Console Painting Q

[Longhorn Man]

I have a red-ish console here, and I need to make it black.
This truck will be a daily driver, and I am not always as nice to my stuff as I should be.
With that in mind... would I be better off PAINTING the thing black...or a good vinal dye. I can see either one beeing better in one way or another...and they both seem to have there short comings too.

Whats everyone think on this....esp those who have re-colored yours in the past.

[Harold Shepard]

The fusion paint from krylon seems to hold up really well, used it on a console I got from Dlilly and even sitting in the garage and birds doing their thing on it and no problems that I can see, yes I know it should be covered but what better test??

[EighthD]

3m makes a conditioner for plastic. I beleive its called plastic prep. You clean it with the plastic prep then you spray the paint on.

[super72bb]

Andy,

I recommend sems vinyl die. My counsel was fixed and redone by a local company (I had some cracks in the bottom mounting holes). He then sprayed it with sems vinyl die and it turned out to be perfect. use lots of light coats when spraying it on. It has the right sheen to match the factory finish and I am told that it is very durable. However... I must say, I have been very careful not to see how tough it really is yet.

Another tip-- if you are fixing any cracks or scuffs on the outer surfaces on the top, you can somewhat reproduce the factory texture by using a scotch bright pad and just dabbing the surface of your filler with it before it has set up. It may take some trial and error but if it is done right it is very cool. Obviously this would only work in a small area I wouldnt attempt it on a large repair area.

Curt

[BobbyK]

I refurbished my center console about 1.5 yrs ago and it's holding up real well.
I used a SEM brand plastic paint.Got it from my local bodyshop supply store.
Click HERE for the pic's.

Before


after



I've abused the console with everyday used and such.I've even stood on it a couple times.The SEM vinyl paint is still looking great!

[Longhorn Man]

bobbyk...that looks awsome.
Thanks guys.

[71cadc10]

I've used the SEM vinyl dye on my caddy interior and it is the way to go. Kind of hard to find the SEM product sometimes.

A trick to making it adhere real good is to use either their prep product or to wipe the vinyl with laquer thinner a few minutes before spraying. It opens the "pores" of the vinyl and makes it stick like hell. Do the first coat light, then successive light coats until you're happy with it. (don't wipe it with the laquer thinner after the first coat, obviously)