stairmasterman911

so i've jumped off the diy cliff into painting my rear center console and batwing. the removal of the rubber coating is a severe beating, but what i'm wondering for anyone who has done this job is how perfect does the removal have to be? i used a razor blade holder to get the bulk off, then used 180 grit sandpaper, then 1000 grit with water. it's pretty darn smooth, so i'm thinking it's ready for the plastic primer coat. then color, then clear coat, and home free! sounds easy if you say it fast! my next looming fear is putting it all back in the car... will post photos soon. thanks

stairmasterman911

nobody? nuthin?

Goldenwarrior1

Ask Eric from Bumper Plugs, he may be willing to answer a few questions from a DIY. Having painted a number of plastic motorcycle fairings and other items it sounds like you are ready for paint. Some plastics will require an adhesive promoter but I am not sure what they use on the console. Thermoplastic would be my guess. Post pics when you are done and let us know how it turns out.

stairmasterman911

will do for sure. thanks.

RPMulli

I refinished mine last spring and it used a power sander (200 grit I think) to get off the rubberized coating. I think I hand sanded it down to 800 grit before primer/paint. I wish I went down to 1500 because I see some fine marks in the clear coat after buffing. I may need to sand the clearcoat again.

dotframe

I did my ashtray as a test and it turned out great. Don't recall the grit but I sanded until all evidence of rubberized coating was gone. Then after several coats of color / sanding / color / sanding I did several coats of clear and it looks great. Now I just need to spend the time to do the rest.

sempaipaul

what kind of paint are you guys using for this?

What kind of clearcoat?

Thanks,
Paul

smorris

Did mine a few months ago... holding up perfectly with daily use and glad that I took the time to do it!

Sanded all the way down to bare plastic, which you have to or the paint will "crinkle"... built up with Sandable primer, several coats of base coat followed by multiple coats of clear coat. Some very slight orange peel, but VERY satisfied with how it came out, and EXTREMELY satisfied with the amount invested!!
Used the "top of the line" paints available from any auto parts store, dupli-color color, match.

dsowen

For those of you with black cars, did you paint it gloss black? Isn't glossy black a fingerprint magnet? Or did you choose a satin black? I'd like to do this diy myself someday, but it's well down my project list.

soverystout

For those looking for a rear center console to paint, I will have an extra one early in the new year. I ordered an aluminum look console fro Gert @ Carnewal. With the better exchagne rate and a great price, it was half the price of what Suncoast charges for the same item.

feds

I was looking into leather refinishing and it seems that vinyl and plastic dash refinishing are in the same category so I thought I'd share. There's a great website www.vinylproleather.com that has a wealth of information on refinishing leather, vinyl and plastic. They offer mostly SEM products. There are some good tutorials/videos on the website. If you search you'll find that most people are using SEM to refinish their BMW, VW, and Porsche interior plastics and leathers. SEM Classic Coat is for leather/vinyl but it only comes in certain colors. SEM Sure Coat is for leather/vinyl and can be mixed to match a custom color. SEM Color Coat is for use on plastics. They can be applied via foam brush, aerosol, airbrush, of hvlp. They have different spray cleaners similar to Prepsol and also have adhesion primers. They also have a spray to help flatten the look of the finish if the finish doesn't come out matte enough.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to go this route in refinishing my speaker replacement grills to match my Boxster red interior and also to refinish my steering wheel, shift boot, and the tops of my seat belt ports (cabriolet). By the way, the original speaker grills are factory sprayed over black plastic, they are not Boxster Red plastic. When they sprayed over the grills they also sprayed over the foam. I've been debating to spray or not to spray since the spray will tend to cover the foam and may muffle the sound slightly. Just sharing my observations.

feds

It looks like dcdrechsel (Dave) went the SEM and airbrush route. Check out this thread:

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-foru...-up-paint.html

feds

Overview on SEM flexible paints:

http://youtu.be/0rtbH08A9xw

feds

Has anyone tried using an air eraser to remove the paint from the console? Given the paint chips so easily, it may be a good method for paint removal using baking soda. If it isn't too aggressive, it could prossibly leave the original texture of the plastic unlike sanding.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/abetching.aspx

SSST

I used the SEM paints on the leather covered horseshoe. I was a little nervous, but it turned out great and still looks and feels like leather.