Interior Exterior
Q:
I painted my center console and engine covers last week. In total it took three days. I sort of enjoy doing this kind of stuff so it wasn't too bad. As in all cases of painting the most important factors are prep/wet sanding, cleanliness, and patience.
THE BOOTH
I don't have access to a professional paint booth freely (sort of) so I made my own. I first made a square 6ft x 6ft frame, covered it up with plastic sheeting and suspended it under my deck with some rope and a carabiner. I looped the rope through the 'biner and tied the other end of the rope to a heavy dumbbell. This allowed me to raise and lower the whole both when not in use. It only took 1 hour to create this booth. Total cost was about $30 (minus the 'biner I already had)
PAINT SUPPLIES
Next were the paint supplies. I went to a local paint shop (Gladwin) and bought 1 pint of CO base coat, 1 pint of Pearl mid coat, a can of adhesion promoter, one can of clear enamel, two cans of acrylic enamel clear (not pictured), two spray paint bottles, two additional cans of propellant, 600/1500/2000 grit sand paper. If you're wondering why CO costs more, now you know. It's a three stage paint process hence it takes more time to paint. But done correctly it is gorgeous. Total cost of paint supplies was about $130
PREP
I went over each part with 600 grit paper. Make sure you get coverage everywhere. Then I just washed the parts with Dawn liquid soap. I didn't use any acrysol or solvent to clean the plastic parts. Too harsh. Next I hit the parts with two coats of adhesion promoter letting it dry between the coats of course.
PAINT
So after the adhesion promoter had time to cure (about 1 hour). I laid the the fist layer of CO base coat on. Your first layer should be very thin. You should still be able to see through the paint. Some paints cover better than others but the idea is to keep the layer fine and thin for smoothness and to prevent runs later on as you layer more onto the parts. Again, depending on the brand it could take 3 or 4 coats to get good coverage. I bought Nasson paint because it was the only brand the store had in CO so in this case it took about 3 layers to get the first full coverage of the base coat down. I ended up with 6 layers and let it all dry over night. Dupont Chroma base is usually much better and usually only takes 2 sprays to have good full coverage. Again let it dry between each coat. I waited about an hour between each coat. Time will vary with humidity and temp. It was hot those days and about 70% humidity (not good).
COLOR SANDING (WET SANDING)
So here is where hard work will really pay off in the end. This is day 2 now and all the parts have their first full coverage of base coat. I began with 600 and worked my way down to 1500 and then 2000. Be careful and go slowly! Use lots of water! I used a bucket of water and dipped the parts and paper in often as I sanded away all the peaks of paint. You should end up with a smooth but dull looking finish.
After wet sanding clean the parts again with lots of water and let dry in preparation for the mid coat, since this is a 3 stage process. If your color is 2 stage, you'd go directly to clear at this point.
MID-COAT
So I basically did the same thing here as I did with the base coat but only layered on about 4 layers of the pearl. Again, this will vary with quality of paint and preference for how much pearl you like in your final product. In this case I wouldn't go less than three coats.
WET SAND AGAIN
This is now the end of day two and the mid coat had about 3 hours to dry. I began wet sanding this from 600-2000 just like the base coat. Again the paint surface should be hazy but smooth. One good way of checking to see how it would look from this point on is to splash water on the parts. the water acts like a clear coat to let you see how it would look when clear coated. Note at this point I also hand painted the logo and letters with enamel model paint.
CLEAR COAT
It's the beginning of day 3 and I'm ready to clear. Again first layer of clear is very thin. Let it dry and layer on the 2nd later, etc. It's crucial that you go slowly here. Clear is very easy to run. I have 4 layers if acrylic enamel on all the parts. I experimented with adding two layer to enamel only to the engine cover. It seems to be even glossier than the center console.
WET SAND AGAIN
So after the last layer of clear dried for about 3 hours I began wet sanding again. This time I mainly work from 1500 - 2000 because the previous layers were so smooth and the clear went on well. there were small areas that needed 600 - 2000.
BUFFING
Now hit the parts with a DA. I used my Porter Cable on a 3 setting. I first used a light cutting pad with 1Z Paint Polish. Then I used a soft pad with 1Z metallic polish. Again the idea here is to work from rough to fine grit just like the sanding to remove all the peaks in the paint.
Now install, sit back and enjoy the bling!
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More pics
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I'm VERY impressed. Done some painting with the Preval sprayers before, but not to this extent.
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Nice... Might as well do it right... hint, hint Modern Wedgie. Note the TTP's engine covers.
Neil
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Great Job!! Looks awesome!
Does it match the CO in the rest of the car pretty good?
Just because it's CO i'll throw a
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I'm VERY impressed. Done some painting with the Preval sprayers before, but not to this extent.
Then you know my pain. It was a challenge to work with the Preval sprayers. The mist wasn't fine. Nothing wet sanding can't take car of. My friend has a professional booth and guns but I didn't want to bother him for three straight days.
Does it match the CO in the rest of the car pretty good?
Color match is pretty spot on. Pearlescance is a good match as well. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this paint again if I had to repaint a hardtop or something. I just wish my shop had it in Dupont Chromabase, Spies Hecker, or House of Color.
One more tip about painting the logo (yellow and green area). Use paint thinner to thin out the enamel paint to the visocosity of water. Load a small brush with the paint and dab it in the field. Fill this void up with the paint until the miniscus if the paint is above the plane of the plastic. Let dry and then paint the letters and outlines with a brush or paint pen. If don't thin the paint and just try to brush it in you'll get VERY blotchy results in those fields.
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Very nice TTP. I love the look and I'm glad someone has taken the time to do it right. I would not consider doing this project unless I sanded it properly and got the finish smooth. What was the total cost?
Might try this over the summer.
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Very nice TTP. I love the look and I'm glad someone has taken the time to do it right. I would not consider doing this project unless I sanded it properly and got the finish smooth. What was the total cost?
Might try this over the summer.
Thanks. Total was about $160
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It looks awesome. I did it quite a bit less professionally but just as nice (I think) for about $30. Mine, though, has the factory "orange peel" in the center console still.
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TTP - that looks great! This is the kind of project i would LOVE to do, but don't think I have the patience for the sanding. How do you guys think this would look in SY? Has anyone done it yet?
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Saffron console
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Oh crap - now i have to do it. Thanks alot TTP.
I really like the detail work you did on the lotus badge. Especially since it reminded me of my model car days when i was a kid. I feel obligated to follow your lead.
Did you use a pen for the Lotus lettering? It all looked very, very clean.
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Trieu,
Wow! That looks fantastic! I can't wait to see it in person at the drive.
I bought a couple cans of mixed Bordeaux Red paint from Tower Paint, along with some adhesion promoter. I plan to do the interior bits like yours as well.
It doesn't sound too hard, just time consuming. I can build a paint booth pretty easily either in the back yard or garage.
So if I have premixed spray paint cans and my paint is not multiple stage like yours, the steps should be:
1. Sand center console
2. Spray with adhesion promoter
3. Sand any surface irregularities
4. Spray with Bordeaux spray paint
5. Sand, repeat step 4 until its smooth.
6. Spray with clear coat.
Right? I might have some questions for you on this.... but I'm going to try it soon.
-Dave
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Oh crap - now i have to do it. Thanks alot TTP.
I really like the detail work you did on the lotus badge. Especially since it reminded me of my model car days when i was a kid. I feel obligated to follow your lead.
Did you use a pen for the Lotus lettering? It all looked very, very clean.
CJL,
It's a fun project. I wasn't the first to do these mods. I like to think I improved them a little.
I painted the center console on my previous SY Elise and it looked great. Check this thread out. I did some embossing on that console. I still may emboss this CO console but I have another idea in mind! Just not sure I have the guts to do it.
I used a #2 brush on the lettering. The pen doesn't give me control over paint viscosity which can affect the blotchiness of the paint.
IMHO, red engine covers look better than SY.
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Trieu,
Wow! That looks fantastic! I can't wait to see it in person at the drive.
I bought a couple cans of mixed Bordeaux Red paint from Tower Paint, along with some adhesion promoter. I plan to do the interior bits like yours as well.
It doesn't sound too hard, just time consuming. I can build a paint booth pretty easily either in the back yard or garage.
So if I have premixed spray paint cans and my paint is not multiple stage like yours, the steps should be:
1. Sand center console
2. Spray with adhesion promoter
3. Sand any surface irregularities
4. Spray with Bordeaux spray paint
5. Sand, repeat step 4 until its smooth.
6. Spray with clear coat.
Right? I might have some questions for you on this.... but I'm going to try it soon.
-Dave
Dave,
Thanks! Does the BRP paint from Tower contain a clear coat mixed in?
1. Sand center console
2. Spray with adhesion promoter (you can't sand the adhesive promoter) If it's a primer coat you can. The one used isn't primer.
3. Spray with Bordeaux spray paint
4. Sand any surface irregularities
5. Sand, repeat step 3 & 4 until its smooth and good coverage.
6. Spray with clear coat.
You'll still need to sand and buff after the clear coat. Let me know if you need help.
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I don't really like the red covers - but I should see them in person first. Anyone have a set in SoCal?
TTP: excuse my ignorance (I'm new here, and relatively dumb) but what happened to your SY? You are aware that SY is a much faster color then CO, right? Something about weight...
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I don't really like the red covers - but I should see them in person first. Anyone have a set in SoCal?
TTP: excuse my ignorance (I'm new here, and relatively dumb) but what happened to your SY? You are aware that SY is a much faster color then CO, right? Something about weight...
Yellow covers do look good too. I think it would be unique because I haven't seen any yellow covers done yet. It would also take car of the yellow field in the logo too.
My SY car went crunch.
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Sad to hear about your SY. But the CO is bitchin' as well.
I think I'll get on this in the next month or two. Not sure how I feel about the console being SY, but at least the engine cover - mainly cuz the logo detail will look great!
Thanks for the inspiration TTP! Can you inspire me now to work on this mountain of real work I've been procrastinating all day?
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You are aware that SY is a much faster color then CO, right?
The COM is now watching you closly...
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-meh- The COM couldn't watch their way out of a wet paper sack. :-p When you all see a yellow streak, that'll be me. I'll slow down and wave, but only for a second.