Has anyone painted their interior? If you have do you get annoyed at it sometimes?

nope.. I like it alot better that way..

I recently painted the four vent surrounds and my ash tray (coin dish) cover the same dark blue as the car... I like it a lot! Less than $10 to do and pretty simple too.

Just have to be careful what you paint and with what kind of paint. High traffic items or items
most likely to be scratched, scuffed or kicked are better left alone. [bigcry]

i hav my my vents and the speedo consloe painted , and i like them they way they r now, as said before though its not a good idead to paint high traffic areas

i like mine a lot and now ive got people wanting me to do theirs. it looks good. ive got my vent surrounds, speed console, coin tray, and door moldings painted cherry red.

I had some of the interior trim of my ZX5 painted a metallic gray to match the Liquid Gray exterior. Looked really good too, not too flashy, but gave it a nice custom look. See my gallery for the interior pics (or you can just look in the ZX5 gallery for my pics).

POST PICS

i had my zx3 interior all painted up, twice. first in red, then in black metal flake. i painted the vents, the guage surround, radio surround, etc. typical things to paint in the car. don't have any pics of that.

then with the zts, i decided just to paint the guage surround to match the silver in the stock mach audio stereo surround. and then painted the FC shifter surround to match as well. noone can even tell that it's painted. everyone thinks it came that way, which is what i was going for. didn't want anything flashy and gawdy.

http://home.comcast.net/~tlowe02/focus/int.jpg

Very clean. I like.

thats what i've been thinking about...what kind of paint sciron? did you say its silver cuz mine's more of a gunmetalis/charcoal. can you buy oem paint?

1) it's duplicolor "medium grey metallic". i've used nothing BUT duplicolor in both of my cars. have yet to have a single complaint.

2) yes, you can buy OEM paint. just go to the ford dealer, and they can crank you out a can/bottle.

I did my stereo surround, and door strips, the same cameleon paint as the outside

I used duplicolor also. Got it autozone...very happy with the outcome.

I've heard that paint for model cars works well. have any of you tried that? is the rumor true or an old wives tale?[???:)]

what you mean by high traffic areas not to paint...because im about to paint my interor and i was wondering what not to paint

Usually areas that are subject to people kicking, bumping, scratching,scraping as they get in and out of the car or general use. Door handles, kick panels, etc. most any item that is low in the car and subject to peoples feet/shoes. You can paint just about anything you want just be prepared to repaint these types of areas as they begin to show wear.

High Traffic:

Door handles. Cup Holders. Door sill pieces.


I am having the entire thing painted, twilight blue, my vents and bezel and some other pieces will be racing silver.

If you paint it i recommend you do this:

Take it ALL out and do it all at once. This way you dont have 3 different shades of the same color paint lol. Sometimes the paint just differs ever so slightly and you can tell a difference in the sun. If you buy the paint all at the same time, and paint them all at once, you should not be able to tell a difference.

Sand it down REAL good. Sand the plastic almost smooth. If you have ANY armorall or wax on there the paint or adhesion promoter wont stick more than a couple months tops.

Get some Bulldog adhesion promoter. This will make the primer/paint stick ALOT better to the plastic.

Prime it up real good

Sand it down

prime it again (lightly) and sand to make sure you didnt miss anything and got it all smooth.

Paint 2 or 3 coats of whatever color.

Here some people sand it lightly, with a real fine sand paper to get a finished smooth look before they clear coat it.

Apply 2 or 3 coats of clear coat. Here some people wet sand it ( i have no clue wtf wet sanding is)

Thats how i originally painted my vents, and how we painted my buddy's VW. The VW has no chips or anything and it was painted 12-13 months ago.

that sounds great guys! I am interested in painting the inside vents etc. also. Ive got a silver ZX5 and my stereo swurround is already "brushed aluminum" any reccommendations on what color to go with for the vents??

Im thinking about having the whole interrior painted black, But I have the Grey leather interrior and the whole dash seems squishy (not sure if its leather or not) So would paint still stick to it? Also what would it cost to have it all professionally painted? Also would this void the warrenty? (if it was professionally done)

Thanks, Shawn

Edit: 50 posts w00t!

is there any rec. on what color I should paint my interior if i have a CD silver car and the stereo surround is already "brushed aluminum"

still looking for a good site that has spray cans matching ford factory colors. eggyolk/zinc yellow doesn't seem to be a popular touch-up color - which i'm surprised by, since rock chips are so damn visible! :P

no one wants to help me on a color huh? lol

actually it doesnt matter, i am going with a carbon fiber trim kit, real nice...

the guys on Hi-Rev tuners actually worked on a focus this week, they painted all the dash parts in some sort of Dupli-Color, Color-shifting paint.

how did it come out? good im assuming

the color-shifting dash pieces looked pretty cool; the blue "anodized" looking billet gas door looked a little ricey on a red focus. :P

ya I would think so.. who suggested blue on red... lol

ok dumb question time.... i also have some interior pieces painted the same color as my car and im wondering how exactly do the vent surrounds come out? i just dont want to break anything
thanks
ken

It's fairly simple, just press on the bottom of them, pushing up and out. The easiest are the 2 in the center so start there. If you push them hard enough you hear a clip or something let go... it didn't sound like breaking to me. Then they just slip right out. There's about 6 inches or so of duct behind the vent so they come out kinda like little columns. Good luck with them, and don't worry, they felt pretty sturdy to me, so they can take some pressure.

i painted everything i could pull off the dash in my svt. didnt match it to the sonic blue (almost impossible unless i ordered it from ford). I did find a match to the inserts (duplicolor "royal Blue"). I love it.

Just make sure you let the clear coat cure fully before cleaning....can smudge if not completely hard.

I am thinkin about painting interiors by request. Maybe like 100 or 120 bucks. $10 - 20 for supplies, and the rest for me. The problem is either driving your car without the parts for 4-5 days or just buying duplicates. Maybe a discount if you buy a duplicate and i keep the old parts.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c218/audiostank/Dash.jpg

I painted mine in my S2 very similar to connolly's with a white accent. It actually looked really good -- I liked it a lot, but I got mixed reactions from others. It felt a little too sporty for my girl.

Eventually I started to get annoyed. Not really annoyed... but it just seemed a bit too much.

When I got the SVT a little a week ago, I really liked the accents already in there. So I'm going a different route and trying to keep it looking "professional" or "stock" or whatever it is I'm going for, and I'm going to accent it in a more nighttime environment.

Yeah, in the non-pothead way of saying it: I'm using blue lights and neons this time around to accent. That way I have it looking clean when I want, and with a flip of a switch, it will glow beautifully.

As you can see from everyone else's post... it differs from person to person. Most ppl who do it, love the outcome. I wasn't sure, when I did it, I loved it, but now that I am starting over with my new focus, I don't think I liked it enough.

Just something to think about -- since you wouldn't be asking for opinions if you didn't have doubts.

i think a painted interior looks really good especially if the color of the painted pieces contrast good with the other interior colors. my older brother has a black 88 supra turbo(i know this is a focus forum but its a really nice car) and he painted the calipers and some of the interior pieces red and it looks awesome!

its easy as pie to paint your dash trim and gauge panels and once you do it youll want to drive it just to look at it ..i did mine flame red ...only advise i can give you is goto a paint and body shop to get your spray paint ...i paid 10 bucks a can but it was worth it in the long run just remember when you do it to scuff the area to be painted and instead of doing 3-4 medium coats take your time and do 7-8 light coats to prevent runs give bout 10-15 minutes in between coats and should come out looking professional good luck! [bootyshak

wet sanding isnt a bad idea either if you get some some air bubbles as a result of spray paint. some 380 grit paper and a sweet finish.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/cruzstyle/1843ba74.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/cruzstyle/c8ef6fa9.jpg
i think im finally done with my interior. maybe a few more things.

Thats hot....good work.

Originally posted by cruzstyle
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/cruzstyle/1843ba74.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a261/cruzstyle/c8ef6fa9.jpg
i think im finally done with my interior. maybe a few more things.

thats a cool interior... i wanna do mine. any tips on how to get a liquid gray color on the vents... also do the vents come off or do they have to be covered to be painted.

cruzstyle, great work!!!
i'm loving it.