Painting Trim-DIY
 

I'm thinking of painting some of my interior trim myself. Has anyone done this and what type of prepping and paint did you use? I want to go Arctic Silver. What paint best matches that? I'm thinking that sanding the parts with 200grit then using an etching primer than paint. Any suggestions?

Do a search. I have been there, done that and took a bunch of pictures.

Invariably the next question is paint, Duplicolor works fine. They do not match 100% but you cannot tell - unless you spray a body panel, yuck!

Past that, just use "regular painting techniques" with the rattle can. First couple coats should be LIGHT!

Sand, paint, (wait a week) and then prime and seal. If you want to know why? You'll have to read the article…but you can always PM for ???s.

Good luck and TAKE YOUR TIME! You can rush and get trash you have to live with. No one ever asked, "Did you get it done fast?" They just see the result….paint or rattle can - the results will be what you put into them.

In general, prep and a clearcoat are what separates an excellent job from an amateur one. I haven t painted interior plastic or vinyl pieces yet but I d suggest that you use a paint and wax remover FIRST, to clean oil and armoral off as both will prevent good adhesion (amoral is silicone-based and will cause dimples in your paint job! - it is a bodyshops worst nightmare). THEN sand with 320, 400,600. I find wet sanding works best, although it requires wet-specific paper. I believe there are plastic-specific primers that are supposed to improve adhesion and flex a little-maybe a bumper cover product. You could spray-bomb the colour but I d urge you to clearcoat it (if you want shine) with a catalyzed paint. This makes it so much more durable and the shine will last forever-little nicks won t produce chips then, either. Anything out of a spray can won t be as tough. A bodyshop won t charge much and the finish will exude quality. A catalyzed clearcoat can be wet-sanded , polished and waxed too-that s show-car quality!Either way, have fun!

PS 200 grit (220) is quite coarse for plastic and would work best if you want to remove a surface pattern that s molded into it.

I have done this. Use Levine automotive. They will put arctic silver in a can for you. The also sell clear coats. Use high build primer; it fills in the texture on the oem parts. Sand the primer smooth & scuff sand w/ 320 prior to color coat. Let primer degass & dry for a week before sanding.

Do all coats of clear and color the same day. Do two coats color and three coats clear, waiting an hour between each coat. Use a clear coat that has uv protectant built in.

After all coats are applied, wait two weeks (don't cheat!!) before a wet sand, polish and wax.

+1 on that advice. It is the hardest part!

Awesome, thank's for the advice!

Why dont you try silver carbon wrap, it's much easier than painting and really easy. This is the UK site but just to give you an idea:

Premium Quality Silver Carbon Fibre Vinyl Wrap 300mm x 1500mm (Fade Resist) | eBay

Skip the wax remover, if the job is done correctly, the "soft touch" coating that came from the factory will be completely removed. Soak parts in hot water and steel wool off the coating...then wipe down with alcohol; only then are you ready to prime...

I just did mine a few weeks ago.

Because even the factory carbon fiber looks a bit cheesy in my opinion. It's also my opinion that "stick on" interior upgrades will hurt resale.

I would say a poor paint job will affect resale much more, you can always peel this wrap off.

peeling wrap is a PITA. paint it right & you will love it. also, it can increase value to the right buyer. Exhibit A: My Car. this picture was taken almost seven years after painting the parts. also, i leave the top down in the sun pretty much all the time.

EDIT: holy crap; the new picture uploader looks terrible. that photo looks very muted compared w/ the one i uploaded. i will try again in a minute.

new try:

still a bad pic! try this one.