Hey guys,

So I had a little idea on a project I wanted to do on my car. Right now everything is tan colored inside my car. I want it black. Everything. The only thing im not worrying about right now is the seats and the carpet. I will deal with those later. I was just wondering what your experience is with painting vinyl and what process I should use to keep it lasting as long as possible? I plan on swapping the engine and tranny and making this thing a manual eventually so im keeping it for a while.

Also, im looking cheap as possible paints. What brands play nice with vinyl? Will post some pics of the interior as it sits now so I can do before-and-after on this for future refrence.

 

I'm not sure how painting something large scale like the dashboard would go(not to mention it can be a pain to take out).

I know in your other thread we had talked about finding a wrecked accord that was a manual so maybe it would be a good idea to just find one with a dark color interior to swap.

 

Whys that?

 

The dashboard is a large surface that flexs some times, gets very hot, and very cold. I would think it would crack and start peeling in a relatively short period of time, but I could be wrong, painting is not my area of expertise.

 

dude I have seen interiors that were painted and looked good, then a few years later they looked like they needed to go to the junk yard.

I just did a color change on my car and it looks great.

I used Duplicolor Fabric / Plastic Spray ($8 per can) on the rear deck and rear seat (as I do not use the rear seat much) and I bought black seat covers for the front seats, looks much much better.

You are talking about painting your interior and using the cheapest paint possible, not a good combination.

My car looks 10x better and cost me $45 for the dye for the rear seat and deck and $25 for the front seat covers (ebay)

You will hate your car in a year or so if you try painting all the interior.

 

Okay so how about if I dont use the cheapest paint possible? and fabric spray paint? How well does that work? What would I look for to get black fabric spray paint?

 

Bottom line is this, this is the answer period.

If you paint your plastic in the car it will look like total *** in a few years.

Painting the fabric will last for a while but it feels very rough to the touch.

I forgot to add that I recovered the center arm rest.

My car looks much better and will last for as long as I am going to own the car.

If you paint the plastic it will look good for not much more than a year then it will flake, chip, and just make you hate your car. I have seen it with my own eyes. You do not want to paint your plastic if you plan on keeping your car for a while.

 

Lol okay. Guess i wont do that then. Just wired up some blue LED's under the dash today. Looks pretty badass now

 

I have a 96 Accord and did my entire interior black about a year and a half ago. I used Duplicolor's vinyl and fabric paint, which is actually somewhat of a hybrid of dye and paint. It is flexible and I have had no problems with temperature changes from freezing winters to hot summers, the dash still looks great.

The paint is easy to use, it actually soaks in somewhat to vinyl. I didn't remove the dashboard, just taped everything off really well and even when I sprayed it too thick cause of awkward angles the paint soaks into the vinyl and you don't see any runs. I wouldn't use it on the plastic, I tried it and had to remove it. I ended up using Krylon's plastic paint which worked really well. I have a few spots that have chipped off but that's mainly cause I really beat up my interior this past year when I moved.

As far as the seats... the fabric and vinyl paint is tricky on the fabric. It takes a lot to get it to look good, so seat covers may be a better option. You have to spray it on, then rub it in all the fibers with a stiff brush, then repeat until it looks good. If you don't, then it will dry stiff. With use it gets softer, but then you see the parts of the fibers that didn't get the color and you have to respray anyway, so take your time if you want to go that route.

The fabric paint did a really good job on the carpet, and I just bought black floormats from ebay since those get the most wear and the paint probably wouldn't hold up to that.

Anyway, it can be done you just have to prep it properly (don't sand the vinyl but use a good cleaner and wax/grease remover before you spray) and take your time, especially with fabric.

And definately go with the duplicolor, I tried rustoleum's version first and it was cheap looking.

 

^^^^
Very good information here.

To clarify the parts I am talking about that will look really bad after a while are the hard plastic pieces such as the door sills, center consel, lower door panels.

Vinyl such as the dash and top of the door panels may or may not last for a while, I have not tried it nor have I seen any done.

I recently did a head unit, amp, and sub setup in a Grand Prix that had all the plastic painted a few years ago and it was horrible. If it was my car I would have had to get new panels.

I will post a picture later of how mine interior came out, looks much better than before.