Interior paint summary/tips... Painting plastic, trim, bezels, vents, dash etc

I'm not genius. I learned most of this stuff from people on these panels. Hope that its a good summary, I tried haha

Caution - Rules
filler/primer is needed if you want smooth
clear coat is needed for a glossy look
prep plastic with degreaser. Add until water is suddsy. Palmolive or dish soap works well
add adhesive promotor before any layers
use flex agent in all layer (primer, paint, clear coat) to help avoid cracking
Never use armor all or any oil on your interior unless it is stock. You can use meguiars quik wax
High build primer will help get rid of grain if you did not sand much
Be careful with polyester/urethane primers... they need MEKP hardening agents to cure
To clean your gun... loosen aircap so that it just stays on. Put the compressor to 15Psi, Add a little laquer to the cup. Spray the gun (perculate)
To take apart the gun, take off the adjuster on the back, take off the spring, and pull needle out with fingers. PULL HARD
Spraying Primer requires much wider tips. 1.8 or larger

Some Good to Decent Products
SEM Filler Primer in can
SEM Adhesive Promoter
OEM Flex Primer (already has flex agents)
Bulldog Adhesive Promotor
Evercoat Slick Sand Filler Primer
Evercoat Feather fill
Rage products
Dupont Primer
Duplicolor Filler Primer
Krylon Fusion paint for plastics


1. Sand out most grain, or rough the pieces a little bit if they are smooth ... 250 grit is good
clean before sanding and after sanding with a grease remover.... Or use soapy water and wetsand
If you want very smooth look, start sand with 80 grit until most grain is gone, then move to 150 grit, then to 220 grit, then 400grit
2. Spray the panel with 2 coats adhesive promotor
3. Spray panel with Filler primer until grain is gone, sand the primer in between each layer
4. Spray the paint in light coats to help flexibility, at least 3 is usually enough. Leaving about 20-30 minutes between coats, or following directions from the can
5. Let panels dry in the sun as long as possible. One night is good
6. With any imperfections still showing, wetsand them with 600 grit paper
7. When done painting and curing.... spray with clear coats, multiple layers. 5 minutes between coats at least. They cure better together if still painted when not completely dry
8. Let clear coat dry/cure for a couple days. It is quite tacky until hard

mmkay, thanks for the tips. We'll move this over to the Appearance and How To section. :thumbsup:

..:confused: Shouldn't this be in the Honda forum where it would get more hits?..... I'm KoRnfused..:licka:

(Not to be insulting...just a thought....eh,nevermind...stereotype...:dunno: )

..:confused: Shouldn't this be in the Honda forum where it would get more hits?..... I'm KoRnfused..:licka:

(Not to be insulting...just a thought....eh,nevermind...stereotype...:dunno: )
well one of the moderators moved it here, i didn't post it here. I guess the best thing would be for people to post to this thread in other pages. I dont have time to post it everywhere lol.

It started off in the f-body off topic area :confused:

so from reading this it's not a good idea to use the plastic spray that the restoration companies offer in the catalogs?? im looking to spif' up my plastic in the 95 firebird i bought used and am looking for ways to do it cheap. mostly scratches and scuff marks that won't clean up with tlc. looking for a near stock quality and the spray cans for plastic were offered but only the oer interior paints. has anyone used these and how well were the results and thx in advance