mnotz

I am starting to rehab my interior and was wondering if you guys can help me out. At this point I have two pretty complete interiors and 3 sets of seats. My first thought was doing the interior all black, so matching colors was not that much of an issue. But every time I go into my garage to work on the car and see the tan colored interior in the wine red metallic car I love it more and more and think I want to go with mostly the tan and some contrasting black for the pod, console and so on.

My problem is that I will have to dye some parts and recover some others. Does anyone know of a tan material (vinyl or leather) and a dye that will match the color of that material pretty close? I am thinking SEM as a dye as I talked to quite some people who had great results and durability...I wonder if there is a paint number that matches a tan material someone out there knows of?

Thanks for all your help already in advance,
Marcus.

P.S.: If someone has some interior shots of a tan/black interior (stock seats in my car are tan, but I know some other parts have been painted), that would be very helpful, just to know what parts typically are tan and which ones are contrasting darker (black or brown)...

ceedee

do what i do ...stick to black. it's way less trouble, match-wise

Ron_H

SEM has worked well for me. I suggest finding the material, sending a sample of it to SEM, and they will match it, provide the formula, and you then take it to your friendly, neighborhood auto paint supply store for a mix. I also suggest informing SEM that you don't want a shiny surface so they may include a deglossing agent in the formula. Nice people at SEM.

Podguy

Marcus,

Be careful with the SEM products. They work nice on hard vinyl like the center console and dash but not well on soft vinyl parts. Even on the hard vinal parts the SEM products have a tendency to scratch and show the color underneath. I use a lot of SEM material on my pods and dash restorations so have a bit of experience.

For color dye look to Leatherique. They make a great conditoner for your leather seats and can color match. You should however look up the color code on the interior. If they match to a color code then you will be starting with the orginal color and not something faded. Using a color code will guarantee consistent matching through the entire interior.

I have found that the Leatherique leather dye works very nicely on the soft vinyl parts such as the door panels and rear quarters. It is best when applied with a terrycloth covered sponge. I generally thin it a little and do more than one coat.

Dan the Pod Guy

Nicole

The correct "tan" color for a 1981 model should be "cork". It's a very warm tan, with a hint of red in it. Very nice color! I once test drove an 84 S with an all cork leather interior. Sometimes I wish I would have bought it. But it was a manual...

3000teeth

Just saw this posted on another thread: http://www.928registry.org/1989-928GT-1129.htm

The black/tan contrast is gorgeous, but it's an 89 and a GT! Is there an earlier equivelent to this tan?

piccardo

I just finished doing all my leather with the SEM(IN BLACK). Good product I have no complaints. There is alot of prep work to do. You must clean the leather very, very well.
I did my seats about 4 months ago and they still look great.

Tampa 928s

Check out this post!

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ighlight=latex

mnotz

First off, thank you all so very much for your responses...that's why I love Rennlist!!!

Nicole, I believe that it is the "cork" color, as your description fits exactly...it is a very nice color, especially with the wine red (I believe that's the color of my car, judging from some photo's I saw) exterior. That's a great starting point, and I would love to get it back to the factory color.

I have a black leather center console in really nice shape that I would love to use, so that would mean that at least by looking at the pictures in the post from 3000teeth it would match nicely the cork seats, dp inserts and the tan carpet with the dashboard and pod in black....I really like that look.

Now, for the SEM/Leatherique issue it seems there is a lot of back and forth and such, maybe I will have to use a combination of both, one system for soft surfaces and another for hard...

Just in case anyone has any pictures or knowledge of an 81 cork interior...I would love to know if they were actually two-tone or was everything cork?


Thanks again everybody,
Marcus.

mnotz

...forgot another question...

Did anyone every attempt to dye a black seat to a lighter color like the cork? Just asking as I have 2 seat sets in cork and 4 in black and would need to "mix and match" them and parts of them to assemble seats in really nice condition.

Thanks again,
Marcus.

SeanR

I'm watching this thread too.

Hoping I can take a black pod and dye it to dark blue like I currently have.

Ron_H

To those who plan to re-dye, don't forget to use a scuff pad to rough up the surface of the stuff you plan to re-dye just prior to spraying. SEM recommends that, and everyone who omits that step might be wasting time.

Podguy

Sean,

You will have no trouble re-coloring the black pod Blue. Use SEM and it will come out looking like new. Before applying the SEM color the pod should be clean. I run all mine through the dishwasher to get them clean (I have one in the shop) and then hit them with some silicon buster. Superior Restoration Products makes an excellent silicon buster. Before spraying the pod wipe it down with a little lacquer thinner. This softens the palstic and gives you better adhesion.

You will have trouble finding a stock Blue to match the Porsche color. Most just come out too light. SEM has a color book. I picked the darkest match and then tinted it with black to get the correct match. There are a couple of different blues that Porsche used. I use the lower cover to get the match and then spray the cover as well. Auto Body Supply houses usually carry SEM products and will mix a pint for about $25. For a little extra they will do an exact match.

Marcus,

If you are going to do a drastic color change on the seats then the best bet is to strip off the old dye. Porsche leather is supposed to be vat dyed, but I find it is really more like surface dyed leather. You can remove many of the minor cracks and most of the dye by sanding with 400 grit Wet or Dry paper and Leatherique's Prep Agent. You will want to use gloves as the Prep Agent is a little acidic. But with very little work the old dye will come right off and you will be left with a mud colored smooth leather surface that both takes the Reguvenating Oil and a new coat of dye. You may need a couple of coats, but the Leatherique dye applied this way will do the job. I generally thin the dye with water anyways. This increases working time and allows the dye to go on smoother. If one spot looks bad just sand it out and hit it with another coat. Great stuff and difficult to mess up.

Are you sure the color is Cork. Most of the Cork Interiors were on 78-79 cars. After that Porsche seems to favor a lighter color move like tan and use brown to highlight it. Later they used the Chasmere with the Brown. Typlical was a brown dash, center console, arm rests, headliner and rear deck in Brown and then the rest in either the tan or chasmere. I think there four verys distinct different colors used from 78 to 84.

To me the Brown never looked good. A black with the tan is a nice combination and as used regularly on the newer cars.

Dan the Pod Guy

3000teeth

leatherique.com points to gahh.com, which has these OEM swatches:

http://www.gahh.com/smp-v20-c05-a.php

mnotz

Wow, Dan!
That was some very very helpful info! Thank you so much! I also like the dishwasher idea...just have to make sure I do that when wifey is not home, as I don't have the luxury of a dishwasher in the garage...but at least I have a fridge for some beer there...hahaha.

As for the interior color, I really can't tell exactly what it originally was...all seats and the rear quarter panels and the rear center console are a pretty light tan, the pod is black, headliner brown and shot but unfortunately pillar covers, dashboard and center console are painted in a very ugly, glossy, sh**brown (excuse my language, but that seems to be an exact description). Carpeting is tan throughout. I will take some pictures of the seats and post them here when I get a chance.

I have a very nice black leather center console, and will recover and/or paint the headliner, pillar covers, dash and such in black.

On another note, do the "inserts" in the center of the seats come out and can be transplanted into another seat?

Thanks again so much and have a great night,
Marcus.