Hello all,

I have an 83 zx coupe. Red interior. I would like to paint the strut tower panels as the red ones that are in there are slightly faded. Do any of you have some pointers on how to proceed with prepping and finding the correct color to use? Do I use paint or some type of dye? I have not tried this before and am wondering whether or not to try to buy new ones or not..

Thanks,

Colin

 

Since those are just hard plastic pretty much any durable paint will do. Just so long as you prep them up good. As far as color choice goes, thats going to be a little tougher. And you've also got to decide between flat, semi gloss or full on gloss. Your best bet is to experiment with different paints on scrap until you find something you like and then go with that. If it were vinyl then I'd say go with a dye. Dyeing plastic isn't so easy cause if you don't do it right then the color wont come out uniform. The towers dont flex alot and they arent in constant contact with your hands so a special interior paint wouldn't be neccessary like if you were painting the dash. I know there are a couple people on here that have painted up some interior panels so you can get some input from them too. I KNOW WildmaN has gone crazy on his interior so I'm sure he can give you a couple pointers too. Good luck.

 

There are special paints and finishes available to do what you want. From the common vinyl paint spray packs to the special commercial stuff used to do upholstery.

 

I used Dupli-color on my plastic interior parts. And they look like factory. And I just lightly cleaned them off with Simple Green, and a mild brush, and a sponge. And they have all kinds of color to choose from. It wasn't too hard for me to figure out what colors would work best. Let me know if you need anything else. And I will try and help you out.

 

Prep is everything then paint quality is next to it.

You must totaly remove all surface residues like oil, dust etc so use a high quality detergent.

Here in Canada we have TSP (Tri-Sodium-Phosphate) which is a high strength and very potent detergent. Use it only with rubber gloves because its highly agitative. First try a bit on an inconspicious spot to judge a reaction. If it reacts beadly with the plastic surface then atleast you haven't used it all over yet. Other then that you can use any high quality detergent, (maybe even a good dish detergent) but again do a spot test first and then proceed if all is good.

Rinse the parts well afterwards and get all soap off before totaly drying. I would run it over with a tacky cheese cloth before painting to get any settled dust off it. Overall, patience is the key. Take your time and it will turn out well.

 

Use a paint with a Satin finish, as it will look the most natural. Gloss makes it too obvious that it was painted. I found that Burgundy was a closer match than "red", and Walmart happened to have plenty of Satin Burgundy on hand.

 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I guess I will wait until it gets a little warmer to start on the interior panel painting..

Colin

 

Try SEM color coat vinyl/plastic paint. It works really well and covers good. You can get it at most auto paint supply shops. Use "Napa Red" #15273. It is pretty much a perfect mach for the red in 280ZXs'.

Aaron