[SaphireBlue]

Ok I know some of you have this done, so why won't any body shop I have called do this? Is it that hard really? I would do it myself but I am afraid I would mess it up. I am just so mad, eveywhere I call they act like I'm a little girl who knows nothing and are like "oh you don't wanna do that" or "oh that's not a good idea" of "you cant do that". I am just frustrated right now. I had such a cool idea for the way I wanted them painted too. :disgust:

 

[Guest]

Find a better shop. My shop painted mine black with a blue pearl and it turned out amazing. I have the same shop ProjectCougar uses.

 

[SaphireBlue]

Well I have called every shop in this town and there are at least 20 none of them will do it. I live in Ky so I don't think I can make to wherever ya'll go to. I am still raging over it.:disgust:

 

[mcon99]

once again it proves.... do it yourself... three easy steps, sand, prime, paint...

there are lots of good how-tos for this floating around

 

[tropiccougar01]

Instead of actually calling around, maybe you should take off a few of the piece you want painted, and take them to that shop. Tell them, I want this done on this, Whats it gonna cost? Make sure you take it to a professional-looking shop. Maybe that will get results better than a phone call. Also, they may not understand what you mean when you say dash. They may think its that vynil stuff on the passanger side of the dash.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by: mcon99
once again it proves.... do it yourself... three easy steps, sand, prime, paint...

there are lots of good how-tos for this floating around

its not the same , trust me, i could have never made my dash and console look the way it does by myself. Having a shop that knows what they are doing is definatly a plus. Looking at my dash is like looking at glass, you can see your reflection perfectly in the paint. And the blue pearl sparkles bright when the light hits it a certain way.

Of course you can do it yourself.... I hear Mirage paint is going fairly cheap these days :rofl:

 

[99CouGSweetRide]

that's interesting. When I got picked up my body kit from the shop the guy looked at my dash and was like "Did you paint that yourself? You should have brought it to us". And no it is not the same as doing it yourself. I did mine myself, and it's weird...some parts shine really nice and I can see my reflection, but other parts are a bit dull and you can't see any reflection. It all depends on the prep job and the consistency of the spray paint evenly on the entire surface.

Mike

 

[ND4SPD]

yeah, i dont understand what BODYSHOPS do diffrently... i mean, my dash looks great IMO... until i look at someones like James, or George etc... whos had it professionally done... and their paint looks and reflects just like the paint on the OUTSIDE of the car... i want THAT look, but i have no idea how. - maybe lots of clearcoat? i have no clue.

 

[Keliente]

Stacy, take your dash apart and then take the pieces to a body shop. They are most likely just being lazy, or they are afraid that they will break the pieces trying to take it apart (cougar dashes do have a really weird way of going together, with hidden screws and the like). Do the prep work yourself, it's really hard to screw up. Just sand it down all smooth and silky...then let them primer it. All they'll have to do is lay out the pieces and spray them. And get used to being treated like an idiot because you're a girl, this won't be the last time, trust me.

 

[Aries]

Did you explain to them that the dash is easy to remove? They probably think that they're gonna hafta mask of the whole interior of the car and start painting...

 

[Loyalty]

I've also heard that shops sometimes can't "guarantee" their work if its on an interior (plastic) piece :shrug:

 

[Tygerr]

I wouldn't ever recommend doing it yourself. It will never look right, well, at least not for me. I've seen so many people ruin their interior by doing this. I'd go with what everyone else is saying and take apart the dash and than take it to a shop.

 

[Guest]

well if you live in pa or around it take it to krazy kustoms in altoona there number is 814-943-5290 or you can email craig at [email protected] and tell him want you want and he will even give you advice and a price quote

 

[hamill]

taking the parts to the shop is the best route.

When you call a shop and say "can you paint parts of my dash" they will tell you either "hell no" or "it'll cost you". Remember, when you take the parts out and drop them off, they don't have to worry about labour.

I called around asking about painting fiberglass fenders....NO-one in town would do them because of alot of shotty fiberglass parts available and enormous prep times. I took it with me...NO PROBLEM. And the fact I was dropping and picking up made for a good savings.

Remember though, when you paint the dash cover above the guages, the reflection will effect you when driving, so you'll have to cover it.

 

[VHull03]

i'll be painting mine myself, as i have painted other parts of my car too. i dont know if you guys use spray paint or what your method is, but the paint job we (me and my dad) do looks better than factory most times. we use a paint gun and the expensive paint ($100/quart) + good clear coat ($100/quart). so when it's done, it looks damn nice. but i know most people dont have the means of doing this, so then a body shop would be the place to go.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by: Loyalty
I've also heard that shops sometimes can't "guarantee" their work if its on an interior (plastic) piece :shrug:

they say that because a lot folks pile on the Armor all on their dash and fill the plastic pieces will that silicone junk....this causes the paint to have a lot of problems such as fish eye, and bubbling.

 

[BrantlyJ]

Originally posted by: ND4SPD
yeah, i dont understand what BODYSHOPS do diffrently... i mean, my dash looks great IMO... until i look at someones like James, or George etc... whos had it professionally done... and their paint looks and reflects just like the paint on the OUTSIDE of the car... i want THAT look, but i have no idea how. - maybe lots of clearcoat? i have no clue.

It's not so much how they do it, it's the products they use. A rattle can paint will never have the quality of a professional paint layed down with a high quality spray gun. However if you do it right and use decent rattle cans you can get a nice finish on small pieces such as your dash. You will not get that high gloss but I feel that's fairly impractical for daily use as how can you see out the window with all that glare? ick.
I plan on doing a silver similar to Keliente or Crispys silver and I WANT that matte finish. if it was glossy it would detract from factory black finish on the rest of the interior.

Bottom line. If it's going in a show car either learn to use a spray gun and HOK paints or pay to have it done. But if it's for daily use and just want something different do it yourself.

 

[SaphireBlue]

I finally got one guy to say ok but he COULDN'T guarantee it. So i did tell most of them I would even take off the pieces and bring them in. But this weekend I got my system put in and that wasn't fun to say the least becuase I couldn't figure out how to take the pieces off so I could put in the kit that makes the deck fit. So basically what I am asking is there a how to on removing the dash pieces so i can take them in to be painted?

edit: The guy who said he would said it would be about $125-$150, is that too much?

 

[BrantlyJ]

Originally posted by: SaphireBlue
I finally got one guy to say ok but he COULDN'T guarantee it. So i did tell most of them I would even take off the pieces and bring them in. But this weekend I got my system put in and that wasn't fun to say the least becuase I couldn't figure out how to take the pieces off so I could put in the kit that makes the deck fit. So basically what I am asking is there a how to on removing the dash pieces so i can take them in to be painted?

edit: The guy who said he would said it would be about $125-$150, is that too much?

umm, what was the problem with the deck?? they just pop in and out. no dash removal is needed. Price seems kinda low. For comparison $60 is an average price to have your tailight cover painted. And I think more effort would be put into those than your dash.

I think you should step back for a minute and think about what you want to do with the car. What dash pieces are you painting and what colors? Remember once you paint you can't go back to stock unless you buy new pieces. Like I said above, if it's not going to be a show car your probably wasting your money. Do a search. There are alot of nice paint jobs with a rattle can. Keliente and Crispy come to mind. It's not like your painting the exterior of the car. Just take your time, prep well and use Duplicolor prime and base and it will look awesome.
Or for $75 ship them to me and I'll paint it

As for dash removal there is a few hidden screws, I don't have it at my finger tips but I think teamneco.com has a how to or do a search. Otherwise a bit of time and patience will allow you to get the dash off by yourself

 

[SaphireBlue]

BrantlyJ, sorry I am not sure about how to quote but, The deck did just come out and the new popped right back in, but I had to buy this seperate cover to fill in the gaps and it would not go in without something on the dash having to come off, and since we couldnt figure it out we dremmeled off 2 little pieces on that kit thing and then it popped right in.