hi im pretty new to car game but at the same time im pretty smart and cluey and am just posting to try and get some tips on painting my interior(dash,doortrims,centre console). My reason for painting is that my car is a holden VR commodore(AUS) and the shapes that the trims are make it difficult to cover (the interior is all moulded plastic). anyways getting back to the painting i just wanted a few tips on how to prep, paint and finish. As well as to know do i have to pull out everything before i paint or can i do it while its in the car
CHeers to anyone who can give some tips

pullem pieces out its alot easier to do even coats that way. clean the vinyl with an interior cleaner and if you wanna playit safe use alchohol swabs to remove oils from it before painting or dying the vinyl. Isopropyl works well.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/116855Center_Dash.jpg
The blue trims show what I pulled out to paint and the black I didnt remove the dash I just prepped with cloth and tape over the windows and other things not to be dyed and went to town.

i use dish soap that cuts the grease, works great. makes sure you get all teh soap off when your done. theres a new fuson paint by krilon, (not sure of the spelling), i used it on all the trip parts on my camaro, worked pretty good. i would not clear coat it, i did something like that on a peice and messed it up. different paint has different stuff in it that will mess with eachother. sometime sill not let it dry, make sure everything is good. make sure your primer is good and will work with your paint, sometimes you dont need primer.(with plastic that is)

hey Markgase2000 , i like the two colors. thats a good idea. i did my mustang parts the color os the car, electric green with the pearl in it, then used a glaze over that, come out sweet. if i know how to get pics on here, i would put them up

thanks lucky charm , I cant wait to do a mustang up myself thats where I could do some real magic :) go to the galleries and upload some pics make sure they are like 300 by 225 resolution not too big then right click on the url and copy it then go here and post it then paste the url and the pic will pop up with your descriptions :)

ok, i am going to try, i have to get some good pic of the inside, lets see if i can get a pic up first.

ok, i have no clue. i went to gallery up top, i see all these pics but dont see where i can upload mine. how do i do so?

I am also having this trouble I cant put a pic of my car up. Ill keep trying.

hi im pretty new to car game but at the same time im pretty smart and cluey and am just posting to try and get some tips on painting my interior(dash,doortrims,centre console). My reason for painting is that my car is a holden VR commodore(AUS) and the shapes that the trims are make it difficult to cover (the interior is all moulded plastic). anyways getting back to the painting i just wanted a few tips on how to prep, paint and finish. As well as to know do i have to pull out everything before i paint or can i do it while its in the car
CHeers to anyone who can give some tips

Just be sure to clean extra with wax & Grease remover then scuff everything.

i painted my interior: dash, center console, etc. in my crx this past summer and i gave each piece of light sanding, then washed them w/ dish soap and water to clean them. after this i used something called a prep wipe that i found for a dollar a piece at autozone which cuts grease, armor all, and any other protectants. after that i put 2-3 coats of primer on each piece which prob wasn't needed but i did it anyway. at last i used krylon fusion and put anywhere from 3-6 light coats on the pieces. i also made sure i let them dry atleast 15-20 min. in the sun. i tried that other vinyl paint also and it didn't seem to work as well.

I pulled my pieces out, and sanded them down, then I applied a filler primer so that all the little scratches and nicks would not show up, then I painted with that "DYNO tested Engine paint" Remember when you paint that you have the ability to get real creative, so maybe draw up some designs you would like. I did that for my car and decided to paint my dash pieces flat black over gloss black flames. Im gonna have pictures of it all some time soon. If so I'll probably make a thread for everyone to show their interior paint jobs. Unless there already is one.. (Im new to this part of the forums)..

The SEM vinyl dye I use doesnt require scuffing.

The SEM vinyl dye I use doesnt require scuffing.

Are refering to SEM Colorcoat or Sure-Coat? We use the SEM Colorcoat @ the uphostery shop, I've never tired Sure-Coat, don't know if my Boss has or not. On a side note, techincally Colorcoat isn't a dye, though everyone (including me half the time) refers to it as such. It's good stuff though. The flex agent in it really helps. Someone gave me a can of VHT's vinyl dye (an actaul dye), never used it though. Have tired that before or have any idea how it holds up compared to the colorcoat? I might try it out on some scrap door panels that are laying around see how it turns out, etc.

I also use VHT and the vht doesnt adhere quite as well as the SEM but the VHT (High Tec Product) has colors the SEM doesnt thats the only reason I use it. I classify SEM as a dye , reason for this is the way it bleeds into the vinyl (even hard vinyl) and becomes permanent unless you use naptha or acetone to remove it. It used to be called a color coating but every one is now reffering to it as a dye. I been using it and trying many other products simular to it for 8 years now and I always look to sem first.

Yea, at the shop we refer to it as a dye most of the time (re-dying, etc), though it's still called colorcoat by SEM. So you prefer the SEM over the VHT vinyl dye and all others then? Thanks for the heads up, the SEM's all I've used in the past, which is why I was curious about the other (seeing it's called a "vinyl dye," I was curious to how it would hold up and look/apply on a big vinyl panel like a door panel versus the SEM). I've never done a big vinyl piece with SEM though. Biggest I've used the colorcoat/dye on is prbably a sun-visor. Turns out decent. I've been thinking of using it or the VHT to color some grey door panels sitting around home black. As I've said, I've never used the VHT and never used the SEM on something as big as a door panel. I've reuphostered/re-wrapped plenty of things big and small, but with the expection of visors, never really re-colored/dye anything beyond air vents and other small items that can't be wrapped. I'd use the SEM to do the door panel and see how it goes, though I'm inclined to try the VHT seeing as I've never sued it before. I suppose I am trying to figure out which would look better and be more durable/last longer. That being said, have any tips on doing something that big, seeing as you seem to have re-colred/dyed big pieces such as this before.

I was working on the car @ 4am this weekend becuase I couldn't sleep and was sick of my rear deck, so I removed the rear seats and speakers and took the rear deck out and re-wrapped it in some nice black vinyl I had sitting around. I should have wrapped the deck in thin 1/4" padding first, but it was 4am and I didn't think I had enough at home, so I said forget it, LOL. Still, turned out much better than I thought it would. There were some imprefection in the board the padding would have evened out, but it looks so much better as is. I might re-do it with the padding though, not sure. I'm now trying to figure out whether I want to re-wrap the plastic 3rd brake light surround or just re-color it black or maroon with the SEM. I've going to re-color the grey rear vents that go in the decklid burgandy/maroon, and I'm wrapping the rear seat lock surround in some left over burgandy novasuede I have lying around from when I re-wrappped front seats.

BTW, this is the VHT stuff I have sitting around (In gloss black I think, though it's in a newer looking package design), never used it though. Not really sure how I ended up with it, but oh well.
http://www.vhtpaint.com/penetratingcolordye.htm