Painting the Interior of my 97 GAGT

[DKOnLine]

I was wondering what kind of steps are required when trying to paint my interior pieces. I want to paint the trim around the radio and gauges, pieces on the doors and the vents. Thanks for the help in advance.

[XenoWolf]

I just layed the primer on my interior painting job :D.. I'm doing my door trim right now (95 GAGT)

Do some searching on Google and such for 'Car Interior Painting'.. but here is some tips I can give ya.

Only use 'paint' on hard plastic items such as door-handle trim.. some of the center console.. etc.

You'll want to use vinyl dye on the actual vinyl.. due to the fact that it's prone to bending.. and paint doesnt bend well :D

For the plastic pieces your doing.. here are the steps i'm taking.

1) Remove items you want to paint.
- If you cant remove them directly.. detatch the smallest portion around it you can (in my case I had to take off the entire door panels to get some of the handle-trim.

2) (VERY IMPORTANT) MASK! MASK! MASK! Make 100% certain that you have every piece that you DONT want painted covered with newspaper/masking tape/plastic/etc. Make sure what you have is thick enough that the paint wont leak or break right through and ruin everything..

3) Clean the parts that you want to paint on with soap + water, then with alcohol to remove grease/oil/armor all/etc.. anything that will cause a nasty finish to your paint.

4) Go through steps 2&3 again to make 100% sure everything is prepped (it took me a few hours just to mask most of the door).

5) If the piece is smooth like glass.. you'll want to sand it down with very fine sandpaper (500-1000 grit) to give it a rough edge for the primer to stick on. If it already has a rough texture to it I wouldn't worry about this step.

6) Use sandable primer for your first coat over the surface your planning on painting.. primer makes the paint stick better to the surface your painting to. Make sure you let a layer dry.. then do one or two more to make sure everything is covered.

7) Wait about an hour or two after the last primer layer and begin your actual painting. I'd say a good 3-4 layers in half-hour intervals would be sufficient.. but its all up to you there really. Let the last layer of paint stand for about a day to ensure proper drying and hardening.

8) Add your paint finish or your clear coat to the top of the last layer of paint. Add more if necissary.

9) Let stand another day or so just to be 100% sure its dry.. then ta-da.. its done!