Paint the interior of the car, How to put the parts out of the car Options

[ST-204]

Hi, all
I just wanna paint the interior of my car, but I really donno how to put it off the stuffs from the car, and use which spray is good for painting them? So can u guys give me some advise, and post some pics for me to see how good of the interior of u guys' car. Thx

This post has been edited by ST-204: Jan 13, 2004 - 5:14 AM

[Hym3n]

I did this about two months ago and have a very good and very bad experience from it.

The good - I learned a lot
The bad - Everything else

I'll start with my personal experience then tell you how to get the pieces out. I have little to no experience with spray paint, or much paint at all for that matter, but continued with this project. Did the basic stuff, the main stereo panel, driver air vent, driver upper air vent, passenger upper air vent, both ashtrays, and I think something else.. can't remember. I'd still like to do some more of it though, to balance the look out. Anyways, I went to Home Depot, bought the supplies, and everything was good. My problem: I didn't tape off everything I should've, actually, I only taped over the LED display on the clock. So, well, my car will permanently smell like spray paint. The air vents are silver, the hazard light is silver.. damn.. the hour/minute buttons are silver. At this time, I'm searching internet like a madman for replacement parts, because honestly, this is quite embarassing whenever someone gets in my car and says "wtf did you do?".

On the other hand, if I had a chance to do it all over again, I would without a second thought. Just with a different kind of spray paint, different kind of clear coat, and have really taken more time. The spray paint and clear coat I used were meant for non-automotive products, and well.. didn't work like I had expected. I didn't let stuff dry long enough, just rushed through it and messed stuff up. Now dash parts are going to cost me hundreds. Big mistake.

To take out pieces, you really just need a flathead screwdriver, although two wouldn't hurt, and if they have a thin edge it really helps. If you want to do the center pieces, just pry up on the cigarette lighter piece, work your way around each of the angles, and it'll pop off. I didn't believe it when I read it, but it really does. I found two cables, one white one yellow, the white will come off with some pulling (maybe a clip), and the yellow requires a little more effort, but does eventually come off. Two screws for the main piece are now viewable, so unscrew those, and use the same technique to take it off. Upper air vents on both sides (the small ones) pry off very similarly, just use the screwdriver. The driver side main air vent will come off easily, same technique.. but the passenger side.. well.. have fun. Very few people on this site have been able to effectively take it off, hell, I broke a clip on the back of mine trying to get it out and gave up after that. Just don't mess with that one unless you think you can handle it. As for other parts (below steering column, glove box, center armrest, etc..), its all a matter of prying, unscrewing, and 4 bolts inside your glove box.

My interior looks like crap, but until I get new dash pieces, I'm going to compensate for the bad look and repaint the areas I originally wanted painted (tape stuff off this time..) with a darker color and that should take attention away from the bad looks/smell.

My advice to you is just to take your time. Space it out over 3-4 days if you can, and make sure everything dries COMPLETELY. Tape everything you don't want paint on off, and overall.. if you're unsure about something.. just don't do it, I learned the hard way.

If you have any questions, just ask.. I take my dash pieces off more and more just about every day (I don't know why, just fun), so I can help ya if you need it.

-Brian

[LatinKraze]

Sand the stuff down if you screw up bro.

[subsolo_21]

Hym3n, dude im glad u learned a lot but all you had to do is just pop out the clock and the vents and you wouldnt have a problem. Forget taping the stuff off just get it outta there! If i were you id sand down and go at it again.

St204, i think theres a how-to on this, but its not hard to figure out. pop out pieces and then paint w/e color you want. I used duplicolor paint and 600-800 grit sandpaper. Sand it down 1st and then paint it. I also cleaned the pieces w/ alcohol, to make sure there wasnt any trash on them and to help the paint stay.

[Akimbo]

Mine is painted, although my friends did it, you can see what it ended up looking like in my profile. Duplicolor paint I do believe, Jewel Green Metallic. It rocks when the sun is shining through the back.

[lagos]

Hym3n,

you got any pics of how it turned out?


its stories like this one that make me too afraid to paint mine.
look at the pic of my interrior in my prifile... it looks so good now, that im afraid to **** it up!

[ST-204]

[flipside97LTD]

The main problems with painting our plastic pieces are number 1)plastic simply is not a good surface for paint 2)Using a wrong product can ruin a good one. So the most important things are going to be good prep work and the right materials.
To prep I wet sanded all of the plastic pieces. To do this just use very fine sandpaper (above 600grit). And wet the sandpaper. Thenmake sure that all oils from your hands and any armorall are removed from the surface of the plastic! This is extremely important! So definetly wear gloves when handling the plasic. Otherwise, any oil will make the paint have spots without paint. Use denatured alcohol to remove the oils.
After this I used a product called Bulldog Plastic Primer. I sprayed this through a spray gun onto the plastic. For spraypaint I used SEMS Made for Plastic Spraypaint. Make sure you find spraypaint that is made to go on plastic! I sprayed at least 3 coats. Afterward, I sprayed a clear. Make sure that the clear you use is compatible with the paint. If you don't the clear may ruin a perfect paint job. Lastly, actually go to a paint store and ask the professionals what they would do.

[Hym3n]

Sure, I'd _love_ to sand it down and re-do it.. not a problem. Infact, I'd pay you to do it for me. Because quite honestly, it just isn't going to happen. I've never seen sandpaper that you could use to get paint off of the buttons on the clock.. just doesn't exist, they're too small. I'm going to work on it though, getting it off the vents is step one I suppose.

As for pics, I'll try and get some up soon.. and I didn't realize the vents/clock popped out.. when I looked it didn't look like they did.

Like I said though, if you put time into it and don't think "whoa crap, I gotta do this in five hours because I just HAVE to have a silver/blue/green/etc interior!", because then you'll only wind up like me (silver).

-Brian

[VlaCelica]

For you guys that are affraid to mess things up :

U can buy replacement dash panels wich are already painted for you. Costs about 150 dollars and u can just replace them with your original dashparts. Ill see where i got that link of their site and then ill post it here.

[Sh0gunkid8721]

[subsolo_21]

Another thing that might help...if you mess up on anything and need to remove the paint you can soak the piece in denatured alcohol for a few mins and then you can wipe the paint right off, but dont use paint remover b/c it can damage your plastic. Also I wouldnt leave it in the alcohol for too long either.

[Hym3n]

subsolo, thank you. Denatured Alcohol, eh? Well, will this work even on paint that has clear coat on it? Won't it give the air vents a semi-toxic smell? ..will that smell go away after a while or would it sink in pretty good?

-Brian

[LatinKraze]

It'll definately go away. Mine did after a few days of driving with the windows down......and most of the days inhaling the fumes.

[Hym3n]

Yeah, but I'd be putting it directly on the air vents and inside them rather than on the dash pieces. It'd literally be blowing right into your face.. I mean, that can't be safe.

I'd really just love to pay $50 or something and get a new clock/air vents, but I dunno where to look.

-Brian

[LatinKraze]

Junk yards are a good place to start. The junk yards in vegas have no celicas whatsoever. Those Phookerz.

[Hym3n]

Bought the alcohol, stripping gloves, respirator and some wire stripping brushes. Soaked upper driver side vent for a few minutes and started to work at it. Ehh.. ain't gonna happen. Soak for a few more minutes, re-try, and it's working better. I have most of the paint off of the two upper vents (driver and passenger), but my brush can't get in between the little slits enough to get it all off. Plus, this is after soaking for about 15 minutes, and is still requiring a LOT of work to scrape off.

I have the two ashtrays and the main drivers side air unit (not the vents themselves) soaking as I write this, and I'm thinking about leaving them in overnight, just to hopefully let the paint ease up a bit.

Any ideas on what would work to get paint out of the tight cracks in the air vents? Or something stronger instead of the denatured alcohol, because even after soaking for 15 minutes it's still pretty difficult.

-Brian

[subsolo_21]

I'm afraid to recommend anything stronger than the alcohol b/c it could eat away at the plastic. As far as getting in those cracks, I would just roll up a piece of sandpaper and start sanding it down. I had to do this to a couple of my pieces too. After you get the paint off u should sand it down w/ some fine grit sandpaper and then youll be able to paint it. I found that if you clean the pieces w/ rubbing alcohol the paint goes on more evenly and dries faster. Sorry the denatured alcohol idea isnt working that well for you. It may have to do with the kind of paint or the length of time its been on your car. You could try paint or lacquer thinner, but be VERY careful. I havent used these on my car b/c my friends have warned me not to, but if u get it off quickly enough and dont use too much it may not do anything. You should ask around b4 u try this though.

[flipside97LTD]

Yea man, I use denatured alcohol at work all the time. Alcohol is one of the weakest solvents. Basically, it's only good for getting oils off of surfaces. I mean, hahaha the reason we use denatured alcohol is because it won't hurt the paintjob! As far as what you should do... maybe naptha. But man, I mean no harm to anyone else's posts... but do not use laquer thinner! That is one of the strongest solvents you could use and will melt that plastic fast. You'd be better off with a messed up paint job than melted pieces. It's way too risky.

You may want to try soaking the pieces in some brake fluid. This is an old trick we use, but make sure you test it on something else ahead of time. I'm gonna talk to my boss and see if he knows something too.

[Hym3n]

I soaked in the alcohol for about 20 hours. It wasn't too hard to get the paint off after that, just used some wire brushes and stuff. But I'm still having a problem with the ashtrays, they're not exactly a plastic finish on the top. I'll keep working at it though, I'm really just interested in where I can get replacement parts though, keep the stock black ones on while trying to perfect a paintjob for the bad ones. I'm going to call TAP soon, and car-parts.com is kinda weird.. there's two places in TX with 'Dash Panels' from a 6gc, but the price is $350.. so I'm thinking that includes some of the dashboard (vinyl) as well.

If anyone's parting out pieces or want to donate to a good cause.. you know who to talk to =D

-Brian