Best way to paint interior?

J

Jiveslug

New member
Hey gang. We are almost done stripping the interior! Woohoo! I know, I know, its only the beginning but Im just happy to be making some measurable progress... Anyway, Im looking at ideas to paint the interior of the car. Im assuming I should wait until after we install the cage? The only thing that concerns me is that between the time that the interior is all out (i.e. next weekend) and the cage is installed (i.e. I have no idea when), will I have to worry about rust? Its winter-time of course, but Im in L.A., so its not terribly wet. Also, what color should I paint it? I dont want to blind myself from glare. Im thinking a flat white/grey/black? The car itself is looking like it will be Grabber Orange and flat black, so Id kind of like to co-ordinate colors.... Thanks everyone!

Ryan
 
Ryan,
Here is the way we do it.
After the cage is in and all metal work is DONE. And you have removed all the insulation and sound deadening material from the interior.
1. Vacuum any dirt and metal out with the shop vac.
2. Cover or remove all glass.
3. Vacuum again.
4. Wipe down all surfaces to be painted with a rag that has Brake Cleaner on it.
5. Allow about twenty minutes to "air out".
6. Use Krylon Hard Hat Primer in the spray can. We use the "Light Machine Grey" (picture a shade lighter than battleship grey) color for less interior glare. But there is "Dark Machine Grey" as well.
7. Apply the paint in thin layers, with about an hour of drying time between coats.

Paint everything, floor, ceiling, cage, firewall, etc. Allow to dry for 24 hours. Your are now ready for the fun of putting the car together.

We have done all of our cars this way. One was done this way in 1993 and the grey paint on the interior looks great with no cracks or blemishes visible.

Good Luck
"dangerous" dave parker
wdcr ITC->HP #97
 
Originally posted by Jiveslug@Nov 17 2005, 03:29 PM
Hey gang.  We are almost done stripping the interior!  Woohoo!  I know, I know, its only the beginning but Im just happy to be making some measurable progress...  Anyway, Im looking at ideas to paint the interior of the car.  Im assuming I should wait until after we install the cage?  The only thing that concerns me is that between the time that the interior is all out (i.e. next weekend) and the cage is installed (i.e. I have no idea when), will I have to worry about rust?  Its winter-time of course, but Im in L.A., so its not terribly wet.  Also, what color should I paint it?  I dont want to blind myself from glare.  Im thinking a flat white/grey/black?  The car itself is looking like it will be Grabber Orange and flat black, so Id kind of like to co-ordinate colors....  Thanks everyone!

Ryan
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I am not as careful about it as Parker, but I agree with the light machine grey from home depot or lowes. It doesn't look dirty when it is, you can get it anytime, it's easy to touch up. I will go in and vacuum, but that's about all I do. I paint right over the dirt and anything else. Paint everything and every once in awhile (every couple years) reapply as needed. Works great.
 
Krylon all the way (I prefer "Classic Grey").

I also like to paint all the roll cage tubes (masking the joints for fishmouthing and welding) AFTER bending and test fitting, but BEFORE welding/final installation.

For the Cage tubes you should also prime them with something compatible with the Krylon top coats.

AFTER welding, you just paint the welded joints.

It is difficult to get a nice complete paint job on the tubes after they are installed.
 
All good points..

If you are going to paint the car, (it's easy) then get yourself some Prep-sol, or whatever prepaint cleaner your supplier has for the paint lines he sells. Brakekleen may work fine as a cleaner, but there are different formulations, and you could have a compatibility problem.

I agree, vacuum and clean everything ...prep is 79% of the secret.

I like a glossy medium grey, and if you go the spray can route, krylon is your ONLY choice, unless you get carried away and go Wirth or something.

Prepaint the tubes, good idea Joe.

I like a metalic finish, so my interior is silver, and i hate the one coat metalics, so it was a base coat then a clear coat application.

Good luck, and do a good job!
 
I've done it just about every way possible. I've brushed, spray bombed, prepainted the tubes and used an HVLP gun. Each has their plusses and minuses.

If you go with the Rustoleum in the 1 qt can, be aware that it isn't compatable with the same color in the spray can.

Prepainting is definitely the way to go, although I don't always do it, or I'll just do the areas I know I'll have trouble getting to once the cage is installed. Just depends on how much I'm going to be climbing around in the car during the install.

The HVLP gun probably turns out the best with rattle can coming in second. I've yet to try one of the hvlp detail guns. I'm thinking that one of those would make easy work out of it.

Scotch Brite pads work well for tube prep.
 
SEM makes a nice grey that covers well, sticks to anything, can be clear coated and is easy to recoat later. Did mine w/ a HLVP gun & it came out well. Stuff also works well for inner fender areas, under the trans tunnel etc. Can be brushed on if the finish isn't so picky. Lighter colors sure make it easier to work in later. Masking will take longer than you think.

I also konw a guy who sent is SM car off to Macco and they did inside & out for about $500. He did all the dissassembly/reassembly. He said they didn't get too many of the gauges painted over.
 
I am in the process of painting my interior now (and have been for months!). I spray bombed the last car I built and was disappointed with the appearance and durability of the finished product.

Currently I have done all the proper prep (per Jake) and broke it down into sections. That's because I went a different route with the paint, using Krylon in a quart can and a steady supply of sponge brushes. The beauty is that the paint goes on pretty thick, which makes it more durable than the spray bombed finish. It also dries very glossy, and smooths itself to lay very flat, virtually eliminating brush lines.

I'm pretty pleased with the final result; it's just a pain in the arse. :)
 
cleanfloor.jpg


I used brush Rustoleum on the last one (above) but, since the chassis is completely stripped, we're going to have someone who actually knows what they are doing spray the new car inside and out. We are going to color match the interior color to rattlecan Rustoleum white, so we can do the inevitable touch-ups. Another trick I'm doing this time is putting 3M antichip film on high wear places, like where the driver crawls over the door bars.

K
 
Gee, what's w/ all the gray? I gather that Ryan wants his interior to go w/ his ext. color scheme - not generic primer gray. Ryan, I assume your interior is black now so I'd go w/ that but not flat; don't worry about glare, you want durability and the glossier the easier to clean. And black is a pretty universal match. IMO paint from a can is the best way on the floor - you can practically pour it on and it will fill all the little cracks and crevices that will still show if you spray it. Just plug any holes
 
Originally posted by bldn10@Nov 18 2005, 11:12 AM
Gee, what's w/ all the gray? I gather that Ryan wants his interior to go w/ his ext. color scheme - not generic primer gray. Ryan, I assume your interior is black now so I'd go w/ that but not flat; don't worry about glare, you want durability and the glossier the easier to clean. And black is a pretty universal match. IMO paint from a can is the best way on the floor - you can practically pour it on and it will fill all the little cracks and crevices that will still show if you spray it. Just plug any holes
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Bill, you're from Memphis and should know a black exterior is already like an oven on a sunny day, a black interior only makes it worse. :)

The generally accepted idea on color I've always heard from "professional" builders is everything in white except flat black when you are trying to hide something clever. White does make it hard to keep clean because it does show any little bit of dirt or imperfection, but that also makes routine maintenance and emergency troublshooting easier. On the interior that's not usually as much of an issue so light grey is a good compromise in my mind. Oh and about the black thing, I was told there is a reason the rear suspensio/chassis/etc of F1 cars is all flat black, it makes it much harder to see details. Just what I've heard. <_<
 
Mine came with the interior pained with Rustoleum Hammertone Silver. Looks great, hides everything due to the multile tones of silver and texture and comes in a spray bomb at Home Depot. It seems like some pretty tough paint as it was a bitch trying to scuff it in the door jams when I painted the car. The 3M pad did not want to cut into it.
 
Different priorities dictate different strategies but I go with white because I prefer to NOT hide anything. If dirt is less visible on a particular color, so are cracks, fluid drips, dropped bits, or crap that's going to get blown around the interior when on-track.

I've never understood the glare issue. I always seem to be too busy looking out the windshield to have to deal with it. :)

K
 
We used flat black in the last couple of cars we've done and it is quite hard to clean. But, we cheat so much that we've got to use flat black to hide all the questionable items in the car. :blink:

Next car I do I'm going to try something along the lines of the greys or whites I've seen mentioned on this thread. I've sort of come to the conclusion, as some of you already knew, that the flat black is simply not very durable and needs constant attention to look decent. Plus, it is hotter than hell on a sunny day!
 
For wiring, don't paint it!!

You never know when you will need to trace a problem and OEM color coding on wires is IMPORTANT.

You are probably asking how to mask it before painting. Right?

De-clip and roll it up out of the way (as best you can) and try wrapping the bundle of wires with ALUMINUM FOIL. Works great.

Avoid masking tape.

Cheers.
 
Aw just keep it covered. My interior is white now, as is the entire chassis. The question from Ryan is not what WE would paint our cars but what HE should paint his. W/ orange and black exterior and an interior that is already black, I would still go w/ black unless he is going to strip it totally so he can paint everywhere. I can't imagine why he would want white w/ that color scheme.
 
Originally posted by Knestis@Nov 18 2005, 06:34 AM
I used brush Rustoleum on the last one (above) but, since the chassis is completely stripped, we're going to have someone who actually knows what they are doing spray the new car inside and out. We are going to color match the interior color to rattlecan Rustoleum white, so we can do the inevitable touch-ups. Another trick I'm doing this time is putting 3M antichip film on high wear places, like where the driver crawls over the door bars.

K
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I'm with Kirk, white is the way to go.
As a point, GM Fleet white matches Rustoleum white in the spray can.
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Marcus, who wishes he had time to paint the interior of the new car, before the 25 hours.
 
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