Alright havent seen any detailed threads involving how to paint interior trim pieces so I'll give it a shot. I didnt want the stainless steel look as many others have but rather just a subtle upgrade so I dont have to stare at all black all the time. Heres the process.
First you will need the following:
-BullDog adhesision promoter
-Flex primer (imagine regular would work also)
-Auto Paint to match or whatever color you want
-Clear Top Coat
-3M scotchbrite fine pad
-Dawn dish washing soap
-Now detatch the parts you want and wash the hell outta them with the Dawn soap (or any grease cutting soap). Now repeat again.
-After you dry the piece off LIGHTLY use the scotchbrite pad to dull up the surface...you should not see any burs or your doing it too hard
-Now wash again and dry
-Mask off any parts you dont want painted and lay down your drop cloths
-Read the adhesive promoter directions and apply. I did 3 light coats and waited 30 minutes after last coat to prime. It will have a semi gloss look to it when its dry.
-Now spray 3-4 LIGHT coats of flex primer to your piece and let dry an hour before wet sanding.
-Wetsand with 400+ grit sandpaper LIGHTLY to smooth out high spots from primer buildup. You do not want to sand alot as it will take the texture out of the part. If you want a smooth part there is a longer process in which to do so I will explain later.
-After you wetsanded and are happy with the looks then use your auto paint or whatever color you want and spray light coats on. It depends on your paint color how many coats are needed so dont hesitate to spray a bunch on to get the cover you need.
-After your base coat has dried for at least 1-2 hours you can apply the clear top coat. Use care in only spraying light coats on this as it will run very easily. I usually put on around 3-5 coats or untill uniform.
Once dried install carefully. While this is not tested for durability and longetivity I do not think there will be any issues as I have spoke with alot of different painters on this and its the same process as I have my bumpers, handles, mirrors, ect painted and they have been exposed to the elements for over 4 years now with no problems.
If you are going for the smooth look then the process is the same for painting just different for prep work. You can either sand the parts first and work down to where the filler primer will fill in the voids or you can do this same process and wetsand the final clearcoat and then start over with basecoat again moving on to clear as the original clear would have filled in the texture and wetsanding it would have created a surface ready for another basecoat and so on. I like the texture look as it matches everything else so I went with that.
First you will need the following:
-BullDog adhesision promoter
-Flex primer (imagine regular would work also)
-Auto Paint to match or whatever color you want
-Clear Top Coat
-3M scotchbrite fine pad
-Dawn dish washing soap
-Now detatch the parts you want and wash the hell outta them with the Dawn soap (or any grease cutting soap). Now repeat again.
-After you dry the piece off LIGHTLY use the scotchbrite pad to dull up the surface...you should not see any burs or your doing it too hard
-Now wash again and dry
-Mask off any parts you dont want painted and lay down your drop cloths
-Read the adhesive promoter directions and apply. I did 3 light coats and waited 30 minutes after last coat to prime. It will have a semi gloss look to it when its dry.
-Now spray 3-4 LIGHT coats of flex primer to your piece and let dry an hour before wet sanding.
-Wetsand with 400+ grit sandpaper LIGHTLY to smooth out high spots from primer buildup. You do not want to sand alot as it will take the texture out of the part. If you want a smooth part there is a longer process in which to do so I will explain later.
-After you wetsanded and are happy with the looks then use your auto paint or whatever color you want and spray light coats on. It depends on your paint color how many coats are needed so dont hesitate to spray a bunch on to get the cover you need.
-After your base coat has dried for at least 1-2 hours you can apply the clear top coat. Use care in only spraying light coats on this as it will run very easily. I usually put on around 3-5 coats or untill uniform.
Once dried install carefully. While this is not tested for durability and longetivity I do not think there will be any issues as I have spoke with alot of different painters on this and its the same process as I have my bumpers, handles, mirrors, ect painted and they have been exposed to the elements for over 4 years now with no problems.
If you are going for the smooth look then the process is the same for painting just different for prep work. You can either sand the parts first and work down to where the filler primer will fill in the voids or you can do this same process and wetsand the final clearcoat and then start over with basecoat again moving on to clear as the original clear would have filled in the texture and wetsanding it would have created a surface ready for another basecoat and so on. I like the texture look as it matches everything else so I went with that.