Sahara interior color code?

Camhabib said:
For those of you that used SEM, did you prep with the Sand Free or the Plastic Adhesion Promoter?
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Sorry for the late reply, @Camhabib , but yes, I bought and used the entire prep kit: SEM Soap, Sand Free, and the Plastic & Leather Prep. There are specific instructions on how to use all 3 of these before painting. It takes time and adds to your total cost significantly, but they say this is how you get the best results.

To @alexap 's comment about longevity, I will say that the low-contact surfaces have been a 100% success: dashboard and console. Again, the color is dead-on and nobody would know that these surfaces were painted — they look like new and have held up very well so far. Medium-contact surfaces like the door panels have been mostly a success, with just a bit of peeling on the top. In my case, I am painting them the original color, so peeling isn't noticable as compared to @intheSFValley 's project. But for high-contact surfaces like the armrest, the SEM paint was a total failure. I don't know if it was the material the armrest is made out of (vinyl?) but the adhesion was poor and after just a couple weeks of driving, the paint was peeling off that surface pretty badly. I ended up just rubbing off all the paint from it and leaving it original. If it were a big problem, I would just buy one of the armrest covers they sell on Amazon.
 
martinjg98 said:
Sorry for the late reply, @Camhabib , but yes, I bought and used the entire prep kit: SEM Soap, Sand Free, and the Plastic & Leather Prep. There are specific instructions on how to use all 3 of these before painting. It takes time and adds to your total cost significantly, but they say this is how you get the best results.

To @alexap 's comment about longevity, I will say that the low-contact surfaces have been a 100% success: dashboard and console. Again, the color is dead-on and nobody would know that these surfaces were painted — they look like new and have held up very well so far. Medium-contact surfaces like the door panels have been mostly a success, with just a bit of peeling on the top. In my case, I am painting them the original color, so peeling isn't noticable as compared to @intheSFValley 's project. But for high-contact surfaces like the armrest, the SEM paint was a total failure. I don't know if it was the material the armrest is made out of (vinyl?) but the adhesion was poor and after just a couple weeks of driving, the paint was peeling off that surface pretty badly. I ended up just rubbing off all the paint from it and leaving it original. If it were a big problem, I would just buy one of the armrest covers they sell on Amazon.
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Your door panels have an armrest?
 
martinjg98 said:
No, I was talking about the console armrest. It's made out of a different material than anything else in the Jeep. The SEM paint just won't stick to it.
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Ahh, I was thinking door panels when you mentioned arm rest.
Maybe with there being so much oil on our skin it really weighs on the SEM painted parts.
 
This thread was super helpful for me when restoring the interior of my 1997 sahara, so I wanted to share my experience with SEM 15173 and SEM 13023 (clear coat). Overall I am very happy with the results that I got from the SEM paints.


The full door panel at the bottom is an untouched stock panel that has not been repainted. The top half door panel has been painted with 15173 and then clear coated with 13023. Two coats of each. You can see that the half door panel is slightly darker in color but still a very good match. This was also the case on the other door. I would attribute the color change to fading over the past 22+ years but the color change was even visible on the covered portions of the dash (see next image).

IMG_20191006_140332.jpg




Here is another look, this time at the repainted dash panel. You can see the tape line across the bottom of the panel and to the right of the cigarette lighter. This section is covered by the center black console panel so should have been protected from sun fading.


IMG_20191123_105230.jpg



I also did toy with the idea of using the paint color for the 2000+ sahara. However, as much as I like the color, it seemed to be too daunting of a task and prone to error. But if you're looking for a match to the vehicle year the medium camel tan looks to be dead on accurate.

IMG_20191011_180441.jpg



Again, I'm very happy with the results. Hopefully the SEM clear coat (I applied two coats) will help with wear and tear.
 
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That looks really good! I'm planning to do the same when it warms up.
How did you decide to go with that clear coat? I see it's "low luster clear" so I would assume it's not very shiny.
When did you do this, how is holding up so far?

Did you paint console armrest also? @martinjg98 did not have that much luck with it, I wonder if that clear coat could help?
 
Yep, painted the whole interior. It’s a pretty low luster. As you can probably tell from the two door panels it is a little shinier than the stock but not really noticeable from inside the vehicle. I painted these back in October and it’s held up well so far. This isn’t my DD so that might make a difference at the moment. We’ll see how it holds up to a TX summer. That’s going to be the true test I think.
 
I used a degreaser after cleaning with soap and water. I did use a soft bristle brush attached to my electric drill to really scrub out the small details but not sure that was really necessary. I couldn’t tell a difference from just scrubbing with a sponge.
 
martinjg98 said:
I can confirm that the Sure Coat is also very delicate. (Sure Coat is SEM's water-based version of Color Coat.) Since I've painted my door panels, console, and dash, small areas have rubbed off. Since the Sure Coat is the same color as the panels, the rubbed-off areas don't look that bad. It's not perfect but it's still a huge improvement over what I had before. The Medium Camel 5020 is absolutely the dead-on exact color of the original panels. I have painted and unpainted panels side-by-side in the Jeep and you cannot tell which is which.
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Prove it
 
intheSFValley said:
I was debating whether or not to paint the shroud. I think it looks alright, but it would have been easier to leave it grey. And I did not remove the airbag cover, just masked everything up and painted in place.

One warning, the paint can't take much much abuse. I ended up scuffing it on a road trip where a cooler rubbed up against it while bouncing around the desert. Good news, it's pretty easy to touch up the scuffed areas in a few minutes.
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Last time I looked at this thread was long before you contributed. THANK YOU! This has changed a lot.

One question, I see in your response you painted the airbag cover in situ. How were getting into the cracks around it? I'm pretty excited to tackle this project now.
 
From another thread....

MossGreen98! said:
I recently asked SEM for the color codes for my 98’ TJ Sahara
- 4608 Agate
- 4976 Saddle (Used 97-98, 99-02 is 5020 Med. Camel)
- 4944 Moss Green (none of the plastics are painted this, but feel free to get crazy)

TJRick - I’m assuming the Landau Black was definitely more of a black than agate as the name implies, yes? Do you happen to have any old pics of it? I’ve been thinking about going a tag darker to match the shifter boot, shift handles, etc. that are a little darker.
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The paint guy mixed both 5020 medium camel and 4976 saddle up for me and neither are it for my '98. 5020 medium camel is too light and 4976 saddle is a very dark brown, almost black. I have pics I'll try to figure out how to upload later. I have previously tried 15173 saddle tan and it's close but too orange. I'm trying to repaint just my airbag cover, not the whole interior, so a perfect match is crucial. The hunt continues.
 
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Skylinessuck said:
The paint guy mixed both 5020 medium camel and 4976 saddle up for me and neither are it for my '98. 5020 medium camel is too light and 4976 saddle is a very dark brown, almost black. I have pics I'll try to figure out how to upload later. I have previously tried 15173 saddle tan and it's close but too orange. I'm trying to repaint just my airbag cover, not the whole interior, so a perfect match is crucial. The hunt continues.
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That’s very interesting. I’ll tag @bedhed on this as he has some knowledge on the subject. One factor is the person mixing and another contributing factor could be age and exposure of the interior. At 22 years old coloring can change in the most preserved interiors. Many people on here have had near perfect matches for the 97-99 saddle interior with 15173. I haven’t seen anyone compare 4976 yet. On the other hand, many have had remarkable results with the 5020 in 00-02 interiors however, I had a can mixed up for me at a local paint supply store and the color was off even from the underside of unexposed nearly new door panels. Also, if your willing to look around and do a steering wheel swap to a newer 03-06 steering wheel, the jeep Cherokee WJs had center airbags in multiple tan colors and can be found on eBay.
 
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Skylinessuck said:
The paint guy mixed both 5020 medium camel and 4976 saddle up for me and neither are it for my '98. 5020 medium camel is too light and 4976 saddle is a very dark brown, almost black. I have pics I'll try to figure out how to upload later. I have previously tried 15173 saddle tan and it's close but too orange. I'm trying to repaint just my airbag cover, not the whole interior, so a perfect match is crucial. The hunt continues.
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Previously in the thread a guy posted a panel that was stock, and a panel next to it with 15173 and it was pretty darn close.
May be quicker to do the whole interior by the time you find a “perfect” match. Plus even if it’s too “orange” it will sun bleach lighter. Especially if you’re taking the roof off a bunch
 
I have 15173 on my half doors. It is close but not enough for a panel on a door next to the dash, but not a long panel in the middle of the dash (like my airbag cover). I get what your saying about the effort to find the right color, but if I was doing that why bother trying to find a close color at all? I'm comparing all these colors against the unfaded underside of a dash panel btw. They clearly aren't just faded differently. They are off.

Interestingly the guy made me a can of 4976 color coat after the 4976 and 5020 sure coat. It was much closer than the 4976 sure coat. Still no cigar though.

IMG_20200413_140352.jpg


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Karl said:
Last time I looked at this thread was long before you contributed. THANK YOU! This has changed a lot.

One question, I see in your response you painted the airbag cover in situ. How were getting into the cracks around it? I'm pretty excited to tackle this project now.
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Sorry for the delay! I just sprayed a few light coats and tried to get the cracks as best I could. My goal was just getting the interior to a reasonable state. Here's some pics of how it's aged. I scraped some paint off moving lumber, and touched it up with some left-over can. Overall, I'm happy with it still.

IMG_20200414_092313979~2.jpg


IMG_20200414_092324292~2.jpg
 
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Skylinessuck said:
I have 15173 on my half doors. It is close but not enough for a panel on a door next to the dash, but not a long panel in the middle of the dash (like my airbag cover). I get what your saying about the effort to find the right color, but if I was doing that why bother trying to find a close color at all? I'm comparing all these colors against the unfaded underside of a dash panel btw. They clearly aren't just faded differently. They are off.

Interestingly the guy made me a can of 4976 color coat after the 4976 and 5020 sure coat. It was much closer than the 4976 sure coat. Still no cigar though.

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That’s a bummer! I was stoked to get the 4976 paint code, but that’s basically yellow from the pic. I don’t mind the darker tan too much though. That was 15173 right?
 
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