I found where to get color matched paint, and at $12 per 1/2 oz. I'm just wondering how much paint and clear coat I'd need to do the interior (All handles, dash trim, and gauge cluster)?

No one? I'm just not sure how much a 1/2 oz covers, would I need like 2 oz's? Anyone? I KNOW somebody on here's painted their dash

Paintscratch.com has a 12.5 oz bottle of basecoat and clearcoat for $24.95 and $12.25 respectively. That should do the trick?

Alot of guys on here won't help you in this area. Some feel that painting the interior is a waste and that it doesn't look good. I am almost finished with changing the boring tan interior to black. It takes alot of time and patience. I used a flat black vinyl paint. It works great. It's like 8 bucks a can, but it's worth it. I have done everything but the dashboard and the carpet.

I think I'm one can number 12 now. I do everything in two coats of the black and two very light coats of the clearcoat. I don't want the glossy look.

i painted my center trims silver, my vents and window switches, took less than 1/2 can with 2 coats of paint. I decided not to clear coat it since i wasn't sure if i was going to stay with the silver. I might decide to go back to black or gunmetal. Silver is too light for our black interiors.

i used about the same, 10 cans of paint, 3-5 cans of clear

I just finished up almost everything. I'm gonna dye the carpet this weekend.

But you two are doing the entire interior, I'm doing only the dash trim. I suppose I'll just buy one can and get to it, then if I need more I'll order as needed

For only the dash trim I think one can will be enough.

i did my dash trim and the trim around my gauge cluster with only one can of duplicolor from autozone. and i still got some more left. careful with the clearcoat, if you dont put it on evenly it looks like garbage.

Now that I'm getting ready to do this I'm reviewing my expenses and procedure, and looking for some opinions.

I'm doing only interior dash trim and not sure if I should go with:

A) Covers 20 sqft

• 16 oz. Basecoat Paint Can $90.70
• 16 oz. Clear Coat Can $39.00
• 16 oz. Primer Can $27.00
• 1000 Grit Sandpaper $3

Total: $159.70

or

B) Covers 6 sqft

• 12.5 oz. Basecoat Spraycan $24.95
• 12.5 oz. Clearcoat Spraycan $12.25
• 12.5 oz. Primer Spraycan $11.50
• 1000 Grit Sandpaper $3

Total: $51.70

Is 6 square feet enough to cover dash trim?
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Procedure:

1. Remove Dash Trim
2. Clean Trim pieces with soap and water, then alcohol
3. Lightly Sand with 1000 Grit paper
4. Apply 2 coats of primer
5. (?) Sand again
6. Apply 3 coats of paint
7. Apply 2 coats of clear
8. Replace dash trim

Missing any important steps?

Also, would the spraycan be alright? Or should I attempt to get cans and access to an actual spray gun?

youre not missing and steps, but go with option B because if you dont get spray cans you will need to buy spray guns to lay down the paint. and for plastic interior trim, that would be a complete waste of money. i just baught a can of wheel paint from autozone, took everything out, sanded, washed, sprayed a few coats, let it dry, and put it all back together. no defects and its been quite some time (at least 6 months..i forget when i did it exactly). im a little puzzled as to why you want to spend $50+ for this? i spent like $10 lol and its been commented about by a few people. my favorite was my friend who goes "dude, that looks so good. it looks like it came stock!" but i guess youre goin for the color match to the outside of your car and cant find paint for any cheaper right?

oh and i didnt clean with alcohol...just soap and water. and i didnt use primer. or 1000 grit. i think i used like 300 or something. and i only used 1 coat of clear cause i didnt want it to be glossy. as long as you take your time it should come out nice. i spent about 2-3hours on mine.

and where exactly are you finding these color match spray cans? cause i have a few spots on my car i could use a little can of touch up for instead of hassling with my spray guns and buying quart cans of expensive paint.

www.paintscratch.com

I'm going with 1000 because I'm new to this and don't want to be too abrasive, besides the finer the better the paint will adhere. And you are correct, i"m color matching. I think I'll only go with 1 coat of clear too, too glossy would get on my nerves

yea using 1000 wouldnt hurt anything. good luck with it! and thanks for the link!

thanks! no prob.

wait are you painting trim pieces or the actual dash pieces etc? If you're doing trim why would you spend more than $20? It cost me under $30 to do a lot of work on the inside. Thats custom colored paint, primer, clear, sandpaper. Plus for your steps you need to wet sand. Not many people do it but it's a big help. You need to remove all the cleaners and such you've used on the trim so you need to wet sand. Also, if you're matching the trim to the rest of the trim then why are you worried about being too abrasive? You need to sand the entire piece anyway and paint it.

This is not a hard procedure. Honestly I've seen a lot of guys paint dashes on here and most look like ****. Some do come out nice. Not trying to be cocky or anything but mine came out fantastic. I took my time and if the piece didnt look right to me I started all over on the piece. You need to be patient and pay attention to what you're doing. Here's the pics of mine. Not color matched so it's a little different story. But the process should be very similar for a good finish.

I'm color matching so its gonna cost a little more, and I'm not sure what wet sanding is. But washing w/ alcohol or some other solvent will remove everything and I'm sanding afterwards so isn't that the same thing?

I"m painting what you painted, not sure what I'm doing for the A/C though, on the 95's I'd need to do a lot of detailed taping to get it right.

Yeah I don't know how if there is a plate that can come off on the MCC. Either way, alcohol isn't really that great for painting. Wet sanding is sanding in wet....you keep the pieces wet and the sand paper wet. It's not the same thing. IMO alcohol really doesn't do **** for cleaning. But it's your car and your paint you can do whatever procedure you want. Just remember if the trim isn't primed right the paint will not hold up well.

btw, I still think you're getting ripped off with paint. Even if you need color matched paint, you should not be paying $12 and $13 for primer and clear coat. Come on. They're def. ripping you off. They make it seem like for the color matched paint you need special primer and clear coat. That's bull. Buy the can of paint you need and go buy primer and clear coat at the store for more than half the price....

I know they aren't physically the same thing but the end result is: Pieces are cleaned of old solvents, and sanded.

But does primer and clear come in spray cans for half the price at the store? I'm presuming the price is high since they are all spray cans, and I'd go with that mainly for ease of use.

yes. basically all paint comes in spray can except for house and automotive paint. I believe....

you can get a spray can of primer for $3-$4.

wow, thats sexy. few questions for you...what **** is that? is the trim around the gauge cluster painted also? (im uncertain with the camera angle) did you paint the other a/c vent trims? and...
im not really a paint and body guy...mind sending me a PM about how u did it?

main dash pieces were painted (as seen), gauge trim was painted, door handle trim, ac vents trim and top ac vents as well. It's basically just painting. I wet sanded each piece, let everything dry, prime coats, wet sand, dry, paint coats, dry, clear coats. Nothing too hard. If you really need a more detailed walk through let me know.

:edit: Forgot, the shifter is a push down auto shifter. Cut and lowered too.

ok, i see. i would really like to do this. how long did it take from beginning to end? im a horrible painter, lol. my problem is im so freakin impatient when it comes to paint, i sit there and wait for it to dry so im touching it all over and its not dry...ugghhhh. and sanding sucks too...anyways, if you could, if you dont mind, a better walk through via pm or wutever would be great? if you wanted...

yeah no problem. Let me write it up and I'll send it as soon as I can.

If you make a nice thorough write up see if you can get it stickied, I wouldn't mind a copy as well, and I'm sure everyone could use it.

Well I sent a copy to MaximaSpd85. I wouldn't ask henry to sticky it or anything because it's not like people follow my method. Example, I told you that wet sanding is important in painting the dash but you decided against it. Most people have their own way. My method was more laid back and took more time but the results were flawless. Well except for one tiny spot that the paint is a darker mark, unnoticeable to any passengers.

But if you want to read the write up I did let me know. I'm sure MaximaSpd85 will send it to you.

It's not so much I decided against wet sanding, I'm just unfamiliar with it. I would really like a copy of your detailed method, and will more than likely follow it because your results are fantastic.

Wet sanding is basically the same as sanding but you keep things wet lol. I explained why in my write up but it basically creates and easy sand and produced a better smoothness for me.

wet sanding is the same thing as sanding. only difference is you dip the sand paper in water. this helps reduce the dust and keep what your sanding cleaner. it also helps to add a drop of soap to the water bucket. nothing too technical or hard to do.

i sent the write-up back to cdg2125 so he'll be able to distribute it to others. thanks once again for the write-up and i'll post pics when i finish. i bought all of the stuff today...we'll see how it turns out