sorry its not an F100 question! but i know you guys are the Guru's....
is there any special paint or prep work needed when painting factory plastic door panels like on a newer mustang?? I remeber doing something similair yrs ago and the paint flaked off pretty easily.
Thanks!
Mark

 

Scruff up the plastic pretty good, clean it and let it dry, dry, dry. If possible, blow it off with an air hose after it's dry. Apply two thin coats of primer. Lightly scuff the primer coat and blow off (if possible). Once clean (or dry again), apply 2-3 very thin coats of paint one at a time. The first coat you should be able to see some primer behind it... that's how light the first coat should be. Get full coverage with the second coat, but don't apply it heavy...just get coverage so the primer underneath is no longer visible. Let dry. Apply a third coat to seal everything in. Let it all dry; DO NOT install while it's still tacky to the touch. Again, let it dry, dry, dry!!!

Good luck,
DS

PS- "Gear Up" is the main person to ask in this forum about this kind of stuff. You should send her an E-mail asking the same question.

 

Also, I have seen similar discussions in the paint section of this site. Good luck, John

 

I don't know how ridgid you plastic parts are but you may want to add a 'flex' agent to your paint, it’s recommended when painting rubber bumpers etc., it's available at most automotive paint stores.

 

thanks for the help fellas.
Mark

 

Daryl (hopefully still owner of Lola) is bang on with his instructions. The next-door-neighbour just painted some interior pieces in his 66 Ford ragtop a month or so ago using those directions and it worked fine.

He did use vinyl paint that a local auto-body supply store custom mixed for him. ($30.cdn per spray can). Did his padded dash, rear armrestpanel/ash tray thingies and they came out perfect.

Daryl's the man. (A little inside joke)

Later,

 

You make any more compliments like that and they will have to butter my ears to get me through the door. There are two ways to go when coloring your panels that I would try. One put out by Du Pont and the other is PPG. The Du Pont line is the one I am the most familiar with. You want to use a product called Plastic Prep (#2319S) and scrub the surfaces to be colored with the solution. I generally use the red or grey scotchbrite to scrub with and you scrub until you think its clean and then scrub a little more. You want to open the surface so the vinyl color will adhere. It is important that you wear platex gloves while scrubbing because it will take every bit of moisture out of your skin and your hands will crack. Yes, I admit that I was in a hurry one time and found out the hard way. You also need to make sure that the rags you use are disposed of and not by any metal. I had a pair of shears one time and they were about ten inches away from one of the rags I used and the next mouning they looked like a chemical garden. Rust crystals were on the blades and they never cut well after that. Go to your paint dealer and have them mix up the vinyl color in the desired color and I suggest that you use the medium gloss base. Flat looks absolutely dry and the gloss looks cheap. Strictly my opinion. You can use a syphon gun or a gravity gun and it works well. I use the Pre-val bottles when on location and they work well too. The PPG products work well and there are more steps to get the job done. You have to use a special prime and then put the color on. The end result looks great too. Sorry it took so long to get it all said:after all I had to say about being verbose.
Good Luck with the panels.

Gear Up

 

Hey DS59F100 If you were to take a peak at www.flyinginteriors.com you would get to see who Gear Up is. I've had a lot of fun over the years with my name. Even had passes to exclusive female pools but for some reason got turned down. Take it with a grain of salt.

Gear Up

 

Just a side note. Daryl's truck is named Butch. Unless he went out and got a mistress! John

 

Maybe Daryl calls it Butch, but me and Penn Dick call it Lola. There's a whole thread on why......

Gearup - great site and interesting bio.

Later,

 

Gear up gives some sound advice on the prep of plasitc panels, most manufactuers of paint products have data sheets on each product to allow the user to use the product properly and they are more than happy to give them out, just as each has thier owne chemicals to prep the plasitc for paint some use adheasion promotors others use aditives in the paint but all around As in any good paint job the prep work is 99% of the job. like they taught us at sikkens paint school let them do the chemical work don't play chemist, follow the manufactuers directions they have spent millions on reasearch and development.

 

I was told by a chemical rep one time that the adhesion promoter from Du Pont is a failsafe measure for those that don't take the time to clean well. I don't use the promoter because I do take the time. All too often there is Mould release agents on new plastic and other chemicals that have to be cleaned off. You can use Prepsol for the first cleaning but you need to use the plastic prep to get it totally clean and I have found that if you take and wipe down the parts just prior to shooting the plastic with the plastic prep it works really well. Good luck.

Gear Up

 

Ferg, Jag, Gear Up... Everyone!

Thanks for remembering "Butch". If memory serves, Butch was deemed "Lola" for a short while when I was ticked-off beyond belief at him and referred to him as a.... well, "a female dog"--for lack of a better word!

Curious how the spray paint project for Mark914 comes out.

Take care, all... and sorry for not replying in a more timely manner. I forgot to click "instant e-mail notiification" when I replied the first time.

Butch n Me...