Painting Plastic trim pieces?
 

Hey guys,

I really need to paint a few of my interior parts or get them to glow back somehow. The parts that I need to paint are: All door cups, and power window/balancer trim. Those are the worst part of my interior. I've heard that this can be done but how? How would you guys scrub/sand them? And does anyone know what paint color code it the closest to the factory brown? THanks

Maybe this is an option?

https://www.rx7club.com/interior-exterior-audio-26/restoration-sun-faded-plastic-parts-120817/

I went to a local automotive paint distributer in my area and they suggested using a product made by a company named SEM. Very good product. I sprayed my door panels and they look great. Cant even tell. They didnt have paint codes for 1985 interiors. I brought in a good panel and matched it up with samples. Dont sand anything they have a cleaner that strips all the armorall etc., grease, silicon. You will need a compressor and spray gun to apply the dye. Good Luck.

Well, sand it! Don't listen to Modified. Sanding is GOOD for painting!

If you can find the color you want in ENGINE PAINT, use it. The sun will NEVER bake that shit off.

NOT. :rlaugh:

Using the cleaner for the SEM eliminates the need for a scuff coat to promote adhesion. You also do not want to sand the textured plastic pieces, they will never look the same.

I have used this product, doing complete interior color changes and it is the best that is out there. You can have any color mixed and they can adjust the gloss to whatever sheen, shine, matte or flat that you want.

You can do it right or you can rattle can ghetto it. The end result is what counts and the rattle cans do not have the options to get the professional results. I've seen way too many, ' Oh, let's go get a can of paint, and rice up the interior'. :eek:

Glad to see some out there are taking the time and expense to do it right. :bigthumb:

You can get the SEM stuff in rattle cans in certain colors.

I haven't looked for brown or red, but the SEM "charcoal" matches well with the series 3 grey interior, and the black goes with series 2 black interiors

One other that works well is Krylon

I have tried it for some customer's of mine (the cars were riced up hondas but WHATEVER) and it had excellent adhesion

THey only problem is it doesn't work that well on flexible or foam-backed peices like say the peiceyou garb to close the door. Cuz when the piece flexes, the paint won't flex as much and it will flake away slowly. But for hard trim peices, even dashes (they have be loved very tenderly afterwards) it works very well

late'a

I personally think my interior looks quite nice after my method, using. . . I think it was GM Engine blue. I'll try to dig up some pics.

here's some pics

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479957/14

thanks alot everyone .... hey ray how close is that brown color to the factory? if its pretty close what kind of paint/ color code is it thanks.

No paint, that's the original color of the brown plastic. I've used it for all the other plastic parts in the interior with similar results. You get it with steel wool, there's a right-up at the bottom of this page:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479957/14.

Good luck!

when you say a medium and fine steel wool ... what numbers are you looking at? I have #1 wool and #00 will those two work or will I need a #00 and #0000 wool

the SEM "rattle can rice" as said before i've used on many interiors and the quality is awesome, even after many years of abuse.

you just have to make sure to only use it on vinyl surfaces, the Dupli color plastic paint is great on plastic surfaces and holds up well to heat. just painted the center console in my RX today.

you can also use dyes, but i find it messier and results dont seem all that much greater.

as for engine paint... uhhh whaaaa? its called engine paint for a reason and it wont stick to vinyl or plastic at all.

Hmmm. I almost clearly remember it being labeled "Engine Paint," but I could be mixing things up in my head.

Time to go find the cans, I guess, to confirm!

what did you paint with it?

"when you say a medium and fine steel wool ... what numbers are you looking at? I have #1 wool and #00 will those two work or will I need a #00 and #0000 wool"

Th #1 and #00 should do it, you don't need to use real fine grades. The stuff I used was graded "coarse", "medium" or "fine", typical WalMart combo package. You might also want to try some 120 sandpaper if you have some really bad spots.

Let us know how it goes.

Ray

Painting Soft Plastic
 

I have been painting cars for many years, and have restored several interiors, including a few 1st gen RX-7s. If you go to an auto paint store, they can sell you what they call vinyl paint, which is basically lacquer with a plasticizer added so the paint remains flexible. They can mix it in any color you want, just go in and look at the color chips.

Using sandpaper on interior parts is a stupid idea. If you have ever used Armorall, you need a good solvent to remove that. I have always used lacquer thinner. This cleans away the grease and other contaminants, but more important, it softens the plastic, so that the paint will get good adhesion. I have repainted the dash pad, door panels console and other bits and know they were still looking good more than 10 years later.

Most of my experience is with the 84-85 RX-7s. The maroon interiors in particular tend to fade in the sun. The plastic surround for the heater controls and stereo, and also the console surround for the shifter, are a gold color. I always paint this the same color as the interior, and it looks much better.

www.cardomain.com/ride/646433

Hey thanks stilettoman, I think that i will do that ... and i've checked out your car domain and I must admit that those are some fine pieces of work that you and your familly have done. You're officially one of the biggest rotar heads on this forum :)

Well, don't sand at all, even if it turned out good for jay83gsl. Sanding will not take the oils off and not allow good adhesion.



Trochiod is right

And btw you don't need to buy a compressor and spray gun. Your local automotive paint store will have a pump sprayer. It has a glass jar for the dye and works very well. If you have a compressor then buy a sprayer if you want. I used the pump sprayer because they are $7 and I can toss them when I am done.

Here is a pic of my door panels after I did them. This was a good winter project.

Make sure you have good ventilation and wear some sort of breathing filter.
Good luck,

"Using sandpaper on interior parts is a stupid idea"

This guy sounds like a republican.

If you paint, you might have to get it off someday, and you ruin the original parts. So if you want to make your car worth as much as possible, don't paint. It ruins 7's. Just a thought.

Ray