[xcookpac]

I am in the process of doing body work, prepping for paint and putting my 305 back together in my 85EC. Now I am thinking about what color to paint the exterior and whether the existing Claret(AKA Maroon)INTERIOR "works" or is too jarring if I paint the exterior a Dover White with Hugger Orange stripes on hood with choo choo nose. These colors were made famous by the 1969 camaro SS pace car which I believe had an orange interior with black/orange houndstooth inserts. I don't want an orange interior. The 2011 Camaro pace car has the same outside color scheme as the 1969 pace car but has a black interior with orange inserts in the seats.

Is the claret/maroon going to be too jarring to the eye (if I have white exterior)?

IS it only too jarring if I have orange stripes?

Is black really the only EC factory color that matches?

Can an upholsterer take a black seat cover apart and insert an orange insert?

I would really like to hear what others think on this issue (beyond it depends on your taste).

 

[69 SS396]

Just my 2 cents ut with the orange stripes, maroon would look a little weird.

Without the stripes would look good.

With the stripes, black with or without orange inserts, would look best. IMO.

 

[Kerno]

Black interiors are rare at best. You see a lot of vinyl dye jobs, but to the best of my knowledge, black was only available in 1978 and 1979.

Maroon and white is fine, and probably more pleasing than a black vehicle with a Maroon interior. If you want to do stripes, they could be maroon, but orange is not going to make it against the maroon interior. You could also consider doing the stripes in maroon pearl.

An upholsterer can readily change any part of the seat to any color, but finding all the rest of the trim pieces in black is going to be a real task and the vinyl dye seems to always wind up peeling..

 

[TexasElCamino]

I agree with the prior posts--would look good minus the orange stripes and seat inserts. I like the suggestion of doing the stripes a maroon pearl. :beer:

 

[Bryan59EC]

...... and the vinyl dye seems to always wind up peeling..

A good dye will not peel, but preparation is very important.

The dyed door panels in my 79 C-10 have been in there since 1990 and there is no sign of
peeling anywhere.

It must be noted that the dye will "wear" off tho.
The driver door is showing the original blue panel after years of driving with my arm resting on it..

I'm just surprised these panels have lasted so long. The ORIGINAL door panels
rotted away before they were 10 years old. Probably due to skin oils and intense
Arizona heat and sunshine.

The driver door panel in my 05 Ranger needs to be replaced because of the same thing now. But now it is the Texas heat killing it.

 

[Bobby78]

I think the white with orange stripes and orange interior. It would look real good! Don't worry about dye (paint) peeling. The seats and upper door panels would be new vinyl not dyed so they won't peel. Same for the carpet. The dash if prepped right won't peel and neither will the trim moldings around the headliner. Do the headliner in orange suede. Have the armrests covered in the same vinyl as the seats and you won't have to worry about the color wearing off. And the orange won't get as hot as black so the A/C will feel cooler faster. Just find a set of black seat belts if you can't get orange.

 

[E-Man]

Check out 1983SS454's gallery. He has a white Elky with orange stripes and his interior combo looks nice. Here's the link to his gallery:
http://www.elcaminocentral.com/gallery.php?g2_itemId=78586