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anyone paint the plastic dash pieces?

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Old May 9, 2006 | 06:14 PM
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anyone paint the plastic dash pieces?

im looking to do this...i want to do it navy blue but the only navy blue paint they have is supposed to be used on the body, its not wheel paint or that "metallic texture" stuff...just wondering if this matters and if the paint would chip off the plastic if i used it?

im also thinking of doing it white...since my car is white...not sure what would go good with tan interior...any input is apreciated!
Old May 9, 2006 | 06:26 PM
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Not to be a ****, which im sure i will come off as, but a painted dash, a fart can muffler, and 7 intakes and all of a sudden your hangin out with civics and talkin bout how you are so much faster than that new F430 ferrari that it wouldnt even be worth your time to race them...
Old May 9, 2006 | 06:33 PM
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There are more than a few on this forum with painted dashes. And not all of them look that bad...
Old May 9, 2006 | 07:12 PM
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Old May 9, 2006 | 07:15 PM
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^^ thats vinyl paint and thats a picture from probably a year ago
Old May 9, 2006 | 07:25 PM
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yea, i think they can look better than dash kits as long as they're a reasonable color. and not a sloppy job, of course.
Old May 9, 2006 | 07:41 PM
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Originally Posted by rome06

That is actually pretty good looking, i retract my previous statement color and quality depending.
Old May 9, 2006 | 09:35 PM
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don't buy any with the plastic clearings... or be ready to have them crack due to summer weather... cause thats what happened to mine the area with the clock's dash piece has been cracked... I"ll be takin it off soon
Old May 9, 2006 | 11:49 PM
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I recently did a 5 spd conversion and could only find the shifter trim piece in a wood color ( my Maxima interior is black). I simply sanded the plastic to get rid of the gloss, smoothed it out, and spray painted it with some high-heat metal paint my dad had in the garage. after a few coats and some steel wool, it matches the dash near perfectly.
Old May 10, 2006 | 04:28 AM
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alright, thanks to all of you who replied...but my question was left unanswered. haha. can i used the paint that is ment for the body of the car on the dash? or will it chip away eventually?

and rome06, that is the exact dash i saw that inspired me to do it to my own car. so if its yours, bravo!
Old May 10, 2006 | 04:34 AM
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Originally Posted by kcryan
Not to be a ****, which im sure i will come off as, but a painted dash, a fart can muffler, and 7 intakes and all of a sudden your hangin out with civics and talkin bout how you are so much faster than that new F430 ferrari that it wouldnt even be worth your time to race them...
i saw you said you retract this statement, but it still angers me so im going to say this: im not going to put a fart can on my car, for one...its an automatic. last time i checked, you cant have 7 intakes. i dont even have one (aftermarket that is.) my car is pretty stock. and i wanted to do something that would make it a little more customized and not something stupid that would have no point because its automatic(such as performance). this seemed to fit right in there with my needs. so now thanks to rome06, you know it can look good. that is all. ive vented

EDIT: oh yea, and i would NEVER hang out with any type of POS honda. (POS=piece of ****) i fucckin hate them with a passion.
Old May 10, 2006 | 09:44 AM
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I did it and I've got a pic on my cardomain page. I think it looks allright. I've only had it for a month and I want to get an aluminum dash kit. The paint looks ok, but a little tacky.
Old May 10, 2006 | 10:56 AM
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i think it looks pretty good. but still...CAN I USE THE DUPLICOLOR TOUCH UP PAINT MENT FOR USE ON THE BODY? OR WILL IT JUST CHIP AWAY AFTER A LITTLE WHILE?
Old May 10, 2006 | 11:05 AM
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I love mine, soapy water, wet sand, more soapy water, 2-3 coats and it looks great. I taped off the areas i wanted to stay black.

and it matches the XM and good 'ol blinky


Old May 10, 2006 | 11:19 AM
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how come no one ever paints their air conditioner peices? just take it off and take the face off, and cover teh numbers...

nookiemax, i will say your does look real good! nice job man
Old May 10, 2006 | 12:20 PM
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bc its a pain
Old May 10, 2006 | 12:59 PM
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I painted the ac part. Just have to cover all the little holes and renumber the fan.

So, with the duplicolor. I would imagine it would work. For this kind of interior painting, all paints kindof end up the same. I used a normal duplicolor spray paint on mine and then clear coated it. It all depends on how you prep the surface to determine how well it will stand up.
You seem really upset that no one knows if the duplicolor auto paint will work. If you're really that fed up with it. Shell out the .99 and buy a can of regular spray paint. Probably alot easier than posting over and over again on an internet forum.
Old May 10, 2006 | 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by willard00
alright, thanks to all of you who replied...but my question was left unanswered. haha. can i used the paint that is ment for the body of the car on the dash? or will it chip away eventually?

and rome06, that is the exact dash i saw that inspired me to do it to my own car. so if its yours, bravo!
lol yeah thats my dash thanks....use the vinyl paint, it hasnt chipped away or anything in my car in almost 2 years that ive had the car!
Old May 10, 2006 | 04:33 PM
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If you're gonna freak out that no one knows what to use just try it. You talk about doing something custom so do it. Being custom is really about doing it your way. Paint is paint. Whatever you get might chip depending on how you prime the surface before and the quality of your painting. Either way its gonna chip sooner or later so just use whatever you have. I have duplicolor on my calipers...if it took over a year to get a chip on those Im sure your dash pieces would hold up ok. Just try something.

-and I believe everyone knows what POS means haha
Old May 10, 2006 | 04:42 PM
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buy vinyl and plastic paint... its called SEM or something like that cant remember exactly... u can find it online and its like $7 a can... u buy sandfree primer, paint and clear coat... i did mine 2 years ago and it still looks perfect... i did mine silver... im not too far from u either so i could help u w/ it too if u can wait til june
Old May 10, 2006 | 05:32 PM
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im gunna do it this weekend if i can decide on a color that i think would look good with my tan interior.

and i wasnt upset that noone knew about the paint. i was upset that noone was even addressing my question. but now people have. so thank you people!
Old May 10, 2006 | 06:12 PM
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You've got tan interior huh? Thats tough to match. I think you should go with a Wood grain dash. I'm not sure many other things match with tan...What color's were you thinking?
Old May 10, 2006 | 07:22 PM
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there was that one guy who did gator skin! that might match tan
Old May 11, 2006 | 05:02 AM
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Originally Posted by ManualMaxima
there was that one guy who did gator skin! that might match tan
hahahaha how bout a nice gucci print

any decent paint will work pretty well, if you want, duplicolor makes a plastic primer, spray some of that after a wetsand, let dry and I'm pretty sure any paint will hold up.

My buddy has a tan interior sentra, we used a metalic gunmetal paint on his trim pieces, looks pretty good.

One thing i like about paint, you can do whatever you want, I did the little cover on the steering wheel cruise controls and the trim for the dome light, you can't buy a dash kit with those peices.

One more word of advise. If you use a clear coat, make sure to give the paint a good long time to dry, otherwise it'll be somewhat sticky and you'll see the finger prints of everyone who touches the sh*t.

good luck man, post some pics when your done
Old May 11, 2006 | 01:23 PM
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Crappy old school pics, but you get the point.



Old May 11, 2006 | 05:49 PM
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Hey is that silver or charcoal colored paint? I have a black intertior and was thinking of doing carcoal pieces.. Any input?
Old May 12, 2006 | 07:52 AM
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well, my cars white..so i was thinking maybe white to go with my tan? but then i got to autozone and i saw other colors and i thought maybe burgundy? or they make a paint called 'metal specks' that shines in the sunlight and i was thinking of doing it either dark red or forest green in that kind of paint, but then i saw a somewhat shiney navy blue color that i liked. basically, i have no ****ing clue and its driving me up a wall. lol

what do you guys think would go good?
Old May 12, 2006 | 08:43 AM
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thats pretty tight i wouldnt paint mine tho
Old May 12, 2006 | 08:59 AM
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White will look good but it is the hardest color to get an even coat and to keep clean. You should probably do every single plastic peice in the car white or else it will just stick out.

Most people do silver just because thats a possible oem look. Good luck with the project.
Old May 12, 2006 | 09:18 AM
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i did mine with about 5 layers of paint and 10 layers of clear. paint it silver with a black interior makes the interior look really nice.
Old May 12, 2006 | 09:24 AM
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I have a tan interior and bought a "wood" (fake) dash kit and it looks pretty nice. It's hard to tell it's fake unless you look closely. Dark Burlwood (OEM match) from customenterprise.com - I also got the matching door sills and door inserts and it looks pretty nice overall. I've gotten alot of compliments.

If you want to see pics, check out this page...
http://www.customenterprise.com/view.../vts/design017
There are pics inside the sections for dask kits, door sills and door inserts.
Old May 12, 2006 | 12:58 PM
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eh..im not a big fan of wood grain...ide rather just do it a solid color.
Old May 12, 2006 | 01:46 PM
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Originally Posted by Cdg2125
Hey is that silver or charcoal colored paint? I have a black intertior and was thinking of doing carcoal pieces.. Any input?
Graphite. It looks good with black.
Old May 12, 2006 | 03:16 PM
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Originally Posted by willard00
well, my cars white..so i was thinking maybe white to go with my tan? but then i got to autozone and i saw other colors and i thought maybe burgundy? or they make a paint called 'metal specks' that shines in the sunlight and i was thinking of doing it either dark red or forest green in that kind of paint, but then i saw a somewhat shiney navy blue color that i liked. basically, i have no ****ing clue and its driving me up a wall. lol

what do you guys think would go good?
i would just leave it black. white imo will look like crap and burgundy would look even worse. i think black is your best bet, but that is just my opinion.
Old May 13, 2006 | 08:48 PM
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Lilaclucymaxima; are you happy with the graphite? I've been really sketch about painting because I dont want it to look like s*** afterwards (too much work to change back). I'm really stuck between silver and graphite.
Old May 13, 2006 | 10:21 PM
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I did mine, and need to finish it up(I still have the AC left to paint, and remold my screen) and then I am finished. I love it, DON'T buy that cheap Auto Zone/Advanced Paint, or Walmart Auto Paint. Either look online and order the paint, or go to a local paint shop, and buy SEM paint and primer. All of SEMs paint colors are OEM colors for different car companies, that match perfect. Clean all of your pieced with soapy water, let dry, spray LIGHT EVEN coats, do 1 primer, sand with some 1200, then another then spray a LIGHT EVEN coat letting dry for atleast 20 min. Then putting about 6 LIGHT coats, and you should be set, don't go heavy, it will orange peel, time will be your best friend. Then clear if you would like. Stay with SEM, or if you can find a Sherwin Williams Auto Paint, they can usually mix ANY custom color and place it in an aerosal can for you.

I have black interior and I went with the SEM Metallic Titanium, you can't tell a difference between my dance and my buddies '05 G35. Almost a perfect match. It took me a month and a half and about 450 different colors before I found the one I wanted. Good luck man!

To everyone that said paint is all the same, please don't post comments like that. Every type of paint is different, made to be layed differently, and made of different pigments. You can not use Laquacer based paints on plastic, it will melt it. But you can use it on metal.

As well to everyone that said it looks cheap, next time your in Chattanooga, let me know, I bet my silver looks just as stock as your black does.
Old May 13, 2006 | 11:23 PM
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Originally Posted by Cdg2125
Lilaclucymaxima; are you happy with the graphite? I've been really sketch about painting because I dont want it to look like s*** afterwards (too much work to change back). I'm really stuck between silver and graphite.
I am very happy at the way it came out. I used duplicolor graphite wheelpaint, and two layers of clearcoat. IMO, the silver is too flashy. The graphite has a much more oem-look. I'll eventually post better pictures of it after my 5-spd swap.
Old May 14, 2006 | 03:59 PM
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Ok well I think I'll test some type of graphite paint then. Duke if it looks so great post some pics and let us see what it looks like.
Old May 16, 2006 | 02:56 PM
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alright ive been thinkin of doin my dash graphite with the tan interior...i very roughly cut out Lilaclucymaxima's dash and pasted over mine...like i said its VERY rough. lol but what do you think? i dont think it looks bad:

Old May 16, 2006 | 03:16 PM
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I think it'll look great with the tan. Geez, tan interiors are so difficult to match a color to.



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