Lemme start by saying I've NEVER painted anything in my life. I want to spray paint the silver pieces of the interior a flat black, but I've got a couple questions.

I know the major basics, gotta prime it before you paint it, put masking tape around the parts you don't wanna paint accidentally, yatta yatta yatta.

My questions are, do I need to sand it before I paint it? If so, what grit paper should I use? Also is one layer of primer enough or should I go over it a couple times?

Sorry if these are really really stupid questions but like I said, I've never painted a thing in my life. Thanks in advance for answers!

 

google?

 

Tried but want to be sure from someone on here who's done it to their dash

 

well, i use very fine sand paper, what i did was sand down any parts that have scratches on them right now, you need to make it all smooth to the TOUCH! not eye, so use fine sand paper, sorry dont know the number since i just grab whats in the autozone, and use soap and water.

Then use a chemical like simple green or similar to remove grease and all the sticky stuff from it, and let it sit dry.

then spray paint a primer on it, one should be enough since your going with flat black. Make sure to get it all but do not be afraid to apply another coat if you went light with the first one. just do not overspray and get a wet mark, (if so, just sand it down and do it again on that area

then spray the flat black, I would only use Krylon Paint Fusion paint since its the best for plastics.

spray that coat 2 or 3 times, and let it dry, then spray a flat clear on it to protect it from everyday scratching and having to do it all over again.

it seems hard but its not, i have done 2 motorcycles and many interiors that way and they look awesome! if you need any more help, pm me and i can help in any way

 

If you want you can mail your parts to me and I can do them.

If not here's what you do.

Remove the parts from the car. Never tape off and spray inside or tape off and spray outside. Always remove the part.

Sand the pieces down with 320-400 grit sand paper just to rough up the surface to allow the primer to adhere better. Clean it off with soap and water and allow to dry.

Spray a couple coats of primer. Let it dry. If you are using a light paint like a white use a light colored primer. You said you want to paint black so go with a dark primer. This isn't essential but will help a little when applying the final coats.

After the primer is dry sand it down with 320-400 grit sandpaper. Clean it off with soap and water and allow to dry.

Take you base coat (for you fat black) and spray several coats until the entire piece is the color. There should definitely not be any primer visible. Since you want a flat look I would go ahead and spray an additional coat or two after it seems good (more about this later).

Usually know you would spray clear coat, but being you want it flat you will skip this step unless you can find a flat clear (i dont think it exists). Since you are not adding clear this is why I said to add a coat or two extra over what seemed good.

Let this dry for at least one full day. Now the fun part comes which turns any ____ty paintjob into a professional one. Get 800-1000 grit sandpaper and wet sand the entire thing. This is to get rid of any paint drips, dust, orange peel. Wetsanding is the same as regular sanding except you dip the sandpaper in water and continue doing this while you sand. Be sure to wipe off any of the residue between dips with a towel. Some people like to follow the 800-1000 up with something in the 1200-1400 range with more wetsanding. Anything after 1400 can be achieved by compounding.

After the wetsanding is complete, you will want to use a compound (either rubbing tub or a liquid). Compound the entire piece.

After compound use a scratch and swirl remover. There used to be a good turtle wax one but I dont think they make it any more. There's a yellow bottlw of stuff called Scratch Gone or something like that that works very well. This will give you a nice polish. For a flat paint I would still recommend it as the shinyness mostly comes from the paint and clear.

After your scratch and swirl polish has been applied get some wax to protect the paint.


Some tips and tricks.
1. Apply several light coats. Take your time. I can't stress this enough.
2. Allow proper dry time of at least 24 hours before the wetsanding.
3. Use plenty of newspaper and be careful of overspray. Don't have anything valuable around where you spray (including your car).
4. Be very careful when sanding. Very often you will sand a piece until you see the primer. Be extremely careful of bends because they are the easiest to unevenly remove paint from.

Any other questions send me a PM or if you want I do good work so just send me the parts.

Good luck, JOE

 

oh nm.. there is flat clear coat. So after the base coat apply some of it (3 coats) and then continue with the rest of the instructions.

 

i personally didnt use primer, i sanded it down wit 800 grit jus because 1000 would have taken foreverrr or u can use 600 either way its fine then u clean the pieces wit rubbing alcohol(one that wont melt ur plastic) then i sprayed a light coat on the plastic pieces and so on and so forth i actually wasnt patient enough so i OD' on the painting it came out good but theres lil inperfections here and there and then after ur done painting u sand down wit 2000 grit jus so u can take off the lil paint bubbles and such( i didnt do this not ptaient enough lol) then u apply the clear coat as much as u want it to shine im gonna redo mine this weekend but for being the first time i painted sumthing in my car didnt come out to bad, its not like spraypainting a wall lol but everything basically i got at autzone or was it pepboys? lol does matter though i ended up painting my door handles HVAC and gauge cluster Metallic blue (metalspecks paint) and then the midd radio door and around the HVAC buttons gloss black.

 

yea primer is not necessary but it you want it done right then you go with primer. It lets the paint stick better and can prevent chips and cracks that would be seen without primer.

And yea take your time and do it right the first time. If you rush it will come out terrible. You should be able to devote a whole night to painting and then the next night for polishing.

 

^ amen

 

I used a Scotch-Brite pad...

 

Mask off areas you don't want painted.
Rough up areas to be painted with red scotchbrite.
Apply 1-2 medium coats of Bulldog Bond-Flex-Tie.
Apply color, in light coats, 5-7 coats. Original color should not be obscured until the 5th coat or so.

If you want to colorsand and polish... that's up to you. I personally don't care for glossy parts inside the car, I find them distracting. I did mine charcoal matte using Duplicolor wheel paint. Very durable, looks exactly the same one year later as the day I applied it.

 

I don't use primer on interior stuff, just sand or use adhesion promoter