interior trim + plasti dip = high in my garage

[bulletbikeguy]

So decided to paint my interior molding black. I've taken a ton of pictures of the entire process, i'll post a diy if enough people are interested.

one thing i need to add to my ghetto paintbooth/garage, is a ventilation system. This mask is only teasing me into feeling safe!

[bigm77]

post the pictures buddy!

[bulletbikeguy]

Well I'm on coat 4 and it's clear that the cd cover will likely need to be redone, i thought the texture would cover up the famous cracks but the show up still, oh well bondo job will have to wait till another day.


please forgive errors for right now, i'm using my phone and i have plasti dip in my brains

[NYZ93]

Pix

[bulletbikeguy]

A few pictures while I let things dry up

[528imwayne]

Post em,we would like to see how that trim turns out.

[willymanilly]

haha can't wait till i see pics,
what does black plastidip look like inside a car with black interior?

[PoRkS Z3]

very interested on seeing the end of this..

[mpwr ren rebel]

Plasti-dip is awesome stuff. I'm probably going to do 3M Di-Noc CF vinyl on my interior trim. How'd you get the CD player trim piece out? Have a DIY?

Hurry up and post pics btw.

[Devo540]

oookk? Plasti-dip teaser

[hustler905]

I bet it will look a lot like this.

[willymanilly]

i think white plastidip would look better on a car with black interior.

May do this to mine.

[hustler905]

I have also experimented with the crack issue. Honestly, I can't find a good solution other than re-sanding and clearing over the cracked bits. Good luck getting it as nice as the factory finish.

[nike001]

Looks like this. I did this piece when I was fooling around one day and figured I would try it out. Doens't look that bad..




Notice the crack in the middle..I only did one coat. Maybe if you put 2-3 coats on there..you won't be able to see the crack anymore.

[bigm77]

nah man youll always be able to see that crack no matter how many coats you do, i messed up, sanding and making my JANUS DESIGN double din bezel,

to fix it i tried epoxing it, and painting it, you can still see the finest crack. and i used 3-4 light coats.

Very minimum but its still there.

Best thing you can do is EPOXY the crack only and sand it down properly and then the crack will probably be gone, but then if it cracks again someplace else inside, the line will showup on the plasti-dip. im almost 100% certain, so best thing you can do is SAND IT DOWN completely and then prep it and paint it.

[bulletbikeguy]

it's picture time! DIY will have to wait till later. Uploading... ... . .
A few things to keep in mind. 1- it's dark and the plasti dip has a bit of a matte finish so quality pictures from my untrained hand and cheap camera are tough. 2- my gloves left some dusty marks on the finish that I can't take off till the paint has more fully cured. 3- I like how it turned out for the most part, if you don't awesome don't do it to yours

[bigm77]

YOUR CAR IS BEAUTIFUL!!!! i love the interior, did you change up the tones or paint um.. or buy a different color interior parts... omfg.. i want that.

[bulletbikeguy]

How'd you get the CD player trim piece out? Have a DIY?

I did remove and paint the cd player cover trim, but I (gulp) didn't take pictures of the entire process, it was a bit tough to figure out and I forgot to keep snapping pics. Long story short I was able to remove one of the hinge pins from the cd cover assembly and pried the other pin from the bracket. I'll have to do it again when I decide to fix the cracks.

DIY to follow, but I can't tonight.

YOUR CAR IS BEAUTIFUL!!!! i love the interior, did you change up the tones or paint um.. or buy a different color interior parts... omfg.. i want that.

Thanks, I like it too. I haven't had the car long, it just came with the gray/black interior. I love the contrast. Someone above mentioned using white Plasti Dip, which would be so cool but where I have gray leather and door panels I don't think it would workout.

DIY, removing and Plasti Dip'ing your interior trim pieces.

First of all you will need some supplies/tools.

Supplies

1. Plasti Dip Paint (found and Home Depot and other places that I did not buy mine from)
2. Surface to paint on (news paper will work fine)
3. A well ventilated area to paint that is also warm (I sacrificed ventilation in the name of heat)
4. A respirator for keep your lungs from becoming rubber coated. I used a simple cheap face mask but I don't have any black rubber buggers so it must have done the trick)

Tools

1. Plastic interior trim pry tools (Very important and can be purchased for a few bucks at Harbor Freight)
2. Screw Drivers, Philips and Flat
3. Metric Hex Keys (Allen Wrenches)

Please be careful when pulling your trim pieces off, you can snap the wood, break brackets, tear the surrounding interior or become suicidal when any of the aforementioned things occur.

Bellow are the two removal tools I used. They are very strong nylon and once again I purchased them at Harbor Freight so they were cheap!



You begin by pushing the tool under the interior trim like so. Once under the trim you simply pry it away from the dash. It takes a considerable amount of force and makes lots of pop, scratch, ratcheting sounds that will make you soil your lacy panties but it'll be ok. The small pieces have less risk of breaking, so start with them to get a feel for what to expect.


Once you have one corner pulled away from the dash a bit you will want to move to another anchor point to keep from creating too much leverage on the wood.

Here is a view from under the trim as pressure is applied to one of the anchor locations.




Work at it slowly and free up each anchor a little bit at a time.

You will be able to remove all door trim pieces as well as the dash trim with exception to the cd cover.

Once you have removed the trim from the doors and dash you move on to the center console area.

I have an automatic but if I remember correctly this same method is used to remove the boot for the standard. This is very tricky so pay attention. You grab the leather, and you pull up.

The boot and plastic surround will detach from the center console. You do not need to remove the boot! Don't worry about detaching the wiring for the shifter gear indicator or anything else attached to the shifter boot. You will be able to get the wood surround to slip over the shifter lever and boot.

Once free get your screwdriver and attack the two screws found in front of the shifter.


Next you will need to eject the emergency flashers button. This is another technically advanced procedure. Reach into the shifter hole and push the button out with your finger.


Now go after that screw that was hidden by the button.


Next you will need to remove the arm rest. This is further proof that BMW maintenance should only be done by the dealer Get in the back seat and do the following.


Undo the two screws that are located above the air vents

You will now be able to remove the arm rest and access the two screws holding the center console wood panel, ash tray, and neat storage area/sliding cover.

Be sure to remove all the wiring that is attached to the center console wood piece and bracket.

I neglected to take pictures of this but the wood piece is held onto the plastic bracket by a bunch of small silver screws. Take these off and separate the wood from the plastic bracket. It may be glued in parts, if it is slowly pry at it with your tools and hope it doesn't break.

The ash tray lid is also held on by small screws, there are two of them. If you flip the bracket upside down and open the ashtray you will see the two screws, undo them and the lid cover will be free. You can leave the plastic catch attached to the lid or unscrew it if you like.

Now the only part you have left should be the cd cover. This is the most difficult part. You will need to remove the radio and cd player, both of these are simple and fast to remove and require no special stereo tools. Simply pull the volume knob off reveling a small hole under the volume control rod. Figure out what size Allen Wrench it takes and turn the screw to the left until it stops. Now take your pry tool and pry from the side closest to the volume knob. The radio face will come free, you can let it dangle like I did or detach the wiring which would be more unwanted or needed work.

Now you will see two more slightly larger hex bolts that need your attention.

There are two bolts, one on each side. You turn them to the left a bunch of times, the bolt will never come out but the cd player will become more and more free until it comes all the way out when you pull it.

For the rest of the cover removal I have no pictures. I got side tracked with trying to figure it out and forgot about the camera.

You will see that the lid pivots on two small silver hinges with springs attached. Remove the springs and carefully (VERY CAREFULLY!) put a flat head screwdriver between the large cd/radio carrier bracket and the cover hinge. As you pry you will see the pin slip and come loose. The pins are larger in diameter where they fit into the cd/radio carrier bracket, if you use needle nose pliers or maybe even a small hammer, you could tap the pin free by pushing it away from the center (ie each pin needs to go away from the other). On mine the pin on he left came out but the one on the right would not so I only had to pry the right side one to free it. This is very scary and if you're not careful you could snap the cd cover hinge or the cd/radio carrier bracket I'm sorry I didn't take pictures. The cd/radio carrier bracket and the cover hinges are metal so they took a good amount of force from me without breaking.

Now that you've got the cover off and you've changed your sweaty armpit shirt it's time to paint.

Lay the parts on your painting surface like this.


When using any spray paint be sure to shake the crap out of the can before using it. Also spray on a test surface before shooting your parts every time! The nozzles get clogged and you could end up shooting clumps of rubber paint all over your parts.

Begin spraying on the surface under the part then smoothly go over the entire part before releasing the trigger. Don't do that spray, stop, spray, stop thing, it makes for uneven coats and increases your possibility for drips, runs, and splatter. Also remember that more thin coats are better than fewer thick coats.

The best part about Plasti Dip, is that you don't need to prep your parts like you would with conventional paint. Simply clean the parts, I used water and a rag, let them dry and paint them.

Your first coat should look mostly clear like this.

This is your initial bond so too much will cause runs. Allow this to try for 5 minutes then shot another coat.

After I had put on my second coat I was able to apply thicker coats. I would make two medium speed passes. Left to right, then right to left before moving on to the next piece.

Coat two and things start looking much more promising


Remember to allow the parts to dry for 15-30 min then turn them over to shoot the angels you couldn't get before. You will also want to apply a couple coats around the edges to ensure a better bond and keep the edges of your parts from peeling.

Once you have painted 5-7 coats, (by coats I mean cycles of painting then allowing time to dry) you should be done. If you spray some globs onto your project whip it off with your finger, smooth it out and shoot it with more paint. You wouldn't be able to get away with that with standard spray paint but this is much more forgiving.


You put all the trim back together by pressing it back in place. The center console needs to be screwed back together. The cd cover is again the tricky part. I used my adjustable pliers to squeeze the pins back into place. Again be very careful!

Hope you enjoy your new paint job!

[BimmerBreaker]

Even with plasti dip a properly prepped piece will have a better end result. To get rid of the cracks on the final product, simply sand down the crack area until smooth and respray another few coats.

[bulletbikeguy]

Even with plasti dip a properly prepped piece will have a better end result. To get rid of the cracks on the final product, simply sand down the crack area until smooth and respray another few coats.

Oh I agree with ya, I'm just pretty lazy. Plasti Dip even makes primer. I purchased some bondo and wet/dry paper to do it right but I ran out of steam and decided to just shoot it as is. One day I'll pull it back apart and do it right.

[gjVah]

Plastidip is temporary, especially on the center piece around the shifter. You better not let people touch it... lolll

[BimmerBreaker]

Oh I agree with ya, I'm just pretty lazy. Plasti Dip even makes primer. I purchased some bondo and wet/dry paper to do it right but I ran out of steam and decided to just shoot it as is. One day I'll pull it back apart and do it right.

I would never use plasti dip as primer...

[Wolfen]

Plastidip is temporary, especially on the center piece around the shifter. You better not let people touch it... lolll

Very True. It will scuff so fast you won't believe. It's alot of hard work for such a temporary job. Sending it out for plastic chroming or another process including stitched leather would have served much better.

[bulletbikeguy]

Plastidip is temporary, especially on the center piece around the shifter. You better not let people touch it... lolll

We'll see how it goes, if it gets messed up oh well I'll pull it apart and try something else. This was a one evening project that relieved much stress.

I would never use plasti dip as primer...

I was saying, plasti dip makes a primer to be used with the rubberized spray. It supposedly assists in bonding.

[mattmartindrift]

Plastidip is temporary, especially on the center piece around the shifter. You better not let people touch it... lolll

isn't that sort of preparation dependent?