Austin Vert's Tips on Floor Console Refinishing.

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Hi To All,

Just wanted to put up a fresh post on floor console respraying or refinishing for the DIY boys who want to do the job themselves. I much prefer to use a good quality auto Acrylic Lacquer paint from a tin than other finishes like 2Pak satin or flat enamels, and single pak quick dry satin or flat enamels as well. 2Pak satin enamels do offer better wear and chip /scratch resistance than lacquer does, but if you ever need to do a touch up on the console when it's in place later on it's very much easier to use lacquer to touch up than the 2Pak paint. In it's own right, lacquer is still a very durable paint in many ways.Easy to use and apply, quick drying, easy paint rectification if needed, and little fuss with masking. That would be my first choice of paint to use for this application.

OK, Now the original plastic finish on the consoles had a grain pattern on the surface. That gives a nice appearence to the console. If your console has been resprayed in the past by somebody, what paint they used plays a big part as to how easily that paint will come off. In your case, the paint that was put on could be in good condition maybe, and looks OK. If it does, then do an adhesion test by getting a couple of strips of 3/4 inch masking tape, and lay them on the surface, pressing down hard on them. Grab the end of the tape, and rip it off very fast off the surface. If the tape pulls away any paint in that process, then you have poor ahesion, and it would be best to remove that said paint and refinish. If the paint sticks, then all you need to do is give the existing finish a nice light dry sand down with 800 wet & dry sandpaper, just to give a gentle smoothing effect, and get some adhesion happening as well.Be carefull though, if the paint used was a quick dry enamel, because it will be very solvent sensitive, and you will get reaction and paint problems when you try to refinish it. If it was refinished in Lacquer, that should present no problems in that regard. If your console was refinished in 2Pak, getting that finish off will be very difficult to achieve, and so if the adhesion is OK, leave that paint on and refinish in Acrylic Lacquer satin black. Remember, it's OK to put lacquer over 2Pak, but not 2Pak over lacquer. Evenly scuff/sand down the old 2Pak finish to get good adhesion before any new paints are to be applied. 800 or 1000 grade wet and dry will do a good job with that.

However, if you decide to remove the paint that was put on, be very careful. The original plastic factory finish is solvent sensitive, and can get ruined in the paint removal process if your not careful. There are special dedicated plastic paint strippers on the market, but be careful when you use them as they still could cause a reation with the original plastic finish. (start melting it) Don't use conventional paint strippers, as they will stuff up the original finish. In my case, i removed the crap paint by using an auto product called 2 pak reducer. That reducer can be bought from auto paint supply shops. Don't use auto thinners as thinners will effect the original finish. Reducer is less stringent and won't attack the original surface as thinners or acetones will. So saturate a white cotton rag with reducer,( no dripping off rag) and progressively work your way around the console section by section, and wash/wipe off the paint. Change your rags often to achieve best results. Don't let excess reducer run down the suface or pool in any places as well. This process should remove the paint and take you down to the original suface without stuffing up the grain of the original finish.

Once you have removed the old paint you wanted to, let the original surface dry for an hour or so, and then dry scuff the surface down with 800 wet & dry sandpaper to smooth off. You should be ready to repray the console after this basic process. Primers are not necessary, unless you're hell bent on using them. Remember, the more paint you spray on, the more you will start hiding the original grain pattern effect. I choose a good quality auto acrylic lacquer in satin black to refinish. Lacquer paints like to be shot from suction feed guns with a 2 ml setup. You can use conventional gravity feed guns, but your setup can't be below 1.8 ml - 2ml is ideal. I bought a premixed satin black tin, reduced it with good lacquer thinners, 40% paint and 60% thinners, and sprayed it through a gravity feed spraygun witha 2 ml setup. You could probably apply around or up to 3/4/5/6 coats of lacquer, letting each coat dry or flash off from glossy to dulll look. Aerosol spray tins can be used, but i don't like them as they don't contain the correct thickness of paint (too thin with solvents and propellents and not enough paint)and require too many coats to get a good film thickness build. You can use flat black, but i find the satin gives a nice soft classy look to the finished job. It comes alive better than flat black. So that's what i did on mine to refinish the console to a great looking standard. My plastychrome was stuffed, and i ended up paying around $145.00 for a new part where the clock sits in. However, the black finish on that new part is playing up already, as the paint is starting to come off in little spots, and i'll have to touch the part up with satin black very soon. Bummer!!

Also i wanted to talk about cracks in the console plastic as well. I can offer some good advice on crack repair and refinishing after. You can take a DIY approach, or get a plastic repair company to do the job which involves plastic welding and/or refinishing. The cost should not be over expensive, and they can simulate the original grain texture in the repaired areas as well. They can then refinish for you or you can do that yourself with the satin black acrylic lacquer.

If you decide to repair the cracks yourself, you can go about it in a few ways. Repairing a crack that has not gone all the way through the thickness of the plastic involves a certain proceedure, just as repairing a crack that has gone all the way through requires a different approach.For surface cracks, you can just form or shape a V in the plastic along the actual crack line itself. This can be done in two ways. First, get a hot soldering iron and gently run the tip along tha crack line, melting the plastic as you go. Don't go through the thickness of the plastic wall when doing this. Or, get some 80 grit dry sandpaper, fold it over a couple of times, and then carefully sand a small depth V along the crack line.

Once that's done, back fill and slightly overfill the V groove with 2 Pak wiping putty or Bondo. Then dry sand the filler back down gently with rubbing block and 120 grade dry paper till level and flat. Now start refinishing the damaged area with a good quality lacquer spray putty primer combo paint (aerosol can or out of the tin). When dry, block putty down with 400grade wet and dry paper either dry or wet.(wet's easier to sand)

You are now ready for the satin black lacquer topcoats to finish off. If you are using lacquer from the paint tin, mix a brew up that's slightly thicker than a 60% thinner and 40% paint mix. Say 50%paint and 50% thinner. The trick of simulating a textured grain finish like the original is to apply a few medium wet coats at a very low air pressure, (around 5 to 20 PSI at the gun head) around the repair area, loosing the textured finish out into the surrounding areas as you go. Let each coat dry before applying the next. This technique lets the thicker paint come out of the gun in a type of spatter coat, which will mostly disguise the repair to the crack. Thin the paint to a 60/40 ratio to refinish the rest of the console.Using a pressure pak spraycan of putty primer can work also for the texture coat, but not quite as good a finish as using a spraygun would do using thickened satin black lacquer. Also, if you have any scratches or gouges in the original finish, you can apply the same techniques with backfilling the gouges or scratches with 2Pak wiping puty ,and then use the spray putty primer, and go to the thick satin black lacquer application to simulate the original texured grain effect.

Repairing cracks all the way through, requires you to rienforce the plastic wall behind the crack first. This can be done in a few ways too. Some guys like to apply a fiberglass repair sheet to the back of the cracked wall first. You can also glue a thin piece of metal or plastic sheeting to the backside wall behind the crack with epoxy glue or Sikaflex adhesive, or even bondo as an option. Some guys sand down the back wall behind the crack,with 80grit dry paper, and then apply a nice thick spread of overlayed bondo.When the back is finished, you can use the same front face V grooving and filling techniques as mentioned above. Refinishing is the same proceedure as well.

So there are a few ideas and approaches to refinishing and crack repairs.Hope that helps.

Thanks

Greg.:) (Pro Spraypainter)

 
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