glassing dash and door panels

Well, I believe that you can just sand and then primer, the primer when painted should have the shiny look of the outside. You could also fiberglass but it is much more work, much more sanding and ususally when you fiberglass you have to use body filler as well.

Matt

hey 94 check out what i found ezridr on this board helped me out huge and i wanted to pass it on. its not as simple as i originally thought because you need some tools ive verified all this info at a body shop but you need an air compressor, gravity feed spray gun and a D/A sander, i had no idea what these things were but i found them all on ebay and I can get all of them after shipping for around 260-300 so theres a little investment but i plan on doing this for some of my friends and chargeing them so i can pay myself back for buying these things. its good to just go into a body shop or custom auto shop and talk to someone. but as i understand it you spray on the FILLER PRIMER (thats what its called) by using the spray gun and air compressor. then you use the D/A sander which is also powered by the air compressor, and do the sanding from there and then wet sand it but im not sure if you wet sand by hand (i havent figured out the difference between what wet sanding is and what sanding is) well after you have the piece all sanded down is when you take it to a body shop to actually paint.  theres alot that goes into painting the pieces the right way so im going to pay a little bit to make sure its done right. here is part of the message from ezridr-

Well first of all, you have to properly prep your pieces by scuffing them and sanding them so that the product will properly adhere to them. Then you have to fill in areas. All of the materials you will need to use require a catylyst (hardener) so you have to mix enough so that you don't waste any by it "kicking" too fast before you can apply it. As for the spray on stuff, you will need an HVLP gravity feed spray gun (not cheap) and you will need some 2k filler/primer (basically it is spray on body filler, kind of like what you called the putty that you bought, only it is in more of a liquid form) when it hardens you will have to D/A (using a d/a air sander) starting with 400 and working your way up to 1500, then wet  sand it from there with 2000 or 2500.

Hey there, what i would do is get a spray gun and load it with some polyester primer.  Find something to test spray to get a feel for how thick it is once you mix it properly, and watch how it spreads.  This stuff goes on thick, and spreads out on its own.  It sands real easy too, and is thick enough that it will fill in any grain marks or what not. 

      Then, spray the part you want to smooth out, obviously clean it real well with some form of silicone remover/degreaser (i think 3m makes a type of this stuff, we use it at my shop and it works well) so that the primer will stick.  Let it dry for a few hours, and then hit it with some 220 and a sanding block.  Finish sand it with 400, dont go any higher than 400. 

     Tack rag the piece(s) and then paint.  I think you can get paint that has an additive that keeps the paint flexable, so it doesnt crack and look all amaturish.  The stuff i have talked about can be found at an automotive paint  supply shop. 

      You also must invest in some rubber or latex gloves, mixing pails, stir sticks, and the apropriate solvents.  Also, get a resperator!  You can get 3M disposables for $20 or so here in Boise, so i assume it is the same elsewhere.   I cant stress this enough, you must wear the mask, saftey glasses and some gloves as the stuff you will deal with is toxic. 

All the above is how i probably would go about doing what you want to do.

There isnt much need to invest in all that equipment. You can purchase filler primer in spray cans, and hand sand your pieces. It takes a little longer to hand sand, but you can get nice results, and you dont have to worry about burning through your plastic . I would wet sand slightly after you paint, paint again, wet sand again, clearcoat, then wax with a normal car wax, if you do it right, you can get stunning results. If you want the paint to match your exterior, Dupli Color makes just about every auto color available. I know this sounds low-tech, and maybe even a little ghetto, but it works and I guarantee if you do it right, no one will be able to tell the difference.

Thanks for adding in the adhesion promoter bigunner1.  Forgot that. :)

Just as bigunner said, 400 is the highest due to the paint not being able to stick.  If you prep somthing, sand it with a super fine grit paper like above 400, and then take it to a paint shop to get it painted, they are going to re-sand the item with 400 due the reason mentioned above. All that hard work goes to waste.  Good luck with your project and be sure to get some pics!

bigunner1 wrote:

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hey linkin, i am a painter in a body shop and pinoyl is right, for sanding the primer, 400 is the highest you want to go. the reason for this is because paint wont stick well to any finer of a scratch. if youy were to sand you primer with lets say 1500 or 2000 grit paper, the paint would almost blow off when the windows were open, well maybe not but it wouldn't stick well at all. andas for the soft rubbery pieces of you dash, all you need to do is spray them first with a product called "plastic adhesion promoter". you can find the stuff at a paint supply store or hardware store. the key to this stuff is waiting a half hour after applying it before you spray the paint or primer. this stuff actually opens up the pores in the plastic to allow the paint to "bite in" and stick. trust me i swear by this stuff. i painted the dash on my truck twice so far and had no problems. the soft parts and the hard parts. the main thing to watch is the sanding of the primer, because it is soft and sands really easy, its easy to get ripples or finger grooves in it that will show up big time when the part is painted and shiny. use a block of some sort as much as possible. 

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im just wantting to make sure i get a smooth glossy  finish like that on the out side of the car. so i guess i will wet sand in between paint coats someone tell me would this be right

prime-paint-wetsand-paint-wetsand-paint-clear-clear-clear

i dont think a paintshop will do that for a resonable price so i will probably want to paint my self but ive never had any experience would using a gravity feed spray gun be better than using a spray can?

ive got all my tools and im going to buy the primer filler now but what kinda adhesior promoter , primer, paint and clear should i use do you guys suggest a certin brand? oh and what stuff should i use to clean the pieces and whats the process on that i was just using soap and water then a degreaser is that right,