's for a 79 Malibu project I'm working on
Malibu interior
- Thread starter Tomysmalibu
- Start date
- Status
I'm trying to find the interior color code for the 85 Monte SS Gray. I tried a few different companies three so far and they're dyes / spray he's either too light or too dark, I got a hold of Dave from SEM today and he told me he can get me a match but I have to be able to give him a VIN from one that already had that gray. Any help will be much appreciated
Gotta try to be clearer on the exact color you're looking for if you already knew year/model that will be different that what you car has. For '85 all Monte's had gray as a interior choice. The gray is code 82. There is also two other grays that use 82 as their code, a darker shade not used on a G body & a lighter gray that is not i my book for '85 but is for '86-'88, then there is a meduim dark gray that would be listed as a G body color for '85.
Ive dealt with Dave before. You should ask him if they still offer free color matching. The did that before they were bought out by PPG. The woman that did it was amazing. When PPG took over the woman that did it (Anne) left. I was shocked. She custom mixed quite a few colors for me.
If you are doing a full color change on your interior I can tell you SEM Presedio Grey is really close to the medium grey GM used in the early-mid 80s. Might not be the exact color you need but I used it in my Malibu wagon. Its VERY close to the OEM color. I had them mix a gallon for me that matched their aerosol cans. Then I sent her a glove box door out of a Regal to mix a darker grey for the dash. Check out my build thread in the wagon section. You can see the way the colors look. I used OEM Olds cloths for the seats. I know for a fact the main cloth I used was also used by Chevy in Montes.
You cant always go by the color codes. I had a local body shop supplier that I frequently use mix a quart of SEM for my wagon in the original color and it wasnt a good match.
Thank you for the responses, quick backstory. Bought this Malibu from a guy in Michigan that had the car gutted it had a burgundy dashboard that has been dyed black, upper and lower blue door panels that was been dyed black and the dark blue 85 Monte Carlo bucket seats, no headliner oh, sun visors, carpet, backseat, rear deck, or trim on the back windows, so you can see I'm starting from scratch. I have acquired most of the trim from Mike Monte, and he got me the gray headliner and carpet and the rear deck. I found the 85 Monte SS vinyl upper and lower door panels in Gray in Chicago, the b-pillars and rear side window lower trims also in the gray. So I want to do the whole thing and gray, but I'm trying to keep it as close as to what the factory intended in 1985.
So I still have to die the dashboard, a pillars and all the other little pieces of trim that I can't find in that particular Shade of Grey, I've tried the finish line brand grey and its way to light, I've tried the Dupli-Color medium gray and it's too light and I've tried the Fill clean brand medium gray and it's way too dark, this is my 6 G Body and I really want to do it right
Did you look at my build thread ? Im serious, the Presidio Grey is almost a perfect match to the GM color. Buy an aerosol can, spray the back of one of the pieces and see how it looks to another pieces thats the original color. If youre doing every piece you wouldnt notice a slight difference in the color. Dont forget youre trying to match a color to plastic pieces that have been fading since the day the car rlled out of the showroom.
BTW, I hope youre not trying all these different brands on the parts you intend on using. The other question, are you planning on using an adhesion promoter ?
Presidio Gray, thanks for the tip, I have been using Dupli-Color plastic adhesion promoter, with decent results, I've been spraying the backs of the pieces until I find the closest, match. Unfortunately though some of these parts have been dyed/ colored by the guy I bought the car from. But I will definitely order up some cans of that and give it a shot thank you very much
Thanks Mikester, I did wind up using Presidio Gray, all the pieces are done I just have to do the dashboard yet. You're right it's not a perfect match but it's really close, when I figure out how to put pictures on here I will show you the results
Glad it worked for you. Like I said, if you do everything and not try to match a particular shade it looks pretty nice. I thought I had a photo of two A pillars side by side but I guess I deleted it. One was Presidio and one was factory gray from a mid 80s Cutlass. The color was so close that I used the Presidio. The woman at SEM matched the gallon to one of their aerosol cans so if I ever needed to do a quick touch up I could just use a can off the shelf.
Cant wait to see some photos !
- Status
