Is it wise to paint the interior panels as opposed to purchasing new pieces in the desired color?
I am at the point where my interior needs TLC but not sure how to go about it.
The panels are in great shape but the color is not ideal.

 

i painted my whole interior with vinyl spray and it came out awesome and looks like it was that color from the factory. just make sure you clean them real well

 

Thanks for the information.

Im glad to know that paint is an option rather than buying new.

 

you sayed you used vinal paint on the int any words of advice to some one who wants to do it and do u have any pics and what is the best paint for the job.

 

my advice is clean clean clean them panels good. once your done cleaning em hit them again. i can remeber cleaning all my panels with rubbing alcohol and then having the paint run off of existing grease or wax spots that didnt come off .then they had to be stripped cleaned and painted again. clean twice paint once. i recommend hitting them and letting them soak with a product called goof off spray found at any wal mart. then finish em off with rubbing alcohol. the paint i used was called vinyl interior spray found at any advance auto or auto zone.

 

the things in this picture that where painted are the console carpet. the arm rests on the door. the sill plates what you can see of them and the front kick panel. as you can see it came out gorgeous (gorgeous enough to drop 1200$ on custom seats. all i need is a dash pad for that one tiny crack. sorry about the quality its the only picture i have

 

it does look nice one more quick ? about the paint does it take a clear goat or any thing like that or is it just spray and go and have you had any problem with it rubing off?

 

just where my feet rest and scuff. no clear coat needed. and i touch it up with black marker in that one spot

 

I used the SEM plastic paint on mine, and also used the sand free to help it adhere better.

They turned out pretty nice.

I like it because I could use a color that didn't come stock.

 

Hey Chris, those panels look really nice, great work. One other option you guys might have is going to the junk yard and looking for panels.

 

I talked to an SEM rep and he said depending on the plastic you use either sand-free or plastic adhesion promoter. Did you do that laquer thinner test to determine which to use?

Looks really nice by the way. That doesn't look too far off the colour of the centre console in a firebird (which i am wondering if SEM has a colour for), am i right?

 

What SEM color is that?I have been looking at the colors online,but it is hard to tell the true colors online,but that is the color I am looking for.Jeff

 

What is sand free? Some kind of primer? I haven't seen that here in Australia

 

The gray on those rear plastics does look nice.

 

The color I used is called Graphite
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It's a spray that suppose to help promote adhesion to the plastic.
http://www.sjdiscounttools.com/sem38363.html

 

Or buying them from me !

 

Ray gets the best stuff.... He knows where the pot of gold is!!! LOL

 

ive painted three of my f-bodys interior panels with vinyl/plastic paint from a local auto body supplier (they even had firethorn red for my 77 T/A!) and they came out awesome, cleaned with soap and water and 2-3 coats was what i used. im about to go do my formula's right now! good luck!

 

Doing mine now with goof off and krylon fusion.

Most look great but the back seat armrest and speaker housing pieces have spots that keep bubbling up when I spray- is that just places not sanded/cleaned good enough or what?
thanks

 

Nice panels...I remember getting a color chart from SEM in the mail a while back when I was going to redo my interior. My '82 has the Dark Charcoal interior and the closest thing I could find on the chart was graphite. However it was much darker than your panels...just a bit lighter than black. Glad I didn't get it if it's that light. This was a while back, so unless they changed their colors, this would be way to light for my car. I'll have to check back with them and see if they have any similar colors.