Looking for some opinions...

[ShagFestiva]

Now that my festy is mechanicaly sound, I want to start making it look nice. First, I must say how awesome this car is, so fun to drive and excellent gas mileage.

Anyway, 1. I want to paint my interior plastics. I got some Krylon plastic paint and painted my center console. It came out well except for a few areas, it's got some fish eyes. I cleaned it some more but it is still happening . What is the best paint to use, and also what needs to be done to prep the plastic so the paint is even? Also, how difficult is it to tear the dash out so that it can be painted?

2. I took the carpet out because it stinks and there is a rust hole in the floor that needs to be fixed. I would like to get new carpet for it. I went to a carpet warehouse near me to get some good, rugged carpet, I found some and it had a pretty reasonable price tag. It is fairly flexible but Im not sure if I will be able to get it to look good with all the humps and bumps of the floor. Has anyone ever put in their own carpet before?

3. Is it possible to change the color of the headliner? Im going for black and was wondering if it is best to dye it or paint it. If it should be painted, what kind of paint is best?

Sorry for the long post guys. Wanted to get some opinions from experienced veterans :notworthy: since this is the first time I have ever done any kind of interior work. Thanks for reading and have a happy and safe holiday!!

[Festiva_tunner]

clean - clean -clean before you paint plastics - paints specifically designed for plastic are where you want to go - there are spray on adhesion promotors as well. I've had good experience with Krylon plastics paint - multiple thin coats are best - When I first painted all the trim in the car (minus the dash) it took about 10 cans to do it right.

I just used the Vinyl paint the other day on my Top trim pieces on the doors - they turned out great and are holding up well so far - I would recomend this unless your handy with vinyl - then I recomend rewraping - you will come out with a better looking finished product.

There are headliner cloths at fabric stores that look pretty good you can recover in a section of these.

For the floors theres plenty of aftermarket options lately for our cars I used to have the link wrote down but I threw the post it away on accident - You just have to look.

Everything you mentioned is on the forum - your not the first to go black so luckily there's info out there.
Search for dash removal - I remember and old thread specifically about the easiest way to remove the dash with out cracking the windshield

[ShagFestiva]

^^ Wow thanks for the input. Im using the krylon fusion paint and it looks good except for certain parts. What did you use to clean the plastic surfaces? Will search a little harder the the dash removal.

[ShagFestiva]

anyone know a good way to dye the seats? Saw one guy used vinyl dye but will that work on the cloth too? I have seat covers but I would rather just dye the seat...would look nicer IMO

[Charlie1717]

^^ Wow thanks for the input. Im using the krylon fusion paint and it looks good except for certain parts. What did you use to clean the plastic surfaces? Will search a little harder the the dash removal.

When I painted my interior plastics I just took them and put them in the tub and gave them a good wash down with some soap and water and sprayed it down.

Make sure you leave the plastic plenty of time to dry before painting. Then as said before lots and lots of thin layers and it will come out great! I was very happy with the outcome of my interior with the krylon fusion paint.

[drddan]

Wipe the plastic with Denatured Alcohol before painting. Fish eyes on plastic are usually oily spots. Wash with soap and water, rinse, dry, and then wipe down good with the D. Alcohlol. This will get it clean and will also get rid of any water/moisture hanging around.
Suggestion: if you have deep scratches on plastic, a little sanding to smooth them out will give a much better look when done, as paint will not cover them.

[ShagFestiva]

So the other day I was looking at a computer forum and they were talking about painting the plastic cases on their computers....they use vinyl dye, and many coats to paint them, and they come out smooth, and very very durable. Im gonna give that a try today since its cold and snowy ;(