Colouring the dash etc.

Allan

Allan

Ex. Club Member
Well, my car got smacked from behind a couple months back and would have been an insurance right off....

...if i had got the guys details, but im an idiot and never saw any damage until opened my boot. Anyway the point i will probably never be able to sell this car so it doesn't really have to stay in its original state now.

How do i go about colouring the dash like red/black and doing the air vents a separate colour? Is it difficult, do you paint them? What sort of paint.

I really don't have a clue where to start as im just starting to get into this modding stuff :p
 
I've seen people spray there dashes but after a while the paint can wear off. i'd recommend spraying in then using laquer to strengthen the paint.

I beleive you may have to remove the dash from the car which can be a nightmare.
 
Yeh i was pretty much prepared and resigned to having to remove it cause if not i would be guranteed to make a mess of it.

I just wasn't sure what paint to use, if it was to be sprayed and is there a cheap Spray gun(?) to paint it with?

As you can tell i really don't have a clue but would like to know how and if there are any guides anywhere on taking the dash out that would also be great. :)
 
ive done all mine and the centre bit just screws then pulls out. the air blower bits just clip off the centre bit aswell (well my pre facelift k11 did) ill get sum pics up later on for ya!
 
Cheers, i have a 96 k11 btw ! :)

CAn you also give me info on what kind of paint to use and how you painted it?? :)
 
i'll post my interior up later mate

you need to wet and dry the things you are painting to give the paint a key to bond with.

first i started with plastic primer as normal primer could crack or flake off as its getting hot then cold like in summer especially.

then onto paint whatever colour u want. i used rover flame red

then i laquared it to make it shiny and more hard wearing.
all the paint i bought from halfords (3 cans for £10)

remember not to rush, a lot of lights coats or you will get runs , also make sure the paint has dried between each coat , especially with the laquer as sometimes it can react if its not dry and look a mess!
hope this helps
rich
 
yip i did mine like rich even used the same paint deal lol, but i just used plasic primer with laqure. ill go do pics now, need to charge batrey anyhow! gis 5!
 
Sounds good guys, cheers for the replys. So is the dash difficult to remove? How long from start to finish did it take you?
 
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b311/R05_ltd_/Project carMi/ModifiedDash.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b311/R05_ltd_/Project carMi/Dvdscreen.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b311/R05_ltd_/Project carMi/DSC00168.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b311/R05_ltd_/Project carMi/DSC00166.jpg

well took me about a day that was on a nice day lettin the paint dry about 30 -40 mins between coats.

1. take out ya headunit
2. take out ashtry (just pulls out) and undo the 2 screws
3. under the hazard/rear demist/foglight buttons at the top, there are 2 screws, undo them.

it shud pull out (do it gentley and slowly) and unplug all the wires (label them or sumic so u no whats what when you put em back and dnt forget to unplug the lighter aswell lol)

4. the vents just clip out, put a knife under and unclip it (do the top two and the bottom will cum anyways). i took off the screw on the side aswell (so u can move it up/dwn to direct the heat).

if i can ill post step by step pics aswell mate.
 
Thanks mate, all much appreciated :)

Is that the rover flame red or a different red? Looks good although i was going to go for a brighter red.
 
nah i used plastic primer and laqured it, no other colour. also wash before u paint as the dust in the vents is unreal lol. and the buttons clip out and i filled the hole in em (the light) with blue tac painted them then toock it out so you can still se the light when they are on lol. used ford strtos silver or sumic. and ta for the compliments! :D
 
ere, dunno yet i kinda likr it now, not over the top u nar, but have got plans for the interior like im making new doorcards at work etc. and a new steering wheel that be about it. would love to take all the dash out and sfibreglass it, (like in maxpower etc) and colour code it to the car with white bits but dnt think it would happen lol!
 
Im considering going all the way on the dash ! hehe. Doorcards is something i actually wish i could do.

Im goin to try to do as much to the interior for as cheap as possible.
 
doorcards are easier than you think, i recovered mine with blue imatation leather really easy to do, cheap too. Go for it mate
 
I was actually thinking along those lines earlier but something in red to go with my car. You got a pic of yours paddy?
 
I think its awesome mate and definitely don't agree with the too much blue comments considering im going to be doing most the same parts in red! :D

Cheers for that mate, great as added inspiration.

One last very newby question, can someone please explain wet and dry.. :(
 
wet and dry is where you take a very thin layer of plastic off by lightly sanding with a VERY fine sandstone paper but u wet it.....this gets rid of scratches then you dry it (that is a rough idea on how to do it, i had to think back to high school days then)

where do u live Korizin?
 
Just been and bought 2 cans of dark red primer, 2 cans of nissan red and 2 cans of laquer. Sadly no longer 3 for £10 offer so it cost me £36 !!!!

Anyway, the nissan red is slight brighter than the red of my car so im hoping the dark red primer will calm it down a little.

The wee guy in Halfords tryed to make me pay £14.99 each for cleaner, primer, paint and laquer. It was "special" stuff. Told him where to go :D

Anyway, got my sandpaper also and im going down to my dads to start it in the next hour or so, god help me :p

ps. Do you think the dark red primer will calm down the brightness of the red i bought?
 
paddy ur car lookin smart, if i were u i would just paint the rest of your dash blue and then touch it up with some silver bits here and there, grey looks silly - nice work though and look up a member called Jax, he goes on ciscos too, he done his interior in gold, same colour as my car -looked well smart
 
Yeah shame they stopped doing the 3 for 2 offer as that saved me alot of money when doing my interior. :) Other people have pretty much covered everything you need to know. I have sprayed my dash a few times now, and as with everything practise makes perfect, it is easy enough to get a great finish out of the cans when you get used to how the paint sprays etc. I am also doing my door cards again for the 3rd time since owning the car lol. I have got more and more adventurous with them and I think that this time, (hopefully) they should look quite impressive and professional. Alot of it is planning and preparation though. It is vital that you use the wet and dry paper (with water) to sand the dash down to give it a surface that the paint can grip too. You may have notcied but I have developed a slight love for doing interiors lol, maybe because the k10 one is very dull and boring as standard. Even got into the stitching into the door cards. With my dash I have took the grain off this time, its a paint to do but well worth it when you see the results. The photo's don't really do it justice. A few coats of each and wet and dry between coats too, not all of them though. Also redone my roofliner in black vinyl with a stitch in, which is quite kool. :) Anyway sorry for the long post, here is a few of my dash... and ro5 and paddy, those pics look great. :)
 

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All the bits are sitting after being washed and sanded. Not really got anywhere apart from outside to paint and its wet and windy just now!

My Dad told me to sand them without water since it was plastic. The sanding looks fine. Will it be ok without water? Why do you wet and dry between coats? My Dad mentioned that to as im letting him supervise it all!
 
If the paint goes on too thick it helps to smooth it out. The way I do it (there is other ways though but this is how I have found to be best) is to put on a few coats, wet and dry it, then very lightly spray on 1 or 2 top coats of colour. Followed by the laquer. Also if you want the paint to be really smooth, use 1200 wet and dry paper when the laquer is dry to smooth it all off and then use some T-cut or polish to bring it up to a nice shine. :)
 
Ah cheers lads.

Yeh i see what you mean micra man. I got 600 wet and dry which done a decent job. Do you usually go for 1 or 2 coats of primer?

I have left my dads house now and i am going back down in the morning to start the spraying.
 
not the best pics but anythin else i'll be willing to answer i did door panels myself recovered and painted

i apologise for the state of the car its a right mess at the moment. will be all ready in a couple of weeks with skirts and rear splitter on
 

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Thats really nice mate, i have just been out spraying mine just now, leaving things to dry at the moment.

Im not the best painter and quite worried how it will come out.

Went with 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of red, not done any laquer yet.

Vents are going to look a bit funny as they picked up a little dirt etc off the garage floor cause my dads garage is minging, will post pics when back in!
 
thanks :)

yea there are loads of things to think about when painting preperation is the most important. the surface needs to be clean.

the spay has to be thin and not too close.

but the laquer has to be perfect....

i did two coats of primer then the whole thing in black, two coats and then masked it and did two coats of red then two coats of laquer.

when i said i did mine last night i ment i finnished it last night and i have been doing a coat a night since friday!!!! i'm sick of paint fumes lol and my hands are all shiny and water proof from the laquer!!!

still loads to do tho but i'm glad that the main bit is out of the way :)
 
Yeh i prepared everything, just the workspace i had no option with. Since going back out i found a massive piece of wood and im now using it as a surface in the garage.

just made my first small mistake during a coat of red. Went slightly too thick on the spray on one part and it started to run. If id left it, it would have looked a mess. I decided as a rescue mission id use my jumper, tryed to smooth it out and now i will try and build the coats back up on that part, hopefully only noticeable to a trained eye, we will see !!

I painted the ashtray, that has had 2 coats of everything and 1 coat of laquer.

Is there any tips on keeping the laquer perfect.
 
i know about space mate i had to use work because i don't have a garage or even a drive way to work on... but work have a great big store room ;)

mine leaked under the masking tape a bit and i went back over it by spraying the black spray into the lid of the can and then using a paint brush.

you want to be about a ruler's length away from what your spraying (30cm) any closer and it will start to run... if it does run then dab it while it's still wet with something that doesn't fall apart. (eg not tussue but cloth) because the paint is a solvent sometimes it will melt the layers below and when you dab it it goes down to the primer so dab it lightly and carefully.... then give it 24 hours to dry and re-coat it. if it's slightly bumpy then use wet fine sand paper and lightly rub it down. only do this after it has dryed properly... make sure you clean the dust off before the next coat.

the laquer has to have thin coats! if it runs then that's the end of it so keep it very far away and do lots of coats. give it 20 min to dry between coats and check it's dry on a part that you wont see otherwise you'll get finger prints in it... laquer takes two weeks to properly harden so when it's finnished try to let it have as long as possible.

after about five coats i've noticed that the paint colour starts to fade this is because the laquer is too thick and it's like looking at the paint through a dirty window... make sure you keep an eye on how its looking and remember that the laquer changes as it drys, so if it looks clowdy when you spray it, it may become clear after it's dried.

i have done loads of painting and i still don't get it right. it is a real art so don't expect it to be perfect first time. also read the instructions on the cans and give the wait time about 10 min longer than it recomends. and wear a mask!!! i've been i'll for weeks after inhailing paint and filler fumes so now i've learnt my lesson lol,

good luck mate :)
 
Tell me about illness, i have a chest infection and have practically lost my voice and im standing in a small garage playing with spray paint :D
 
haha it ain't nice is it...

well after the first few YEARS you become immune lol
 
Well i had to do mine in my bedroom which was the size of a shoebox at the time! best nights sleep i ever got!!!
but as for running unless its a large drop i leave it to dry, rub it back til its smooth again and layer paint ontop of that
 
Haha heard of a hotbox but your taking it to the extreme :D

Everything is pretty much done now. Vents etc only took 1 coat of laquer and were so shiny they were blinding.

Main middle part has 2 coats of laquer so far, think i will go for one more, then leave everything until tomorrow before fitting it back in, then i will post pics!
 
yes if you get a run weather you dab it or leave it make sure the paint is bone dry or when you sand it just drags the paint off like a skin and it hard to repair without starting again from the beginning

the laquer is the hardest to work with and most prone to runs i find
 

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