Painting Plastic Interior Parts

[Reeves]

Is there a special paint you can use on plastic interior pieces to make it adhere or "eat" into the plastic?

Also, has anyone found a good matching paint for the maroon interior of an L-body? This is for my GLH.

If I can't find a good matching color, I'll probably go with semi-gloss black.

I'm trying to paint my new shifter console. Pics here: http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/sh...l=1#post893712


Thanks!

[RoadWarrior222]

Sometimes you can dye stuff with the "dylon" clothes dye for synthetics.. might work for one of the light grey pieces to maroon... however, it varies in how well it "takes" on various materials, so would be somewhat experimental.

[Turbo224]

If you go into an automotive paint supply shop they should be able to look up the factory interior colors for your car and mix up the correct color for you in a paint meant for plastic and vinyl. All you need to do is spray the plastic down with an adhesion promoter, apply a couple coats of color, and then clear coat if desired. That's what I did on my GLH and it looks excellent. I used a semi gloss clear coat meant for plastic and vinyl and it looks excellent. Take a look at the pictures, I used the same process and paint on all the plastic and vinyl on the car.

[Reeves]

If you go into an automotive paint supply shop they should be able to look up the factory interior colors for your car and mix up the correct color for you in a paint meant for plastic and vinyl. All you need to do is spray the plastic down with an adhesion promoter, apply a couple coats of color, and then clear coat if desired. That's what I did on my GLH and it looks excellent. I used a semi gloss clear coat meant for plastic and vinyl and it looks excellent. Take a look at the pictures, I used the same process and paint on all the plastic and vinyl on the car.

Did you need a spray gun then since they mixed the paint for you, or did they put it in an aerosol can?

I'm looking for rattle can if that's possible.

[Mopar318]

Did you need a spray gun then since they mixed the paint for you, or did they put it in an aerosol can?

I'm looking for rattle can if that's possible.

You need a good 6" spray pattern with 50% overlap with the dies too look good. That is not really achievable with a rattle can, it will look blotchy, but good enough for a drag car!

[x.Gen]

I'm looking for rattle can if that's possible.

had researched this myself not too long ago, but haven't gotten to buying/using any yet. figured I'd probably end up going to an auto paint supply shop to get a better product, but just in case - I did find Krylon Fusion. kind of limited for colors (maroon, no. burgundy, yes), but if you are looking for rattle-can that you can actually buy somewhere (car parts or normal retailer), this is what I found. not much out there.

[Keito]

Isn't that brand SEM for the rattle can?
I used that on my interior, just cleaned it real good before spraying.

[x.Gen]

I don't think so...I found prep products there, but no actual color. so I'm guessing it isn't.

[Keito]

SEM is what I used
http://www.tcpglobal.com/autobodydepot/sealcoat.aspx

[Turbo224]

When I purchased my paint the supplier told me that the paint was too thin to be used in a spray can. I just bought one of these and it worked like a charm. Layed the paint down nice and smooth.

[135sohc]

I used the SEM color coat system on mine. Redid the speaker panels since my original grey ones were totally shot and all I could find were tan ones. Used their cleaner, adhesion promoter and did 2-3 coats of color and 2 coats of clear. came out good I thought. All I can say is get the base surface CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN!!!

[brett_498]

The best cleaner I had found to get all the oils and grease off the plastics is TSP or tri-sodium phosphate. Stuff took every little piece of dirt and grime off and didn't have to use adhesion promoter to make the vinyl paint stick. After 3 years it's still on the door panel of the ram. Just figured I'd let you know!

[RoadWarrior222]

Gets the grease off your driveway, engine etc good too, some of the "pro" cleaners are just diluted TSP solution.

[BIGBRUDDA]

Dupli-color makes it call it "adhesion promoter"

[fishcleaner]

I'm sold on duplicolor products, I just used their vinyl dye (black) on some parts and it looks great. I saturated the parts and immediately wiped it off with a lint free rag, the color was burned in and shown no signs of being painted. I haven't tried it on other colors but it should work.

That's what I did on my GLH and it looks excellent.

very understated

[ScottD]

You need a good 6" spray pattern with 50% overlap with the dies too look good. That is not really achievable with a rattle can, it will look blotchy, but good enough for a drag car!

Not true.

As others have recommended, try to find SEM paint that is the closest match and clean the plastic and let it dry thoroughly before painting. I also hit mine with a light coat of clear after the SEM.

It looks great when done, see pics of my interior in my 86 GLHS project log.

[Reeves]

I'm headed to KOI Paint Store today. Supposedly they can color match by taking a 'picture' of the stock interior piece and make a rattle can of paint for about $15. Hope they are right. I brought a piece of broken kick panel in for them to color match.

[Reeves]

You need a good 6" spray pattern with 50% overlap with the dies too look good. That is not really achievable with a rattle can, it will look blotchy, but good enough for a drag car!

drag car?

Not true.

As others have recommended, try to find SEM paint that is the closest match and clean the plastic and let it dry thoroughly before painting. I also hit mine with a light coat of clear after the SEM.

It looks great when done, see pics of my interior in my 86 GLHS project log.

UPDATE:
Went to the KOI paint store. Took in a piece of the factory kick panel to color match. Dude pulls out some paint chips to match up. We found one we liked, but then found out it was discontinued. Found another one we liked, and it was in stock in a SEM rattle can. Turns out it was NAPA RED. The exact same color I picked out when comparing on my computer screen prior to going to paint store. The guy then says "What's this going on?" I just replied "86 Dodge" as I thought he wanted to look up the color code or something. He said "What kind of Dodge?" "86 OMNI" "GLH?" "Yes" "Black?" "Yes" "I thought you looked familiar......your ran UMTR before haven't you?" "Yes" "And you also had your car at the Quaker Steak car show?" "Yes" "You got the kick --- hidden roll bar?" "Yeah" "Man, I just love your car!" "Thanks!" "You run like 10's or something in that thing?" "Yeah" Cool!
So I ask the guy what I need to do to lay the paint on so it'll stick. He said "Clean it with Dawn and water, and rinse, then use AJAX, and rinse, then Dawn and water, and rinse.....then when you think you are done, do it one more time." He sold me (2) of the cans of SEM Napa Red (even though I told him I only really needed one can), a can of Bulldog? Adhesion Promoter ($22 a can!), a can of SEM plastic and vinyl prep cleaner, and a pack of lint free cloths! Hell of a sales guy! Total cost was $72! Ouch!

I had to work on Dad's charger over the weekend, so Mom agreed to do all the cleaning of the (2) interior parts I wanted to paint. I then laid on the prep cleaner and used a lint free cloth. Then laid on the adhesion promoter and this sheot went on like water? So I let it dry the 5 minutes it stated and laid on another coat.....still like water.....beading up as if you spilled water on your countertop. So I laid on an additonal heavy coat, then waited the 5 minutes and laid on the color as the instructions stated. It was HORRIBLE. So, I cleaned that one small piece up, and JUST laid on the color with no adhesion promoter. Turned out great. So I then did the big piece with just the color......turned out great as well.

I took that crap adhesion promoter back as well as the extra can of SEM Napa Red I didn't need. Got like $32 back, so I think the total cost was about $40 and I got plenty of extra cleaner, rags, and color to do more pieces in the future.

I think it turned out great, and Napa Red is THE color for our older maroon red interiors!

Here's some pics.......it's not bolted down in the car....I just set it in there for comparison:

[ScottD]

drag car?



UPDATE:
Went to the KOI paint store. Took in a piece of the factory kick panel to color match. Dude pulls out some paint chips to match up. We found one we liked, but then found out it was discontinued. Found another one we liked, and it was in stock in a SEM rattle can. Turns out it was NAPA RED. The exact same color I picked out when comparing on my computer screen prior to going to paint store. The guy then says "What's this going on?" I just replied "86 Dodge" as I thought he wanted to look up the color code or something. He said "What kind of Dodge?" "86 OMNI" "GLH?" "Yes" "Black?" "Yes" "I thought you looked familiar......your ran UMTR before haven't you?" "Yes" "And you also had your car at the Quaker Steak car show?" "Yes" "You got the kick --- hidden roll bar?" "Yeah" "Man, I just love your car!" "Thanks!" "You run like 10's or something in that thing?" "Yeah" Cool!
So I ask the guy what I need to do to lay the paint on so it'll stick. He said "Clean it with Dawn and water, and rinse, then use AJAX, and rinse, then Dawn and water, and rinse.....then when you think you are done, do it one more time." He sold me (2) of the cans of SEM Napa Red (even though I told him I only really needed one can), a can of Bulldog? Adhesion Promoter ($22 a can!), a can of SEM plastic and vinyl prep cleaner, and a pack of lint free cloths! Hell of a sales guy! Total cost was $72! Ouch!

I had to work on Dad's charger over the weekend, so Mom agreed to do all the cleaning of the (2) interior parts I wanted to paint. I then laid on the prep cleaner and used a lint free cloth. Then laid on the adhesion promoter and this sheot went on like water? So I let it dry the 5 minutes it stated and laid on another coat.....still like water.....beading up as if you spilled water on your countertop. So I laid on an additonal heavy coat, then waited the 5 minutes and laid on the color as the instructions stated. It was HORRIBLE. So, I cleaned that one small piece up, and JUST laid on the color with no adhesion promoter. Turned out great. So I then did the big piece with just the color......turned out great as well.

I took that crap adhesion promoter back as well as the extra can of SEM Napa Red I didn't need. Got like $32 back, so I think the total cost was about $40 and I got plenty of extra cleaner, rags, and color to do more pieces in the future.

I think it turned out great, and Napa Red is THE color for our older maroon red interiors!

Here's some pics.......it's not bolted down in the car....I just set it in there for comparison:

Awesome. Glad it worked out for you. I found the adhesion promoter wasn't necessary for the plastic trim pieces.

The only time I've used the adhesion promoter with good results was the side molding on the Omni. That surface is a little rough though unlike the plastic interior pieces.

[J&H Ryan]

Bulldog has always worked great for me?