Can I paint my door panels and dashboard? Will I need a special type of paint?

I did a Vette I had by going to my local trim shop and they fixed me up with some quality vinyl paint and I went to an auto paint store and got these aerosol cans thet you can put a paint cup on and it worked great. You can buy interior paint at your local cheapo parts store but I don't think I would advise it for an entire interior. Also try the Eastwood Company, I think they sell that stuff also.

I've painted some interior bits with mixed results, prep prep prep is all I can say.

Are the door panels and dashboard vinyl?

Vinyl or plastic, the good grade stuff works on either. I put it on everything in a 70 Vette I had and it still looked good after 8 yrs when I sold it.

You are right about the prep. Start by cleaning the surface. Any oils, armour all, grease, ect. will result in loss of adhesion and even fish eyes. A TSP(tri-sodium-phosphate) solution works great. Then rinse with clean water. If needed sand surface and vacuum, wash again. After its dry use the correct primer for the material being painted. Remember some aerosal paints contain chemicals that will eat away plastics. Test on a piece of styrofoam if your not sure. The high end factory type trim paints are fine. Follow cure times and temps carefully and don't rush it and you'll be good.:D

Please don't wreck a Mark VIII by painting the interior, unless your restoring it to original color, I saw a guy with a red on black 97 and he painted the interior bright red a blue, the car was nice but I had dry heaves when I saw the inside.

Please don't wreck a Mark VIII by painting the interior, unless your restoring it to original color, I saw a guy with a red on black 97 and he painted the interior bright red a blue, the car was nice but I had dry heaves when I saw the inside.

is just an idea. I HATE the dark tan interior I want black. I still think I will look for a parts car with black interior and swap it all in but this was just an idea.

If it's a gen one, I have all the black interior parts that you could want.

But I don't think it's worth swapping an interior over from another color, just allot of work in my opinion. Easier to get another car. But I do agree I don't like the dark saddle tan either.

There are lots of donor cars out there; it just might take a few months to find one. Swapping would be a better idea for the long run then you know you wont have to redo anything

I do not have the cash to buy another car, if i did buy another Mark I want a Gen 2 but they are $5k here or better

I just painted my door panels and and center console with a product by SEM called "Classic Coat". i restored the factory color which is irvory/ parchment. it came out great. it was intended for leather, but so far (cross my fingers) its great on the other materials i painted too.

midwestbird painted the interior panels in the thundermark a dark gray (might be SEM also) it had some sort of adhesion promoter spray also, depending how well it holds up on everything else we might pull and paint the dash

chickenviii have any pics of it?

Check out chicken's latest project thread.

Check out chicken's latest project thread.

yup on the last page you can see the door panels they were a light gray look at the dash

yup on the last page you can see the door panels they were a light gray look at the dash

Man I spent some time reading every page on that project. WOW that is one wicked Bird. Some great work you did.

Man I spent some time reading every page on that project. WOW that is one wicked Bird. Some great work you did.

thanks, if only it was MY car :(

thanks, if only it was MY car :(

The car in your sig looks great. I think you should get those wheels on there though.