[rideair]

Well, as you saw in a previous post about the SEM project and what I thought had been a pretty straight forward thing to do. Well, I learned a few things that night about “flash time”. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m no painter nor do I really understand all the science behind it but I do know is the next morning I got up and the door panels looked worse than they did before I painted them. I learned that you “DO NOT” try to use the SEM product on a day with a bunch of humidity. The next morning the door panel was almost a cloud white in some area’s but not others. So, like anyone, you try again with the same results! So, I called the SEM Tech Support group and spoke to a person that after explaining to him what happened his reply “You spray them during a humid day, didn’t you?” That’s when I learned about “flash time” and I don’t mean the type with your wife before you go to bed, though I guess they’re about the same because neither worked out the way I wanted it too. He suggest either waiting for a better day, a climate control building or using a hair dryer on low heat setting, blowing warm air across it as it dries. I even learned the Color-Coat and the TAC-Free are different in their flash time as well. I guess the question now becomes would those same three things work for my wife.

As you can tell, the weather changed and so did the outcome. I think they are turning out great and adding the new seals makes them look brand new. As you can see the “Shadow Blue” is a little darker than the original color, but I think it’s just enough to give it a little contrast. You can see the difference in the side-by-side photos of just how much of a difference there is. SEM does not have an “off the shelf” color that is an exact match, though I understand you can get custom colors made. When placed up against then new seat covers, the two look great in my opinion. Before the seats go back in, I’ll also refinish the small plastic pieces and the underside metal bottom to match in Shadow Blue.