Hey Everyone,
I have an 88 Formula with a gray interior. I got new seats in it and have been restoring the interior piece by piece. The gray plastic panels throughout the car are all chipping and otherwise marked up badly ( color is scratched off revealing dull black plastic) I want to repaint the panels to the original gray color. Ive been searching on the forum and have read that SES plastic paints are great for this. Any advice on using SES stuff (links etc.)? And also what color/ type of SES plastic paint would match the original gray in my Formula the best (link to site to purchase it)?
Thanks

 

That stuff is better than most. Prep is key, they have to be really clean, no oils at all. Scuff with green side of a sponge. Then coat a few times. It will look good, and last ok if you coat it enough, clean it enough, scuff it enough, etc.

But...

I've tried every kind of plastic paint imaginable and never was happy. It can be very good, but it is always way more damage prone than the colored plastic. It will never be %100 color match. It gets to be a headache making sure NOTHING ever scratches it... I recently got every plastic piece in a Z28 from a junkyard for 60 bucks though. You might want to check out that route.

Edit: I also tend to "pick" on the u-pull-it employees... I like to wait around and get the girls to rings me up so you can flirt, they usually dont bother counting everything... LOL. Also, for the guys, I pick the ones that seem ignorant to me. They're just like "eh a pile of plastic, twenty bucks, bye"

 

If you are talking about SEM paint it works great. I just re-painted all of my plastics with it. As said before prep is the key. Wash the pieces well with dawn or another de-grease soap. Then wipe them down with acetone. Spend the money on the Sand-Free product they offer. It softens the pastic and really helps with the adhesion of the paint. I will try and post some pictues later today.

 

Sand-Free offer? I like you how described it "softens" the plastic so it sticks better. That makes sense, and sounds really good. I may have to try that on the one rear hatch piece I can never find in black without being cracked.

(That piece that goes on the underside of your hatch, people always load the hatch up and break/crack it with the hatch closing on stuff)

 

Sounds good guys I think ill try to repaint them with the SEM paint but maybe someday just buy all new plastics (they have a good set on third gen ranch) Any reccomendations as far as which color of the SEM stuff to go with to look like the stock gray? and were to buy it?

 

look at the sem website and use all the prep products they suggest.I redyed my plastics and they look incredible,I also coated with low luster clear.I did my steering wheel on the boat last year and it still looks new.

 

When I painted my armrests I scrubbed them really good with 'Mean Green' degreaser, then sprayed them with Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter, and then sprayed with SEM Color Coat.