painting interior panels
 

I'll soon be redoing my interior, going from parchment with burgandy dashpad and carpet to all black. I've reupholstered a couch before so I don't think the seat covers and carpet will be too difficult (I'm having the headliner done professionally) but I'm worried about getting the painted parts to look correct. Do I need to scuff up the parts first with fine grit sandpaper and then use a semi-flat black spray paint? Do I need to put some sort of a top coat on to prevent the paint from scratching or scuffing? I'd obviously like it to look as original as possible once finished. Any advice you guys could give would be greatly appreciated!

No scuffing with anything !!!!!!!


I use Paint remover..why ? so I can still have all those little grooves once I paint them again. Scuffing with leave them ...scuffed.

Final cleaning with lacquer thinner ( wear a mask )

Use a black primer..then the black lacquer for finish job.

don't use sandpaper, but you CAN scuff, just be sure to use a scotchbright pad lightly on the surface. this little tiny scuffing leaves no marks but allows the new paint to stick to it nicely.

I would be afraid to use paint remover on those panels, it seems to me that those chemicals can melt/warp the fiberglass and plastic. I know the stuff I used didn't like the plastic container i put it in too well.

It depends on what metal surface you are painting. The dash is a smooth finish and should not be sanded but you can use an acetone or paint remover. The door shells and quarter panels have a dimpled surface and you can either leave it or strip the paint off completely. If you only strip it partially, you will lose the dimpled texture. I wire brushed the quarter panels and door shells down to bare metal and then painted them with an original laquer from California Mustang. No primer used. On second thought, you could avoid painting your quarter panels and just wrap them with vinyl upholstery.

What plastic /fibreglass panels ?

Those are METAL and paint remover works just fine.

Just adding paint after paint eventually removes the OEM look

Do you think the lacquer might give the panels too shiny of a finish? i like the idea that it'd hold up better to scratches and scuffs but would a regular satin black look more like the original?

I got my interior paint from CJ's. They sell can's that are factory correct colors.

I used a wire cup brush on a grinder to remove the paint on the textured interior panels. It works great, doesn't damage the texture and there is no messing around with paint stripper.

Can you paint the dash pad? Or does that need to be dyed?

the dash panel can definitely be sanded and then painted. I used primer, two stage paint, and clear. as for the quarters and door shell, I also sanded them down and painted them, but it did remove some of the texture. Dash pad should be dyed, but Ive heard of people simply painting them without a problem. I guess the choice is yours.