Over time, the car body parts wear out and lose their original appearance. But wear does not only apply to external, but also internal elements, including door cards, consoles and torpedoes. Of course, you can buy a new item. However, often its cost is inadequate. You can also take the part from disassembly in a more or less “live” state. But, as practice shows, the best and most economical way to freshen up parts of the cabin is to paint the car’s plastic with your own hands. How is this done and what to look for when working? About all this and not only - further in our article.
Dismantling
The first stage is the dismantling of all the elements that will be painted. This is the most difficult operation. Each make and model of the car has its own options for installing dashboards, covers, cards and pens. Even if it is the same machine, but with different configurations, there will be several dismantling options. On some vehicles, the dashboard can only be removed with the puller pin on the windshield side.
For convenience, it is better to buy a set of tools for working with the car interior in advance. These kits are universal and suitable for most modern machines. If you have such pullers, you will significantly save the effort and time spent on dismantling.
When disassembling plastic parts, never use steel screwdrivers. For this, there are special polyurethane blades. At the slightest contact, the hard metal will bend the edges of the soft plastic. And to return to its previous form will be very difficult.
Also, to avoid confusion, put all the bolts and nuts in separate boxes, or better, sign them. So you will not “get lost” when assembling the elements, when one bolt will not be screwed in due to another thread pitch, although outwardly they are the same in size. Sometimes car owners make periodic photographs, fixing where which element was fixed earlier.
Surface preparation
After successful dismantling, interior elements are placed on a soft, non-abrasive surface. This can be a sheet of particleboard, OSB or any other made of wood, or large pieces of cardboard.
If you lay the element on the asphalt, even with the most careful attitude, the plastic will be scratched. To prevent sticking of dust and other small particles when the plastic is spray-painted, the surface is pre-treated with an antistatic agent. Even a small villus can well spoil the final result of the work.
Further, painting the interior plastic is accompanied by surface treatment with sandpaper. All existing defects - cracks and scratches are carefully sanded and, if necessary, putty.
If this is a crack in the critical assembly (for example, the door handle, which is constantly exposed to loads), for greater reliability it is treated with a thick sealant from the inside. To avoid scratching the surface, periodically soak emery paper in water.
After that, the coating is thoroughly degreased. For this, white spirit, gasoline, or anti-silicone is used. The latter perfectly corrodes greasy stains and provides a good basis for the adhesion of plastic with a new paint.
Then apply a primer for plastic for painting. It must be applied in 3 thin salts from a distance of at least 20 centimeters. Otherwise, streaks will form. And to remove traces of such an aerosol is extremely difficult, since it reacts with plastic and promotes better adhesion of nitro enamels.
Next, the final plastic painting of the car is carried out - using a spray gun or spray can, a new layer is applied to the surface. If it is metallic, it requires special application technology. After drying (about 20 minutes), the surface is treated with a layer of varnish. The distance from the can to the plastic remains the same - from 20 centimeters.
The slightest smudge will indicate that a “tint” was made, moreover, of poor quality. It is better to process one area in several layers than to pour a bunch of paint at a time over the entire perimeter. Further, the coating is carefully polished with a wax paste.
Brush
Using this tool instead of spray cans is an extremely risky business. After all, with the slightest carelessness, there is a risk of sagging. In addition, the layer from the brush is quite thick and its drying time is about a day. In this regard, aerosols are several times superior to this method of painting. If you did not have previous experience with painting and want to spend less time drying the element, definitely choose a spray can.
Useful Tips
To perform the work you will need the cleanest and most well-ventilated room. It's not worth doing this on the street - the slightest dust will spoil all efforts. Also do not forget about precautions. In our case, if it is painting the plastic inside the car, you need to protect the respiratory tract with a respirator, and the eyes with protective glasses.
The car itself should be far from the place of painting - the smallest speck of paint flies through the air to a distance of 5 meters. When it dries on the bodywork, it will be very difficult to remove it. If these are small parts, an old newspaper will fit in instead of cardboard and tablets.
As for the choice of color, painting the plastic inside the car is done with one goal - to refresh the interior. No need to buy bright colors, with the idea of preparing a car "for sports". So you only spoil the interior, and when selling such a car will be less than the factory value.
Therefore, we select the maximum “stock” shade. When disassembling the cabin, try to remember or fix with photographs the places where the part stood. Put various trifles in the form of door buttons, edging handles and air duct regulators in a separate niche.
When working with spray can, do not forget that inside it is very reactive paint. With its large quantity, it easily “undermines” the past layers on plastic, forming pimples. Painting of plastic with such components is carried out from a long distance. It is advisable to use the cap "torch" for this - for a more uniform application of the composition to the surface.
Alternative to painting
By the way, minor scratches can simply be removed with abrasive polish. Painting plastic is optional. It is important for this to prepare a nozzle for a drill and a special paste containing an abrasive - diamond chips.
But when performing such operations, you need to monitor the temperature of the plastic. From high revolutions and polishing, it easily overheats - it is important to catch the right moment when the plastic starts to “indent”, erasing the edges of the scratch. With larger deformations, for example, cracks, such a repair method is useless.
Is it necessary to prime?
Automakers use several types of cabin plastic. One of them requires a primer, the second - no. It is better to consult with specialists in advance or conduct several tests.
How to check it with your own hands?
The first way is a combustibility test. If this piece of plastic gives off soot when burning, it needs a primer. But since we need to restore, and not finally burn it, we use an alternative method for verification. Place the plastic part in a container of water. If she drowned in water, a primer is not required. If it floats, plastic painting is necessarily accompanied by priming.
When processing with a “skin”, observe the grain transition - from a larger one at the beginning to a small “zero” at the end. So you will not have any burrs and the paint will completely fill the existing pores on the surface. To add more shine, use several layers of varnish.
Conclusion
So, we found out how to paint plastic inside the car. As you can see, the work can be done with your own hands. The main thing is to comply with the technology and not to forget about security measures. After all, fumes of paint strongly affect the respiratory tract of a person, the liver and other organs.