Painting The Interior DIY
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 315
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From: Scranton-PA
Painting The Interior DIY
This is probably one of the cheapest mods you can make...I used Engine Enamel on mine...I found it works the best with heat and cold...anyway..lets go....keep in mind I have a 97.
1.Figure out what colors you want where and buy the paint.Auto Zone...Wal-Mart
2.Unscrew the door panels and unhook the light and window controls.
3.Lay the panels down and remove all the screws on the back and separate the pieces.
4.Unscrew the and unhook the upper and lower dash pieces..BIG pita for me!!
5.Take off the piece that surrounds the stereo and unhook the piece around the shifter.
6.Be sure to clean the surfaces to get rid of any dirt or any other substance.
7.Lay whatever piece you want to paint down...and start to spray thin coats over it from numerous angles.BE SURE NOT TO LAY IT ON THICK>>IT WILL RUN!!
8.Laying thin coats and letting it dry until its sticky will prevent the paint from running and look bad..Ive experienced this..its not fun...so be prepared to wait.
9.After youre done painting your pieces you may choose to lay a clear coat over.I didnt however...
10.Finally screw your pieces back together and replace them to where they were.
----It took me several colors and more money to get this done right..lmao..at first..I used house paint...and didnt take the panel off...so you can imagine what that looked like...Engine enamel is the best stuff Ive used so far...I used vinyl paint..and plastic paint...enamel seems to stick better,is nice and thick...and doesnt crack.
If youre like me and want to go all out with the entire interior..I added a few more steps..
11.Purchase a lot of masking tape and paper.
12.Before you put your upper and lower dash back on...tape the area off...so you can paint the even farther up dash (where it meets the windshield) you can choose to strain yourself and tape off the windshield or not bother...if youve seen my pics..recently I decided not to bother..a straight edge razor blade will take it right off...
13.Tape off as much as you think need be..and use the same strokes and amount of paint as you did on the doors on the dash. Light strokes from different angles NOT adding too much paint...
14.Since its hard to take out this part of the dash...if you put too much paint on...it will run since certain parts are vertical...(gravity)
15.Be sure to paint over the airbag..and continue down to the glove box area.
16.KEEP IN MIND NOT TO SPRAY TOO MUCH PAINT!!
17.Once you have the satisfied amount and color of paint...give it a day to dry..seeing this is vinyl and needs to absorb somewhat.Wait until it is good and dry before you start to scrape off the paint on the windshield...(if you didnt bother to tape it off).
18.Once its completely dry replace the upper and lower dash along with the door panels.And BE SURE TO LABEL THE WIRES so you know what goes where.I didnt..and now I have no hot air lol.
19.If you want the airbag and glove box different colors like I did..Tape them off...try to get the tape in the little groove that goes around the airbag...and then use paper as a shield from the rest of your work....for example tape the paper to the tape you layed down on the dash..so any extra flying paint doesnt get on what you just painted and create more work.
20.Do the same to the glove box..
If you want to go all crazy with it like I did....
21.Remove the visors and paint them.
22.Paint the pillars....scrape off the paint from the windshield.
22.Paint the roof. This could be tricky seeing its upside down. Be SURE NOT TO SPRAY TOO MUCH PAINT otherwise youll be getting some in the face.
23.And finally paint the rear side panels and trunk panel.
If you need any ideas take a look at what I did...its in the garage.
Good Luck
Nick
1.Figure out what colors you want where and buy the paint.Auto Zone...Wal-Mart
2.Unscrew the door panels and unhook the light and window controls.
3.Lay the panels down and remove all the screws on the back and separate the pieces.
4.Unscrew the and unhook the upper and lower dash pieces..BIG pita for me!!
5.Take off the piece that surrounds the stereo and unhook the piece around the shifter.
6.Be sure to clean the surfaces to get rid of any dirt or any other substance.
7.Lay whatever piece you want to paint down...and start to spray thin coats over it from numerous angles.BE SURE NOT TO LAY IT ON THICK>>IT WILL RUN!!
8.Laying thin coats and letting it dry until its sticky will prevent the paint from running and look bad..Ive experienced this..its not fun...so be prepared to wait.
9.After youre done painting your pieces you may choose to lay a clear coat over.I didnt however...
10.Finally screw your pieces back together and replace them to where they were.
----It took me several colors and more money to get this done right..lmao..at first..I used house paint...and didnt take the panel off...so you can imagine what that looked like...Engine enamel is the best stuff Ive used so far...I used vinyl paint..and plastic paint...enamel seems to stick better,is nice and thick...and doesnt crack.
If youre like me and want to go all out with the entire interior..I added a few more steps..
11.Purchase a lot of masking tape and paper.
12.Before you put your upper and lower dash back on...tape the area off...so you can paint the even farther up dash (where it meets the windshield) you can choose to strain yourself and tape off the windshield or not bother...if youve seen my pics..recently I decided not to bother..a straight edge razor blade will take it right off...
13.Tape off as much as you think need be..and use the same strokes and amount of paint as you did on the doors on the dash. Light strokes from different angles NOT adding too much paint...
14.Since its hard to take out this part of the dash...if you put too much paint on...it will run since certain parts are vertical...(gravity)
15.Be sure to paint over the airbag..and continue down to the glove box area.
16.KEEP IN MIND NOT TO SPRAY TOO MUCH PAINT!!
17.Once you have the satisfied amount and color of paint...give it a day to dry..seeing this is vinyl and needs to absorb somewhat.Wait until it is good and dry before you start to scrape off the paint on the windshield...(if you didnt bother to tape it off).
18.Once its completely dry replace the upper and lower dash along with the door panels.And BE SURE TO LABEL THE WIRES so you know what goes where.I didnt..and now I have no hot air lol.
19.If you want the airbag and glove box different colors like I did..Tape them off...try to get the tape in the little groove that goes around the airbag...and then use paper as a shield from the rest of your work....for example tape the paper to the tape you layed down on the dash..so any extra flying paint doesnt get on what you just painted and create more work.
20.Do the same to the glove box..
If you want to go all crazy with it like I did....
21.Remove the visors and paint them.
22.Paint the pillars....scrape off the paint from the windshield.
22.Paint the roof. This could be tricky seeing its upside down. Be SURE NOT TO SPRAY TOO MUCH PAINT otherwise youll be getting some in the face.
23.And finally paint the rear side panels and trunk panel.
If you need any ideas take a look at what I did...its in the garage.
Good Luck
Nick
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 34,642
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From: Los Lunas, New Mexico, USA.
Vehicle: 2001 Hyundai Tiburon, 2004 Kia Sorento, 2010 Kia Soul
Yeah. Nice try though.
We do have some DIY's in here for this allready I belive.
You are forgetting some VERY important steps though.
1. WASH ALL PARTS IN WARM TO HOT SOAPY WATER BEFORE ANYTHING. This will get rid of all oils and dash treatments, those have a tendancy to mess up the paint.
2. Sand your parts before you wash them, either with some fine grit sand paper, or some CHORE BOY style steel wool. This gives the paint something to grip to and will get out anything that is soaked into the dash.
3. Layers AND sanding. VERY VERY fine grit sandpaper. Like so.
a. Sand
b. Wash and dry
c. Primer
d. Sand with ULTRA fine
e. Primer
f. Color coat (very lightly)
g. Sand with Ultra fine
h. Color coat
i. Sand with Ultra Fine
j. Color Coat
k. Sand with ULTRA fine
l. Color coat.
m. Clear Coat if wanted.
Of course, let all of this dry between each step.
We do have some DIY's in here for this allready I belive.
You are forgetting some VERY important steps though.
1. WASH ALL PARTS IN WARM TO HOT SOAPY WATER BEFORE ANYTHING. This will get rid of all oils and dash treatments, those have a tendancy to mess up the paint.
2. Sand your parts before you wash them, either with some fine grit sand paper, or some CHORE BOY style steel wool. This gives the paint something to grip to and will get out anything that is soaked into the dash.
3. Layers AND sanding. VERY VERY fine grit sandpaper. Like so.
a. Sand
b. Wash and dry
c. Primer
d. Sand with ULTRA fine
e. Primer
f. Color coat (very lightly)
g. Sand with Ultra fine
h. Color coat
i. Sand with Ultra Fine
j. Color Coat
k. Sand with ULTRA fine
l. Color coat.
m. Clear Coat if wanted.
Of course, let all of this dry between each step.
Senior Member
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 2,214
Likes: 0
From: Bel Air, MD
Wow I never realized there were so many steps in the painting process. Now are all of those sands in between each color coat needed or are they only really needed if you have runs or imperfections?
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 34,642
Likes: 0
From: Los Lunas, New Mexico, USA.
Vehicle: 2001 Hyundai Tiburon, 2004 Kia Sorento, 2010 Kia Soul
Well, depends on the quality of the paint, and the quality of your paint job.
I've seen one coat paintjobs.
Looks like an orange peel.
I've seen a QUALITY paint job.
Looks like powdercoating.
I've seen one coat paintjobs.
Looks like an orange peel.
I've seen a QUALITY paint job.
Looks like powdercoating.
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 4,334
Likes: 0
From: Tampa/St Petersburg
Vehicle: Turbocharged 2001 Hyundai Tiburon
Redz do you agree with him about the engine enamel? ive done some of my car(will get pics when all done) and i use Krylon fusion for plastics...works great and it doesnt crack in hot or cold(-10F) and it doesnt need to be primed...i think the reason his cracked is cuz the material of the steering wheel is soft and can be compressed and the engine enamel isnt meant to be on something that flexes that much...
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 315
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From: Scranton-PA
untrue...I used the enamel on the door panels as well...and that didnt crack at all...the ONLY reason the steering wheel cracked is because I layed it on thin...because I wasnt focusing on it that much at the moment..and it got realllly cold that day...and since it was thin...and I punched it...it cracked and flaked...if I had layed more coats over it like I have been on the other parts it wouldnt have cracked....but I do agree with you...it is a flexible material and enamel is not used for that reason...but get a crappy door panel or whatnot from a junkyard and see for yourself..
and if you noticed..on the Krylon can..it shows a playhouse for kids and some other non-moving and bending objects....I tried that stuff....I didnt like it....it seemed to go on thin. Anyway....most plastic paints arent made for soft squishy objects...thats why I tried vinyl paint..and that didnt work any better
and if you noticed..on the Krylon can..it shows a playhouse for kids and some other non-moving and bending objects....I tried that stuff....I didnt like it....it seemed to go on thin. Anyway....most plastic paints arent made for soft squishy objects...thats why I tried vinyl paint..and that didnt work any better
