Car interior plastic painting: description of technology, materials and recommendations

Over time, the body parts of the car wear out and lose their original appearance. But wear affects not only external, but also internal elements, including door cards, console and torpedo. Of course, you can buy a new item. However, often its cost is inadequate. You can also take a part from disassembly in a more or less "live" state. But, as practice shows, the best and most economical way to refresh parts of the salon 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 - later in our article.

Dismantling

The first stage is the dismantling of all the elements that will be subject to painting. This is the most difficult operation. Each brand and model of the car - its options for installing dashboards, overlays, cards and pens. Even if it is the same machine, but different equipment, there will be several options for dismantling. On some vehicles, the instrument panel can only be removed using a pull-out pin from the side of the windshield.

For convenience, it is better to buy a set of tools for working with the car interior in advance. Such kits are universal and suitable for most modern machines. If you have such pullers, you will save a lot of effort and time spent on dismantling.

Do not use steel screwdrivers when disassembling plastic parts. 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 its former 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 because of the other thread pitch, although outwardly in size they are the same. Sometimes car owners produce periodic photos, fixing where the element was fixed earlier.

Surface preparation

After successful dismantling, the interior elements are placed on a soft, non-abrasive surface. This can be a sheet of chipboard, OSB or any other, made of wood, or large pieces of cardboard.

If you put the element on the asphalt, even with the most careful attitude, the plastic will be scratched. To prevent dust and other small particles from sticking, when the plastic is painted with a can, the surface is pre-treated with an antistatic agent. Even a small villus can well spoil the final result of the work.

Further, the painting of the plastic interior is accompanied by surface treatment with sandpaper. All existing defects - cracks and scratches are thoroughly ground and, if necessary, shpaklyuyutsya.

If this is a crack in the responsible node (for example, a door handle that is constantly subject to stress), for greater reliability, it is treated with a thick sealant on the inside. In order not to scratch the surface, periodically wet the sandpaper in the water.

After that, the coating is thoroughly degreased. To do this, use white spirit, gasoline, or anti-silicone. The latter excellently corrodes fatty spots and gives a good basis for engaging plastic with new paint.

Then apply a primer for the plastic for painting. It should be applied in 3 thin salts from a distance of at least 20 centimeters. Otherwise, there will be streaks. And to remove traces of such aerosol is extremely difficult, since it reacts with plastic and promotes better adhesion of nitro-enamels.

Next, the final painting of the plastic car - using a spray gun or can, a new layer is applied to the surface. If it is metallic, it requires a special application technology. After drying (approximately 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 sagging will say that it was produced "tinted," and substandard. It is better to process one area in several layers than to pour a bunch of paint at a time to the entire perimeter. The coating is then thoroughly polished with a wax paste.

Brush

Use this tool instead of cans - an extremely risky business. After all, with the slightest inaccuracy, there is a risk of formation of streaks. In addition, the layer from the brush is thick enough and its drying time is about 24 hours. In this regard, aerosols are several times greater than this method of coloration. If you did not have previous experience with painting and want to spend less time drying up the element, of course, choose a can.

Helpful Tips

To perform the work you will need the most clean and well ventilated room. On the street, this should not be done - the slightest dust will spoil all diligence. Also, do not forget about precautions. In our case, if it is painting the plastic of the car interior, you need to protect the respiratory tract with a respirator, and your eyes - with goggles.

The car itself should be far from the place of painting - the slightest speck of paint disperses through the air at a distance of up to 5 meters. When it dries on the paintwork of the body, it will be very difficult to remove. If it's small parts, instead of cardboard and plaques an old newspaper fits.

As for the choice of color, the car's plastic interior is painted with one purpose - to refresh the interior. You do not need to buy bright colors, with the idea to prepare a car "for sport". So you just ruin the interior, and when you sell such a car will be valued less than factory.

Therefore, we choose the most "stock" shade. When dismantling the cabin, try to memorize or fix photos of the place where the part was standing. Various small things in the form of buttons of doors, fringing of handles and regulators of an air line put in a separate niche.

When working with a can, do not forget that inside it is very reactive paint. With a large number of it, it easily "undermines" the past layers on the plastic, forming pimples. The plastic is painted with such components from a long distance. It is advisable to use the cap "torch" for this purpose - for more uniform application of the composition to the surface.

Alternative to painting

By the way, small scratches can simply be removed with the help of abrasive polishing. Painting plastic is not necessary here. It is important for this to prepare a nozzle for the drill and a special paste containing an abrasive - a diamond crumb.

But when performing such operations it is necessary to monitor the temperature of the plastic. From high speed and polishing it easily overheats - it is important to catch the right moment when the plastic starts to "press in", erasing the edges of the scratch. At larger deformations, for example, cracks, this method of repair is useless.

Is it necessary to priming?

Automakers use several types of salon plastic. One of them requires a primer, the other does not. It is better to consult with experts in advance or to conduct several tests.

How do you test it yourself?

The first way is checking for flammability. If this piece of plastic emits soot when burning, it requires a primer. But since we need to restore, and not completely burn it, we use an alternative method for verification. Place the plastic part in a container of water. If it is drowned in water, a primer is not required. If it floats, the painting of the plastic is necessarily accompanied by priming. When processing the "sandpaper", observe the transition of graininess - from a larger one at first to a shallow "zero" at the end. So you will not have bully and paint completely fill the existing pores on the surface. To give more shine, use several layers of varnish.

Conclusion

So, we found out how the car's plastic is painted. As you can see, you can do the work yourself. The main thing is to observe the technology and not to forget about security measures. After all, the paint pairs strongly affect the person's airways, liver and other organs.