quick painting question

ok i know you can paint the trim in the dash(vents, around radio, ect.). but can you paint the whole dashboard or do you have to get a replacement one.

You can paint the dashboard too, i've seen it done lots of times. I am doing mine soon...

Yes, you can paint interiors to the cars, but you got to be really smart about what you are doing.... I paint interiors for $$$ around here so I know much of what im doing, and lemme give you some advice if you plan to:

1. Make sure you clean everything you are going to paint. Just like painting on the outside, you dont want the bad oily surfaces on the dash pieces. What i do is I rinse the pieces w/ water first, and then i let them dry, sun dry them to avoid getting lint all over that can creep into the surfaces. Then use a cleaning alcohol...
2. Do not paint a bright color for your top dash piece if you do paint it... Bright pieces tend to reflect on your windsheild and it is hard to see. while driving.
3. Paint many many layers, helps avoid mad chipping...
4. A lot of people will tell you that you NEED to clear-coat it to avoid quick chipping.... this is not true, it makes it look a lot better, but make sure you use something such as armor all to proctect it.
5. Be VERY VERY VERY carefule placing dash pieces into place. I made a couple of mistakes on mine when I tried to put the glove compartment back in place and got a BIG scratch on it. i dinged a couple of other places as well, but it was nothing a little touch up paint couldnt handle.

If you are wanting a smooth surface look, make sure you sand it before cleaning, I myself like the grain look, but I plan to smooth it out sometime soon, have fun painting your pieces :D

Wain_Dizzle... you siad u painted for money, so what kind of paint would you use for vinyl? I just finished painting my dash and am about to put it back in, but my next step is my doors. The doors are both all vinyl though('91 CRX DX) and I don't want to use the wrong stuff. Thank you.

Rocco

hi-tec vinyl/carpet dye , plasti kote vinyl/carpet dye and SEM vinyl/carpet dye
these products will permanently bond with all types of vinyl and carpets

What I do is pretty much the same as wain , if its clean and dry and the product your gonna apply is meant to bond with the vinyl it will work swimmingly otherwise you get all sorts of problems like fish eyes and flaky peels. I get my hourly wage doing this stuff every day too , the secret is take your time and cleaner the better. Since the spray your gonna use is dye , your gonna have to put layers upon layers to get the desired color depthness you want. Another misconception people make with distinguishing paint from dyes is clear coat ,dyes shine with dressings so clear coat isnt needed if the spray is dye then it will chemically bond with the vinyl and become as the vinyl , just like if you sprayed rubber with it , it becomes pliable like the rubber pretty adaptive stuff.

But what do I know?