Interior Trim Colors

[76sierraclassic]

Newbie here...

I have recently purchased a 76 GMC Sierra Classic, and it needs a little work. For one the dash pad was cracked all to pieces (which I understand is normal), but I'm having trouble finding one that matches the color of blue in my truck. I've purchaed one from JC Whitney and it is several shades lighter than the original. Then I thought I'd lucked out. I found an NOS on eBay, bought it, but it's too light too. I can't find anything on the back of my original that gives a color code that I can search for.

Can anyone tell me if there was more than one color blue for the interior in 76?

Thanks in advance,
Mike W.

[swervin ervin]

Mike,

welcome to the board.

You will not find one the same color as your truck, unless you get extremely lucky. Great find in the NOS unit. You got a winner there. Don't worry about the color. You can dye it. But then it probably won't match either. Depending on what shape the rest of your plastic is in, I would just to a redye job on the whole interior. May not be perfect GM color, but at least it would all match.

I used the stuff Eastwood sells to dye my dash pad and all interior stuff. Works great, easy to work with and lasts. No peeling or cracking. Looks just like factory. Make sure the pieces are clean from all grease, oil, armor all, etc. They sell cleaner, plastic prep, even primer, to go with the dye. Not cheap like the Autozone junk, but if you won't to do it right and only once, go Eastwood.

Here is a link the Interior stuff. It's over on page 8 or 9 I think.

Eastwood Stuff

[76sierraclassic]

Just wanted to say thanks for the info. I was beginning to get a little frustrated in searching for the right color. My door panels and kick panels are kind of chalky anyway, so a full re-dye might be the order of the day. The headliner trim was in great shape, but I'll probably just go ahead and dye it too.

Thanks again,
Mike W.

[crossy]

Mike W. , If you do want to know what the original interior color it is written on the white option sheet that is sometimes in the glove box or under the hood stuck to a wheelwell. If that is still there it will give you the factory color and an RPO code number that can be converted to a paint code number.
they may have still called it SLATE BLUE like they did in 73. DAVE

[mike reeh]

got pics of the NOS dash? All my interior is going to be blue and I dont have a good dash yet.

mike

[N2TRUX]

Mike W. Welcome to the forum. What all these guys said is very true. The correct color for any 70-80's GM is mismatch. If you look in GM brochures you will see many diferent shades of the same color inside.
Like Swervin said, your best bet is to dye everything. Make sure everything is very, very, clean. Use a good quality plastic prep on the chalky stuff, then plastic primer over that to prevent the dried out plastic from sucking the sheen out of the fresh dye. Dye all of your parts at one time, and you will have a nice fresh interior.

If you can't find the option sheet that crossy mentioned, look under the seat. The factory put an extra copy of the invoice and the option codes there too....

[76sierraclassic]

With regards to the original color codes, there is a white sticker, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 3"x4" in the glove box. It's raining now, so I can't go look at it, but if I found the code there, what resource do I use to convert to a paint color code?

Thanks,
Mike W.

[swervin ervin]

There are places on the net to decipher rpo codes. But it won't do you much good. GM doesn't sell dye. I don't know of any place that dye matches to original GM colors either. When I had the burgandy interior in my truck, which was the original color, the dash pad was cracked badly. I bought a new GM replacement, which now they all come primed gray. No colors at all. I asked the pros at NAPA if they had any dye or could order me some to match. They didn't have a clue. Finally told me to go to Advance auto parts and buy some. I got real lucky on the color but it's too bad the dye wasn't worth a dime. Peeled like an onion.

I have since replaced every piece of trim with new from GM and dyed everything black with the stuff from Eastwood. Looks better than new would and has never faded, cracked, peeled or anything. Still in perfect shape.

Here's one place to decipher codes.

http://www.73-87.com/chevy_ids/rpomenu2.htm

There was another link posted with a pdf file you could download with probably every GM code used. I have it saved on my hard drive, but don't remember the url.

If you get the rpo for the interior, post it here.

[76sierraclassic]

Anyone have any idea of how many cans of the SEM vinyl dye I will need to refinish everything (dash pad, headliner trim, door panels, kick panels, seat belt covers, etc.)?

Thanks in advance....

[swervin ervin]

I would get 3 cans. I even used the dye on the metal headliner trim pieces. I'm not too sure this will last, since it can't bond to it like plastic. But, it is up out of reach and sun. So far, it's holding up really well.

Also, use some of the plastic prep or primer If your hard plastic is good, the prep alone is enough. They have two kinds, for hard plastic and vinyl. This stuff is a cleaner bonding agent. If you need to use primer, you won't need the prep for the dye, but it may be required for the primer. I don't know since I haven't used the primer.

What ever you do, make sure it is clean. You can buy paint prep cleaner at about any autoparts store. Follow directions on all the cans to the letter. If you do, you will get a fantastic job.

Good luck with it.