SethWillits Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I've decided to paint the interior of my car. It's already gutted, and I've chipped off all of the sound insulation and junk, so now I just need to prep, primer, and paint. I searched the forums for information on this and surprisingly I only found one thread from four years ago. I have a few specific questions though and would appreciate some answers from those who have done this before. 1) The surfaces left are a mixture of some kind of factory base coat, some areas are painted, and some are entirely unpainted. I'm not looking for a perfect showroom job, so I'm not sanding this thing down to bare metal. How far down am I sanding this thing? The best info I've found is just a light scuff over every surface using something like 200 grit. Suggestions? 2) What kind of cleaner/prep solvent should I use? There are sooooo many kinds, so some recommendations of specific ones would be nice. 3) What kind of primer should I use? I've seen several different kinds (epoxy based, etching primers etc). There's no rust and a mixture of glossy paint and some flat base coat. What would stick to that? 4) Finally, I'm looking to do as low maintenance as possible, so it sounded like taking my time with some spray cans ought to do the trick just dandy. Anyone who's done this, could you recommend something? I think I'm going for an off-white/gray semi-gloss. I read about a +1 for Rustoleum Appliance Paint. Sounds interesting. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bark3rd Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Dont see why to bother with primer, I just vaccumed and wiped out with damp rag. Then sprayed this stuff straight on, works great, doesnt scuff and the "hammered" finish hides imperfections. Its an Eclipse dude.... http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanSTi Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 You could also use POR15 and apply it with a foam brush. It's more durable than paint and it'll adhere to just about anything. And you don't have to worry about overspray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosm3os Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Prep, schmrep. Vacuum, hit with a wet rag, prime the places that get lots of wear and the spots with that weird goo, and hit with 5 light coats of paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bark3rd Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Prep, schmrep. Vacuum, hit with a wet rag, prime the places that get lots of wear and the spots with that weird goo, and hit with 5 light coats of paint. Exactly, especially the schmrep. Get yourself a cheap disposable respirator at Home Depot too, you dont want to be inside the car inhaling that stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Its an Eclipse dude.... But it's mine. I don't want to drive around in a paint-chipping junker I'll be cleaning and masking off bits tomorrow. Cleaning isn't going to be fun. This sucker has had way too many accidental rallying excursions over the last 10 years. Should be painting by this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bark3rd Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Is this your street car too? Pics pls, TSIs are kewl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 Is this your street car too? Pics pls, TSIs are kewl It still has valid registration, but it definitely won't pass smog again at the end of this year, and having no door windows limits where I can safely park it. The Talon was my dad's street & track car which he did something like 40 events on while I changed all the brake pads and took pressure and temperature settings. I started driving it a few years ago but every time I took it out something broke I just had the engine rebuilt because it went kablooey (still cheaper than starting with a fresh car, and I don't wanna chip the paint on my Evo X ), so now that I sunk the funds into making it mechanically sound, I need to make it a bit prettier. It looks pretty much the same as it does here for the moment: http://gregwillits.ws/racing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosm3os Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Is this your street car too? Pics pls, TSIs are kewlIt looks pretty much the same as it does here for the moment:http://gregwillits.ws/racing Dude . . . it's done. It's a racecar for cryin out loud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bark3rd Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Neat car. If your seat is FIA and expired you may need to add a seat back brace. Check out the way I did mine here (scroll to 2nd page of pics) http://www.lemcomotorsports.com/svm/g84/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted February 14, 2011 Author Share Posted February 14, 2011 The car is painted. Just have to wait for the paint to really dry and shuffle some hanging wires around to do a few tiny touch up spots. It looks good. Once I get the new seats and belts in, I think it'll look great. Now I have just have to figure out the stickers. Pretty much the same sticker design has been on there for almost 10 years so the paint under the stickers is much newer looking. I'll have to come up with a design that covers most of that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Finally took some pictures. New seat and belts are in. Need to make a new mount for the passenger side seat. Didn't have time to tackle painting all of bits around the shifter, or the doors (lots of thick black glue on them I have to pull off first). Compared to some pictures from several years ago... And some point while working on it, after having stripped out 15 lbs of sound deadening material.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bark3rd Posted May 25, 2011 Share Posted May 25, 2011 Looks legit to me man! Might want to put the pin back in the fire bottle though.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted May 25, 2011 Author Share Posted May 25, 2011 Heh, good eye. I think it was driven on the street with the pin hanging out for a couple years. The fire bottle is actually ... 6? 7? years old now. Getting a new one. (The car hasn't been used in anything other than HPDE a handful of times during those years, so it wasn't like we were actually missing anything necessary.) New paint, new firebottle, new seats, new belts, new jack, new jack stands, new tools, new engine, new helmet, new suit… shoulda just bought a new car. It'll be nice to run this thing without it breaking every weekend. Should be back on track next month. It's been a dang year and a half. Can't wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spruill242 Posted June 25, 2011 Share Posted June 25, 2011 Did you end up just using rattle cans? Turned out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 Yup. I decided not to take any chances, so I went the long route of sanding it everywhere first with those super fine squishy 3M sanding blocks, cleaned it really well, then spent far longer than I estimated to mask it, primered, and painted. Except for a few spots where the overspray settled and made it a little rough to the touch, it looks as good as I had hoped. The outside of the car, is another story. There's 7(?) year old vinyl stickers on there. Not sure what to do about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbird222 Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 The black goo that you have on the inside of the doors comes out much easier if you spray it with penetrating oil like PB blaster or WD40. Spray it on and wipe it off, it'll take you about 20-30 mins per door but it'll be as good as new. Moti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SethWillits Posted June 27, 2011 Author Share Posted June 27, 2011 I'll try that, thanks. I've also heard using dry ice to freeze it will do the trick. Or some trick anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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