Painting interior parts

[budhayes3]

One of our members might be willing to trade his center console mounting bracket for my cup holder that mounts in the dash. The only problem is that he has the darker graphite interior and my cup holder is the lighter grey. He said that he'll still do the trade if the cup holder can be painted. I know it's do-able, I've seen it in magazines before, and that's how the factory colors the dash pads. Just wondering if anybody has any words of wisdom that might help. Thanks in advance!

[J-rod]

Ok, so this isn't exactly the same thing but I painted the plastic cover that goes on top of the engine (has the little Vortec symbol on the front) to match the exterior of my truck. It's held up well, but of course it doesn't exactly see much "wear" (like cups and bottles ) ... it just kinda sits there. I've also painted the factory covers on my cell phone as well as those of a few friends. Mine has chipped on a couple of the corners from my goofy tail dropping it in the parking lot, but from just normal use there really isn't any wear on the paint to be found. For all of these I used automotive paint (in the aerosol cans ... from Walmart or Autozone, etc). A few thin coats of base and two good coats of clear coat. I think it'd work out great for him! Just be sure the surface is good and clean and maybe even take some light sandpaper to it just to give the paint something to stick to, but honestly, from my experience with the other stuff, think it'd last a long while. Worst case, he repaints it every couple years ... no biggie.

 

One other thought ... if he's gonna paint it a darker color, perhaps some spray-on bedliner stuff would be nice (the aerosol can type)! I have change in the bottom of mine all the time and this would keep it from making so much noise. Not to mention it would give the cup holder a lot more grip on the cups and stuff that are put in it. Just an idea!

 

Oh, still not done, LOL! Krylon makes a line of paint that is specifically for painting plastics that do some bending and flexing ... it's supposed to remain a bit more pliable than normal paint which would crack with too much movement. Course your cup holder had better not be bending or you've got bigger problems than matching the color! Anyway, I'd go with the automotive paint but just in case ya need it, the other is Krylon Fusion. I bought some at Walmart for some 3-wheeler fenders. Ok, I hush now.

[carguru]

Go to one of the automotive paint stores that sells a good quality automotive paint. I picked up some PPG Plastic Adhesion Promoter and SEM plastic paint and satin finish clear coat (these came in spray cans) to paint my steering wheel audio control trim piece. First you make absolutely sure that you degrease the plastic well. I washed the piece in Dawn dish liquid, dried it , and then wiped it down with alcohol. Then lightly sand the piece and wipe it down with alcohol followed by a tack cloth. Then I coated the part with the Adhesion promoter, then a couple color coats, then a couple of clear coats. Hope that helps.

[Shaners]

One of our members, LarryE, has painted alot of his interior parts. Check out his website...

 

LarryE's home page

[mcreyaufmiller]

PPG. Find a PPG store, PPG is one of the main suppliers for paint to Chevrolet. They have all of the rewuired special stuff you will need to do the job and can also give you some pointers. PM me, I am not far, I can help with the project if you like.

 

Mike