i am spray painting my centre dash where the stereo etc goes and was wondering how others have done this?
what steps need to be taken to get it right and what colour suggestions?


also i want to change the colour ilumination in the speedo and was wondering if this has been done by anyone without having to buy a new cluster?

ask TheDifference...:bowrofl::bowrofl:

ask TheDifference...:bowrofl::bowrofl:
I don't think that helps! :slap:

Silver seems to be quite popular and I have seen a few who have colour matched to a colour theme.. it is a mod that I can see myself doing very soon too. And this is the method I will be using... but others can give you first hand experience.

I will be taking the dash panels off giving them a light sand with fine grit paper (1200 wet) then cleaning it with a de-oiling solution to free the surface of oils and grime, then I will probably pime coat and then paint with the desired colour (several layers)... I am not sure about finishing off with a clear coat, that might be over kill.... anyway, I haven't done it so I guess others who have will speak, I actually sprayed one of my really bad looking console parts a while back but soon found out matt black is not wise...scratches show up too easily.

Good luck with it, waiting for the pics :thumbsup:

i was thinking id colour code with the stone green interior but thought nah.....boring
then a light bulb appeared above my head and i thought metalic in blizard blue.it is metalic silver with a pearly crystal like blue through it.

Oooh I just realised something... when I said "de-oiling solution" I meant a non damaging one... plastics can melt to the wrong chemicals... careful if you use them. I thought I should just put that in before I have someone turn their smooth plastic console into bubble gum.

That colour sounds really nice, I personally might not be game enough... unless you could trial it on a similar surface and see how it goes.

nice colour i have Argon Silver which is silver but shows up blue/purple and certain lighting and angles

note: ALWAYS SPRAY NORTH SOUTH passes THEN EAST WEST passes, only ever spray light layers and always build up layers, never try and spray the whole thing at once otherwise will come out crappy and orange peel like

i prepped my console by clean out all the crap with soapy water, then metho to wipe of detergent residue, light sanding (1500 grit) then metho again

then

spray over lightly with plastic primer, sand with 1500 grit, spray again with plastic primer, sand again with 1500 grit, spray again plastic primer and sand again 1500 grit.

then

first coat of paint, sand with 1500 then 2000, spray again, sand with 1500 then 2000, spray again, sand with 1500 then 2000, spray again, sand with 1500 then 2000 then final spray sand only with 2000 (and maybes 2500 if u can get ur hands on some) then i like to add some toothpaste onto surface (only small amount) and get a cloth and wipe around, toothpaste is a mild abrasive so it shuold make ur surface nice and smooth and wash off residue with water

thats all i did for mine and hasnt chipped or scratched (well little areas but tha was my fualt for leaving the console in the boot of my car for a month with other **** around it)

u can clear coat it, but i find clear coat althought comes up shinier detracts some of the colour of ur paint away and if u do the painting properly it really shouldnt need clear coat to protect it

Thanks [THUGDOUT] :thumbsup: that helps me too!

i did mine similar to THUGDOUT, just without so much sanding, although i did rush it slightly so it did come out sorta orange peeled... but i'm planning a colour change so i can sand all it back to the primer and it should b nice and smooth to start again...

Changing the dash lights is pretty easy if your game enough to pull the cluster apart. It's just a matter of getting into it, pulling off the old LED's and soldering on some new ones.

Just be careful taking off the needles. I found a fork works well.. just lodge it under the needle and pop it off.

ask TheDifference...:bowrofl::bowrofl:

i'm gonna stab you in the ovaries choonga...... :cool:

I actually sprayed one of my really bad looking console parts a while back but soon found out matt black is not wise...scratches show up too easily.

Did you consider using a clear coat over the top of the matt black??? I have been thinking how this would work out for a while actually. I think it could be rather good if done correctly :confused:

Did you consider using a clear coat over the top of the matt black??? I have been thinking how this would work out for a while actually. I think it could be rather good if done correctly :confused:
Glossy matt black, sort of an oxymoron if you ask me he he. I guess it would work.

Hehe, i'm lazy but no sanding worked for me. I just cleaned the plastic with prepsol (glorified version of metho) and then sprayed about 5 or so light coats of plastic primer and after that dried about 6-7 or more coats of silver paint. i used grey metallic silver. the annoying thing was that you had to make sure it was perfectly even, or some parts came up grey and some shiney silver.

i had a problem, where the shiney, metallic looking stuff had peeled off around my aircon dial and button. I wasn't sure if painting would get rid of them, so i just sprayed some extra paint around that area. it fixed it perfectly, tho, if i could be bothered i would have sanded it....maybe :doubt:

its really not a hard thing to do, i've never done any sort of spray painting in my life, and my console turned out pretty nice

i'm not a fan of the super shiney plastic surface, but i did go over my paint with car wax...dunno why.. :nuts:

if u want it 2 shine clear coat it, makes it bit harder to scratch aswell....

do it somewhere that has no dust/breeze.... otherwise you do a whole coat and **** get stucks to it......

yer happen to me... u got the money take the chit of and get it done by a pro in 2pac way better then enamel etc. 2pac be mint and shiney

iv got all my stuff to start painting my dash today......violet purple:P i LOVE the colour....ill post pics later

do u really need to prime it with pain primer, can u just sand it first then paint, clear coat it??

No need to prime.

Whats with all the sanding? its smother then needed to begin with and i don't think the "it makes the paint stick more" agrument has any bearing as it sticks fine!

Just clean the plastic thoroughly then hit it with lots of light coats, im talking a faint haze over and over untill its all a uniform colour and you have well and truly coated it, if you hit it hard it will bubble and leave spots unpainted that no matter how much more paint you put on seem to not go away, if this happens wait for it to dry then sand it back then start again otherwise your gonna have a crap finish!

You do not need to sand at all, but a very fine 1000grit+ after panting is ok if your gonna put on a clear coat, if you put on a clearcoat wait a couple of hours even though its touch dry after 10 mins.
You need to put on the clear heavier for a better look, light coats are crappy and don't worry about it bubbling it wont cause its going onto a painted suface now just watch out for runs and be carefull, too heavy and clear coat will become hazy and white.. :)

Last thing, i reccomend clear coating everything you paint as it stops the paint wearing off over time and chipping so easily, if you do something like a door handle or a part that it touched regularly it will wear off without a clear coat..

If this guide helps, im glad :)

Im also looking to do this. Can the people posting on this thread who have done it post some pics?

I got pics here: http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32831

BR377 where you have painted the inside of the cup holders i was looking at keeping mine black? the easiest way of doing that would be maybe taping newspaper where you dont want the paint to go??

Yes tape and newspaper, a tip though is to use a few layers you'll be supprised how thin newspaper is when its wet and the paint can go through.

Also if you can, remove it as soon as you've painted when its still wet otherwise the tape can peel a lot of the paint back and ruin it if you let it dry!

Cheers mate. Will remember that when i think of painting it.

yep i finished the first cost of all my interior peices....my god does it look good im dieing to get them back into my car:P

Dont use any sort of De-greaser for cleaning or your paint will never stick.

just use some detergent and then sand it !

All i did was wipe the piece down with metho and waited till it dried. Then just started spraying and did several (4-5) layers of paint. Then did about 3-4 layers of clear coat. Came up very nicely apart from a bit near the buttons just behind the steering wheel that control the speed alarm thingy. I was using the last of a can of paint and gooey crap sprayed out and i tried wiping it off but it just smudged so i tried using metho to get it off and it wouldn't. I had to just spray over it but it has the bubbly sort of effect. But im going to take it off soon and sand that bit back and fix it up! Its not really that hard to do but i was a bit scared that i was gonna stuff it up but it turned out ok. Pic below of how it turned out. The pic don't show the bit infront of the speedos being done, but i did it a few days ago and don't have any new pics of it yet!
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/5307/p22702318pi.th.jpg (http://img487.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p22702318pi.jpg)

here a pic of my just about to take tape of and stick back in car, just relized....i forgot to paint the dam cigarett butt holder :rant:

that is definately going to look interesting! looks like a reasonable depth to the colour, spray quality looks good, and its not a very gay purple either :)

are you going the dials and vents aswell?

Dam right its a good job...loll, ill do vents and cluster at later date (when I can afford more paint cos that stuffs expensive!) other than that yeah its not a gay colour!!! I like it and that’s all that matters

All i did was wipe the piece down with metho and waited till it dried. Then just started spraying and did several (4-5) layers of paint. Then did about 3-4 layers of clear coat. Came up very nicely apart from a bit near the buttons just behind the steering wheel that control the speed alarm thingy. I was using the last of a can of paint and gooey crap sprayed out and i tried wiping it off but it just smudged so i tried using metho to get it off and it wouldn't. I had to just spray over it but it has the bubbly sort of effect. But im going to take it off soon and sand that bit back and fix it up! Its not really that hard to do but i was a bit scared that i was gonna stuff it up but it turned out ok. Pic below of how it turned out. The pic don't show the bit infront of the speedos being done, but i did it a few days ago and don't have any new pics of it yet!
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/5307/p22702318pi.th.jpg (http://img487.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p22702318pi.jpg)



wat paint did u use? i have silver atm but wanna change it to white but cant find a good white

yeah its not a gay colour!!! I like it and that’s all that matters

yeah wasn't saying it is gay, just purple can look very gay! my favourite colour on the Monaro's was the dark purple :cool:

you've done well in choosing a non-gay purple :D

ask TheDifference...:bowrofl::bowrofl:


I can't believe he beat me to it, I must be getting old.

wat paint did u use? i have silver atm but wanna change it to white but cant find a good white

Get "Stark White" its as white as you can go in the auto touch up cans :D

is it possible to take the ciggy lighter out so that i dont put paint in it? if so.. how do i do it.. and whats the silver most ppl are using.. i got this one from super cheap, and i tested it on a bit of spare trim i had.. and it doesnt look all that great/

I can't believe he beat me to it, I must be getting old.


You said it..:P