Refinishing those faded plastic interior pieces
 

For those of you that are tired of seeing those faded interior pieces. Just get some of Krylons plastic paint. No primer needed, just clean and prep the surface then shoot. I used their satin black instead of gloss block to keep the color as close to original. Of course black is the easiest paint to match or atleast get close. Those of you with maroon and brown may have a harder time but should be able to find something that will work and look nice.

Looks good. Yea that sucks about us guys with the maroon interior. So, the last year or so things have been slowly mixing the black in with the maroon. Sometimes you just give up!

What car did you do this on? Do you have any pictures of the finished product, fully assembled?

are you sure thatll hold? ray green has a method he uses that has outstanding results. hopefully hell chime in on this with more details.

Yes, I am. I did it before on another car that I had and kept for 3 years and it still looked good. :)

^^ good to know

yeah krylon works good. i did my entire crx with it. i only had one problem with one piece because i layerd it on too think and it ran. Gotta watch that.

Wash with amonia before painting

This is on my SA. I am not doing the whole interior just certain pieces that have faded and no longer look good.

Awesome, and these re-finished pieces match up well with the original ones?

Here's a killer product for vinyl plastic rubber etc. Picked it up on ebay but they now sell at napas. I used it on my dash and it looks just as good as it did 6 months ago when i put it in. It dries and gives you that armor all finish without drying it out like armor all does. This really is an amazing product. They also have a water based degreaser which works very well. WATER BASED! http://www.303products.com/tech/inde...TOKEN=60824806

I'm not a big fan of the Krylon line of rattle can paints, too glossy. SEM however, is designed for painting the interior plastics and they have colors that are almost a perfect match fo all 3 of the S3 interior colors. Fwiw. any decent autobody paint shop can mix up matching interior paint colors and add a flex/interior agent to it.

When I did a complete color change in my Z, I used Lesenol paint. It's about 40 bucks a qt., but that's almost enough to do an entire interior and you can get any color/shade or gloss factor you want. A small compressor and a $50 touch-up gun will give nearly professional looking results.

oh wow... samples for 5$ shipping http://www.303products.com/main.php?infopage=freesample

As promised by awa140:

Before:
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...57_75_full.jpg

After:
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...57_76_full.jpg

Advantages:
Preserves original parts and colors, can be repeated as needed
No peeling or fading paint
Don't need to buy paint or much else but steel wool

Disadvantages:
It's quite a bit of work
Even a good job will still look a bit less than shiny new
If you don't like maroon or brown you still get maroon or brown (I like maroon and brown)

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

That's why I use the Satin finish and not the gloss black. It's still a few shades off of the original being lighter than the original black.

Is there a site for SEM paints? Or where can they be purchased.

I was disappointed with the krylon burgundy plastic spray. Fortunately I've almost enough plastic bits to finish the SE rear deck now.

Great minds think alike, lol. My 1st go around with the new Krylon plastic paint was the burgandy. It was so glossy, I needed shades. I buy the SEM at my local autobody paint supplier. I haven't looked online for it. The SEM color chart I have shows 50 different pre-mixed rattle can colors. If one needs a different color, they can be mixed like any other standard paint and the gloss/reflectivity level can be adjusted with a flatening agent.

That's awesome, I was just going to ask about the best way to restore the back panels too, was thinking of doing the dye job but wasn't really sure. If that paint works as good as you say it is, I'm going that route since it appears a bit easier.

I did my door panels with SEM. I did this about 2 years ago and it still looks like it was just finished. I got the SEM from my local auto/body paint shop.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...d=218354&stc=1

Modified: Looks much better than the Krylon job I attempted. But since then I've picked up the doorpanels I needed from the PnP. Now I just need 2 more parts which I hope to find this weekend.

From the guys that have tried both SEM and having a local supplier mix paint up, which on seems to be the best? Also my other main concern is how well does it adhere to carpet?

Both the SEM and mixed interior paint work well. I have not tried it on soft parts though, vinyl, fabric or carpet. I have seen a headliner that was rattle caned with regular paint though, ughhhh. Not a pretty sight.

Damn that looks good. What shade did you use? Does SEM have paint codes? How much flaterner did you use?

I'm considering something like this for the small interior peices in the car. I'm working on re-upholstering most of the interior and adding new carpet n such. But the small peices need to be turned burgundy again instead of the pale brown they faded into. So I'm considering this a good alternative.

OK guys here's the skinny:
To paint the hard plastic parts the original factory color you should prime with a plastic primer. I use DPX 801 from PPG. It actually softens the plastic so the paint will stick. Your local autobody supplier will have it (or something similiar), as well as being able to mix the correct color from the code on your car. For those without a compressor, a re-fillable spray bottle is available: but I suggest you buy a small compressor & a trim gun as you'll get much better results, plus you can pump up your tires. :-)
SEM as well as PPG & others make good products to shoot the vinyl seats & other flexible materials. They work well, & hold up well with the exception the it will *wear* off after a few years.
You have to make sure anything you paint is *clean* first. Check the product labels or tech sheets for everything you use.
Another note: black is *not* black. There are different *degrees* of black. For instance, black Imron looks green next to most other blacks. Others will have a reddish or blueish tint. For a true black, you need to get the jet black mixing color from your supplier.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Headline: APATHY RUNS RAMPANT - Nobody cares.