painting plastic oem panels?

has anyone ever sanded and painted factory interior plastic door panels? If so could you please explain procedure?is it better to just make a fiberglass mold?using f/g would be alot of work so i would prefer to just sand the plastic flat and prime/paint. any info greatly appreciated

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

I would also like to sand out the grain inn my panels to make it look like f/g. any one do that?

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

I do not know what to tell you about sanding the grain off of your plastic, but once you get that taken care of, this is the stuff you need to use to color the plastics. Check out SEM Spray

thanks for the link but i am painting the panels house of kolors tangelo orange, I am tryin to get a better idea of how to prep them for this.

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

you could start with adhesion promoter and then use high build primer to fill in the grain. then once it is smooth paint as normal.

that was my idea too, should i use alchol to clean the armor-all type substance off of them,then scuff them lightly with a grey scotch brite to give it some bite?

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

I've heard that armor all never comes off..... I don't know how true that is, but considering you want to sand off the grain anyway you might try something more aggressive like acetone.

It will "smear" the plastic, maybe!!, some of this stuff is pretty chemical resistant, I've used acetone on my bezels and it leaves them nice and clean no paint smear, none even comes off..... it's some kind of rubberized coating on the panels.

spmpdr wrote:

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that was my idea too, should i use alchol to clean the armor-all type substance off of them,then scuff them lightly with a grey scotch brite to give it some bite?

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No you should use a degreaser first before doing anything and as far as using high build that will be costly, I have always sanded the grain out.

krazy customs: what grit sandpaper do you use? wet or dry? please explain procedure. thank you

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

I was thinking wet 220wet then prime ,then400 then 600 wet and paint.

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

ok everyone heres an update to my project of painting plastic panels, the very first thing I did was clean them with a mix of hot water and mild soap, then I sanded them nearly completely flat with 150 grit on a d.a.. Next I sanded them with 220 grit on a d.a.. then I cleaned them with raw plastic cleaner,then i sprayed them with plastic adhesion promoter, next I primed them with 5 light coats of primer (the trick is to get the primer to build up but to adhere also if you put the primer on to thick it will lift). Next after I let the primer dry for a day or so I wet sanded them with 400 grit using guide coat so that I didnt go thru the primer, then I scuffed them with a scotch brite. they are now ready to paint , I will keep you updated on my progress. I am marbilizing them tomorrow I will post the steps to do this then.

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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-

heres the best way i have found. i wipe the panels down with prepsall its a cleaner you can get at any auto paint supplier. then i spray 2 to 3 heavy coats of a product called slick sand. its a very high build primer. then ill sand it with 80 to knock it down then 800 then i guide coat it. then wetsand with 1500. then you can shoot it with whatever paint you want. i mainly use house of color or ppg. but any automotive paint will work best. the only bad thing about slick sand is you have to use a respirator cause it can mess you up. and you either have to buy smaller quantities or get alot of stuff to paint cause it doesnt have a long shelf life.

Where can I find these 2 products prepsall and slick sand?

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Jayce

hydrodancer91 your advice about cleaning the panel with preps all was good but everything after that is just not the proper way to prepare a panel or anything else to be painted.First off you have to scuff the panel thoroughly with a scotch brite or at the least 600grit. Then you should use a plastic adhesion promoter,now you can apply a primer ,If you do not scuff the panel you have no mechanical bond wich is the most important part of the whole procedure!!!. Second you cannot sand with 80 grit then move all the way to 800 grit without leaving scratches in the panel,you have to do it in stages 80,220,320,400 guidecoat then wetsand 600 then scotch brite(optional). Then paint.I know there is more than one way to skin a cat, but i also believe in doing things the right way.

jinstaller1:I wrote a how to on this, on this forum its called look-a like fiberglass. It is long , i know but it is thorough . the way that hydrodancer is stating will work for the short term, but a year or so later the paint will come off. If you need any help on this subject you can pm me. I have been in the autobody and paint industry for overr 15 years and have worked with some of the best customisers out there




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-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-