Vick

My FD dash (AC panel, shifter panel) has gotten really scratched up and wondering if any forum members here paint them. (for a fee of course ) I want it to look OEM. If anyone does them, let me here it.

Thanks in advanced!

Vic

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

You can paint them yourself. I finished up my winter project not too long ago:

From this: http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...r/MVC-002F.JPG
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...s/MVC-001F.JPG
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...s/MVC-002F.JPG

To this: http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...s/MVC-003F.JPG
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...s/MVC-006F.JPG
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...s/MVC-007F.JPG
http://mahjik.homestead.com/files/FD...s/MVC-009F.JPG

It's hard to see, but the paint is a metallic black. The metallic flakes make it look "rough" in the pictures, but it's not. Strange!

If you don't want to do the painting yourself, just take it to a local body/paint shop. They'll do it for around $200. If not, I posted the steps I followed to doing the painting in the following thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=160391

BOOSTMiesterGeneral

Better call Macco.

Mahjik ,any clear coat involved there?

Vick

Mahjik-I've been contimplating painting them, but to be honest I really wouldn't know what to do. I suck at this kind of thing and would probably end up messing them up.

Thanks anyway!

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Yep, I used Krylon Acrylic Crystal Clear. It holds up the best (I tested it for a few month on just the shifter panel). Some of the other commonly available clear coats either needed to be applied too think, turned yellow or just got "worn" in a matter of weeks.

Aspire,

I thought the same thing. That was actually the 4th time for me painting the shifter panel. As I said above, I used that panel to test out various paints and clear coats to find out what would last. Once I found a good combination, I repainted everything.

If you are that concerned about it, there are quite a few members that had their pieces painted by body shops. You will definitely get professional quality and something that will last that way.

I knew that mine wouldn't come out that professional with me doing it, but I had fun. It came out nice and I've really been enjoying it. Also, if you are going to do it, I would also suggest ordering a new gauge/bevel cover for your dash. You can order them for around $65 from Malloy Mazda and it will make the dash look brand new after the paint job. Good luck!

BOOSTMiesterGeneral

So is the finish/sheen nice and smooth? did you have to do any buffing to get it there if so?

rx7speed811

you can do it yourself aspire, its really not that hard. just take everything slow, spray lightly, and sand it smooth and start over if you spray it on too clumpy/drippy. i did mine, read all the directions and stuff about sanding/degreasing/priming/prep/etc, and it turned out pretty nice. i would recommend priming it and painting with a good enamel (or was it acrylic? sorry man, its been a while...) model or interior paint, like from tamiya. i have found their colors to be the nicest and deepest looking, and they work well on a well prepped plastic like the fd interior. spray on a few thin layers until the color is nice and deep and the primer is no longer visible, especially on the curves and edges, where the paint typically has the worst adhesion properties. then after the paint is all nice and finished, spray it over with a good strong clearcoat. krylon acrylic will probably work the best, since it seems mahjik ran a pretty hard core test with that being the winner. i used a normal krylon clearcoat from kragen, wasnt sure if it was the same one, but it worked well. i would recommend a matte finish or semi-gloss at most clearcoat. i think that the glossier the interior, the cheaper and cheezier it looks. i used a dark gunmetal with matte clear overcoat, and it turned out very well and has held up very nicely for about a year or so now. it is not flashy at all, and it looks like it could have been a stock interior finish, similar to some of the newer cars' "titanium" look interior finishes. if you want a really bone stock look, sand it all down and use a semi-gloss or matte black and some 1500 grit sandpaper before the clear. that should get the right finish. i used that for some of the trim pieces (doorhandles, switch panels, etc), and it really looks like a new plastic piece from mazda.

sorry, i dont have a digital camera to take pics for you, but i can guarantee that it came out very nicely. nobody notices that my interior is painted until i tell them first, and i am very far from a body shop specialist. id say give it a go for yourself before bringing it in to a body shop. it will be a fun little project, and you will feel a lot prouder doing it yourself than if you pay someone to do it. just make sure you do it right and unscrew every little trim piece and remove every little HVAC label and **** from behind before starting to spray. oh, and just so you know... if you accidentally break off the clear green turn signal lens things when you are trying to mask them off, rtv silicone or enamel model glue works well to hold them back on.

good luck, and i hope this helps!

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Some of the areas needed some buffing to get it smooth. Those areas were those "hard to cover" places like the interior circles of the gauges. Those came out a little rough and needed to be "worked smooth".

I talked to some people who do painting and they gave me a strange tip to work on those area. They suggested to use newspaper, and work over those areas a bit. I did, and it worked fine.

Vick

bump

Vick

After not finding anyone, I just decided to paint them myself. They came out GREAT!! I can't believe how easy the write up made it for me and to think I was willing to pay someone. The pieces look new. I'll hopefully have pics up soon.

Thanks Mahjik and rx7speed811 for your help.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

That's great!

However, WE WANT PICS!

Enjoy your new interior look!

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

I had a few requests for some pictures of the stuff installed:







It's not going to win any shows, but it's a definite improvement for me over the old peeling paint.