HOW-TO: Paint Interior Trim for DIY DASH KITS!

Okay this is a very easy mod to do yourself, especially if you want to make your interior look a little more to your style. Basically what you will be doing is taking apart the interior trim panels and painting them as you would if you were painting anything outside. The goal here is to have something that has a clear coat on it that can be waxed to produce a great shine. There are SO MANY ideas for you to choose from. For that sake of simplicity, I'm going to show you what I did with Radiant Silver as a colour, though there was some paint out there for abut $30, which would produce either a metalic or mystify look but I cheaped out and got the $5 paint

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WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
- 150, 220, and 400 grit sand paper
- Sandable spray primer,
- Colour base coat of your choice
- Clear Top Coat
- Philips head screw driver.

OPTIONAL:
- Box with lots of news paper (to prevent mess)
- PATIENCE (results come out great if you wait).
- Automotive PAINTER's tape (really makes things easier)

Step 1: Remove the trim pieces you want to paint, to make this simple I just removed the trim pieces on the doors, though I have already painted the HVAC, the right passenger vent, the headlight trim, and I'm still trying to decide what to do with the main dash cover...

Here in the picture are all the materials you need/that I used.

And here you'll see my dash is off, and I'm contemplating a pattern.

Step 2: Prep the pieces by sanding them with 220 grit paper. I started with 150 but that was because of the scratches and marks on them already, all you really need is 220 then spray with primer.

Step 3: Spray EVENLY at about 10 to 12 inches away and do QUICK light coats of primer (I'm not over or underestimating, do that please). And allow a good 1 1/2hrs to 2hrs to dry and cure.

Step 4: Spray EVENLY at about 10 to 12 inches away and do QUICK light coats of BASE COAT. ALlow a good 3 to 5 hours to cure and dry in the SUN of if possible

Step 5: After the base has cured/dried, spray on the clear coat in the same manner.

Step 6: Allow the clear coat to dry, then wash the trim pieces and apply a wax to them

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Here's a pic of the final results.

I'm planning to paint the bottom of the door on the inside, (the trim piece that goes from the door handle and becomes a little cubby space just to match.

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1998 Mercury Mystique LS

- Looking for SVT EXHAUST, SVT Rear bumper (silver frost) and ANY rocker mouldings (side skirts)

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