Painting your dash?

[gabby.f.babiee]

I noticed that alot of cougar owners paint your dash, what kind of paint do you use any certain kind and can i buy it at canadian tire, i always wanted to know if you guys just paint it or buy the whole new piece a different color?

[papatedroach]

I used Dupilcolor brand, Adhesion Promotor, Metal Cast Primer, Metal Cast Anodised Blue. ( FYI, I didnt sand or clear coat and 1 year later mine still looks perfect)

http://inlinethumb26.webshots.com/7257/2246246470068918892S600x600Q85.jpg (http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2246246470068918892grRdYR)

Most important part is prep work, Some people sand some dont, Wash with soap and water, dry, then definity used rubbing alcohol or somthing similar to clean the piece. Follow by using an adhesion promotor made for automotive plastics, then a primer, base coat, and finally clear coat. Follow directions on all products carfully.

[serialplague]

most people paint it but some are stickers which in my opinion look ugly
and yes you can buy the paint from canadian tire but make sure you prep the surface
and please next time do a search before posting your question im sure youll find a wealth of information

[iceberg65]

I used krylon fusion on what i painted (A,B, and C pillars satin black) its at Canadian tire but with the general paint not the automotive paint. I just sanded with 320 grit cleaned with dishsoap and water then gave it a rub down with some rubbing alcohol then painted 4 light coats. It's one month short of a year now and it still looks great.

[ND4SPD]

I painted my own dash a number of years ago... I used Canadian Tire primer and Clearcoat, and specially mixed tin of Rio Red paint (old car was rio red).

It came out great, never scratched or anything, but........... it took along time, and after all my hard work, time and money spent on paints, when I took it to my bodyshop and had them paint it - there was just no comparison, it looked exactly like the paint on the outside of the car (right down to being able to wax it and wash it).

If I could go back, I would have stopped myself from using the rattle can method and just gone to the pro's.

[AFDGipson]

ill have to agree with you ND4SPD, i love doin interior stuff, but i get too impatient and now i believe i'm gonna go have it done somewhere.

[ND4SPD]

Yeah, it was a great learning experience... and if I were just doing it for fun, or for someone else, I would feel totally confident. :)

BUT, if you really want that flawless paintjob (or dare I say - enter car shows), its something best left to the professionals with professional equipment.
I didn't even look at how much it cost to do my A,B and C pillars, my dash and center console, but whatever it was, it was worth it! :rofl:

[20COUG00]

remove the pieces and take it to the pro's. It will cost a couple extra bucks, but will look 100 times better and much more durable.

[MOMO]

my first interior i painted myself.
Even though it looked great, i finally got mine professionally done.

[kustomcougar]

i used krylon satin black platic paint, looks like it came stock that color, here is one picture i have taken since i repainted the whole interior dash pieces
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/kustomcougar/013.jpg

[Ldycgr99]

Iam going to paint mine, What I do is I scuff up the dash with fine sand paper, Paint it with regular spray paint and clear coat it. But thats only with the plastic pieces.

[contrapaul]

Duplicolor + clear coat. Looks great and has held up perfectly for a year now.

[camlen2001]

would an Autozone carry duplicolor paints and clearcoats? I'm planning on going out today and gettin all supplies and tomorrow paintin a few dash peices...

[baggedCSVT]

would an Autozone carry duplicolor paints and clearcoats? I'm planning on going out today and gettin all supplies and tomorrow paintin a few dash peices...

murrays has a better paint selection then autozone, if you have one around try them but autozone might have the color and will have the clear

[camlen2001]

murrays has a better paint selection then autozone, if you have one around try them but autozone might have the color and will have the clear

ok so I just got back... got the paint....got the primer....got the clear... only problem now.... how the heck do you get to that darn vent bezel over by the passenger door?.... got the other three out, just cant get to the one over on the right side....am I gonna have to remove the entire dash to get to it or will it come out through the bottom side? any advice would be greatly appreciated cuz it is way too hot outside to just sit there trying to think up ways to jimmy it out... its 107 out today I think... :thumbsdn:

[baggedCSVT]

have you tried dropping down the glove box and reaching up behind?

[camlen2001]

c'mon guys please I know plenty of you have done this... someone's gotta have the answer...

[noggs]

Screwdriver, just pry it out gently, around 5 and 7 o clock are the clips, but you can do it if you do it gently..., the vynil will pop back after a few days...

[camlen2001]

thanks much man

[GearGrind]

Out of curiosity since no one mentioned this, what ballpark number would someone be looking at to have the dash and center counsel professionally painted

[azbobbybooshay10]

Camlen, if you need any help, I've painted mine before. I used Duplicolor paint and it looks great. I think I'm going to try to get some Sonic Blue paint though and respray them to (eventually) match the outside of the car. Like I said, let me know if you need a hand and I'll head over to your side of town to help out.
Here's how mine looks (very old pics, so alot is different now, but the panels are still the same)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/azbobbybooshay10/BlueDash006small.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b15/azbobbybooshay10/BlueDash007small.jpg

[gabby.f.babiee]

i just finished mine it turned outt very nice, nicer than i thought i out some pics all i did was sand,primed,painted,clear coat and the color is gm bright in a sptray can at canadian tire i was gonna do the door handles but i ca get them out and didnt want to break it

[thousandlegs]

looks good! I like the contrast...makes it kind of feel like the red area is the 'driver cockpit' area.

[gabby.f.babiee]

ya it really turned out nice...it does look like a racecar like in nascar i used gm bright red and dupicolor clearcoat if nay 1 knows how to get the door handles out let me know ...thanks

[marinofan]

ya it really turned out nice...it does look like a racecar like in nascar i used gm bright red and dupicolor clearcoat if nay 1 knows how to get the door handles out let me know ...thanks

If you're talking interior doorhandles, unscrew the 5 or 6 screws holding the door panel on, slide it off, you have to kind of pull cause it has some double sided tape stuff holding it on, then the door handles come out real easy. there not to hard to put back either.

[gabby.f.babiee]

here i attached a piece thats the piece highlighted that i want to take out and paint ..how do i take that piece out ???

visit my car on car domain: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3118527

[gabby.f.babiee]

anybody know how to take the door thingy out theres a pic underneath this reply of wut i need to take out some1 help lol :)

[JRsmoothee]

you take a cutting torch to it and it should pop right off

[gabby.f.babiee]

yaa okaYY!!!

[02coug]

I believe to get those parts off you need to drill out the plastic welds from the factory.... (just be extra special carefull not to drill too far) it is not all that hard I did it to my doors handles and my shifter plate! I just glued them back on. Its been 4 years and no problems!!!

You could aways mask around them and then paint them... which is what I did when I first painted it!

[JLCoug99]

so, im for sure going to paint mine like this. i have no idea how to get everything apart, or anything really. i think if someoene tells me where to start i can get it going though. and as far as paint, autozone? also what # sandpaper

[blustreak]

Don't use a very tough grit sand paper.... autozone should carry what you'd want as far as paint....... Start disassembly by going under the driver side near where your knees would hit the dash and there should be 2 screws or bolts if I remember correctly and just continue up from there on the left side. For the right side where the radio is, pop out your ashtray or insert and you should see some screws and then continue up from there again.

Overall taking it all apart is pretty easy, just remember where all the fasteners go.

[JLCoug99]

awesome, thanks! i read that if i use duplicolor, which i plan on doing, it doesnt need clearcoat. that true? i checked autozone and they didnt have duplicolor in stock, im sure i can have them order some though..i was in a hurry when i went.

[ModCougar]

I'm not sure about needing the clearcoat or not. I used dupli-color and I did use a clear coat anyway. Just make sure you get a clearcoat that is NON-YELLOWING.

I also never sanded my interior pieces, just made sure they were extra clean. And If you aren't going with a special color to match your factory car color, then I would use Krylon Fusion. It works really well too.

[JLCoug99]

oh ok.. so im going to do it silver, like my car. your saying do or dont use krylon fusion?

[02coug]

I used dupli color engine paint on my car and cleared it too. And I have not had any problems in the 3 years its been done!!!

I did recently used the krylon fusion on a friends car and it worked very well! Just make sure all the parts are cleaned really well!

Overall I would say if you find a color you like in the fusion paint use it!!

[madcustomz]

this is with duplicolor
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb30/madcustomz/centercoucil.jpg

[ModCougar]

I'm saying that dupli-color works awesome with a clear coat on top if you are wanting to match it to your car's exterior body color, because dupli-color has factory match colors.

But if you find a color that you like in the Krylon Fusion, then you can use that too, it just wont be a perfect match to any of the cougars' body colors, but the paint itself works good.

[JLCoug99]

ok, so i used duplicolor (silver frost) on my cig lighter piece and ashtray. i really like how it turned out. clean even etc looking. im just afraid to do it on the big pieces now. i think ill have someone else...who knows what they are doin...ill post of pic of it when its done too. thanks for all the help!!