I have an 07z. The interior cubby is getting beat up and I need to paint it. Also the rubber portion of the inside door arm rest is getting beat up.

Should I use PlastiDip or Duplicolor Vinyl for Interior for this?

 

I'm about to attempt wrapping the window switch panels and the whole center dash in 3m di-noc carbon fiber vinyl and then shoot it with clear.

But if you really want to paint this stuff figure out if you want it glossy or matte finished, research, and don't forget prepping these panels is just as important as the painting process.

 

You don't want plastidip. I use it all the time on tools and it wouldn't look right on your interior. Too smooth, thick and shiny.

 

I just want it back to normal. I like the rubberized feel of the armrest but hate all the white marks I got on it now. Is there a way I can protect it?

do you have any pics of the 3m di-noc cf vinyl?

 

I thought it was a matte finish. Are you talking about the spray or the dip can?

 

definitely do not use the plastidip, it'l look like crap and will peel. I'd say use the dinoc vinyl. I'm debating doing that to the area behind my seats because its been torn up since I bought the car

 

Duplicolor Bumper Coating is perfect. I did the door armrests on my '08 in february, and they still look perfect. I only did one at a time, and couldn't tell whixh was which visually. Just be careful to completely strip the armrests (I used a brillo pad under running water in the kitchen sink), and buy the Duplicolor adhesion promotor spray, too. I applied 5 or 6 heavy coats, wet-sanding with 800 grit between coats. Rather than respraying the whole cubby, I might try using the same paint applied with a fine sable artists' brush to just touch-up the scratches, because the color and sheen is so close between the Duplicolor and the OEM coating.

 

Dinoc seems to be the way to go....I'm gana dinoc my center console and if it looks good ill do the rest of the little parts.

 

do you have any pics of the 3m di-noc cf vinyl?[/QUOTE]

check out youtube. just put 3m di-noc in the search bar. also type in 3m di-noc clear coat. the guy shows you no clear, then 1 coat, then with three coats of clear. just ordered some di-noc off ebay and am going to experiment. pics to come within a week or so...........

 

i used plastidip on my center dash, thing i like about it is that you can peel it off in one piece if need to remove and respray if it ever gets damaged again.
TRUE it does shine a bit more than the original texture and look, but it eliminates having to spray it with something permanent, or putting cheap vinyl overlays that once removed will leave marks.

 

Good idea! How much of a pain was to remove the armrest? So it still retains that reubbery/matte/satin feel?

You have to strip the whole thing first? That will take forever no? Wait, is it paint that was on there before?

 

3m di now FTW!!!!!!!! easy to do too

 

check out youtube. just put 3m di-noc in the search bar. also type in 3m di-noc clear coat. the guy shows you no clear, then 1 coat, then with three coats of clear. just ordered some di-noc off ebay and am going to experiment. pics to come within a week or so...........[/QUOTE]

looks awesome but also looks easy to apply. Do you have to have a heat gun or can you just use a hair dryer.

 

Do they have that film in the same material as the arm rests. I would use that film on everything.

 

The armrest is simple to remove. Pull the padded piece behind it inwards and up, and it pops off the door. The pull the unpadded part with the switches up from the rear, and it pops off the door. The switches have little tabs underneath you can pop off with a small screwdriver.

If you don't strip all the old paint off the armrest, the new paint will wrinkle and peel off. If you can find a paint stripper that's safe for plastic, that would be the easiest method, but I had some brillo pads handy, so that's what I used. The brillo (steel wool) doesn't scratch the plastic like sandpaper would, so that's another reason I used it. Maybe you could start with sandpaper and finish with the brillo, and it would go faster? You want to strip the paint all the way down to a shiny light gray layer, but if you go too far and hit another layer of black plastic in some areas, that's OK.

I used one coat of the adhesion promoter, which is a clear primer which dries almost immediately. Then some heavy coats of the bumper coating, waiting at least 45 minutes between coats for wet-sanding. With each coat it gets thicker and smoother, and if there are some imperfections in the early coats, don't worry, as the wet-sanding will fix that. I used a light mist of paint for the final coat, which adds a very slight texture, to match the original finish, and I didn't wet-sand that final coat. The new finish looks original in both color and sheen, but it doesn't have the same sticky feeling as the original.

It was a lot of work to do each piece, maybe 4 or 5 hours including drying time, but I wanted an original-looking finish, and it was worth the effort. So far it's been around 8 months, and there's no scratching or peeling. My dealer would have replaced the parts for free, as my car is still under warranty, but the same thing would have happened to the new parts, and I wanted a permanent solution.

 

looks awesome but also looks easy to apply. Do you have to have a heat gun or can you just use a hair dryer.[/QUOTE]

A hairdryer should be good enough.

 

I might have to try this, but as a first shot I'll see if the dealer will replace the parts under warranty.

 

Di-Noc

 

i really like how it looks clear coated, i just had to apply di noc to my front bumper, on the section directly below the grill. a rock hit it, chipped it, and then after a few washed and normal driving clear coat started coming up and bubbling. so i just put this stuff over it, and i will be clearing it tomorrow for sure.

 

finally got it done - did not come out the way I'd have liked...I'll roll with it for a bit to see how it is, but I'll probably end up removing it eventually


b4:

after:



edit it was a pain in the azz, would have worked better with two people or three hands.