Paint Door Panels?

**tuttle** · 08-01-2007, 03:44 PM

Hi,

I have a few questions. I am currently looking to paint my interior door panels on my car. I want to paint them with the same exterior paint so it matches exactly and lasts long as well as is durable.

What would be the best way to do this? I take it I would have to bondo the doors first? Or would I sand, fiberglass, bondo, sand, prime, paint and then clear them?

Thanks!

Adam

**freedom9ner** · 08-01-2007, 03:49 PM

Depends on the type of door panel. If it's some sort of hard plastic I think you can get away with:

1 sanding flat to remove any factory textures/patterns
2 adhesion promotor
3 primer
4 base
5 clear

but this may be an over simplification 'cause I've never done this.

If your doors are vynal or other soft materials, then I really don't know. It may not even be possible.

**tuttle** · 08-01-2007, 03:55 PM

Would that give me a totally smooth surface?

**monkeyracer** · 08-02-2007, 09:49 PM

The sanding would give you the smooth surface, if you have a hard surface.

If you have a soft material like vinyl, then you would probably be best to re-fabricate them out of fiberglass.

**RedGTiVR6** · 08-02-2007, 10:19 PM

If you're going to drive this car on a regular basis, you don't want to paint your interior panels.

I can't tell you how many people end up regretting it. A member of our team swore up and down he wanted to do it to his truck...now he swears up and down that he'll never do it again. Door pannels are made of flexible materials for a reason, painting them makes them not so flexible.

If you want to dress up your interior pannels, custom mold speaker pods, do some fabric inserts, etc. Paint only small portions, not the entire door panel.

**redls1bird** · 08-02-2007, 10:42 PM

(or she) You really dont want to paint your panels. They invariably look cheap afterwards. Try to think of any factory application that looked decent that incorporated paint on the panels... I cant. I agree with red. Try some fabric inserts, or modification of the panel itself with some fiberglass or something of the sort. Chances are if it looks crappy when grey, it will look just as crappy in powder baby blue, or cherry red.

**monkeyracer** · 08-02-2007, 11:09 PM

i personally think it looks way better when wrapped in vinyl or leather, and it's more comfortable

**Spawn12336** · 08-07-2007, 02:29 PM

I painted my interior panels twice now and have had no issues whatsoever.

In order to get them colour matched, you are looking at a 4 part process.
1. clean the panels with alochol to get rid of any of the evil armor all ****e, it will cause you more headaches than it is worth in the long run.
2. (you can sand the panels to scuff them up if you want to, but it's not really necessary, especially if you are working with textured plastic) Get some duplicolour adhesion promoter. 2 coats of that.
3. Spray on you colour, 4-5 thin coats for a nice even finish, waiting 30 minutes between each coat.
4. Clearcoat, 2-3 thin coats. Makes for a nice deep finish.

Don't rub it, wipe it, clean it, or anything for 2 weeks to allow it to properly cure. and you are good to go.

Originally painted with Krylon fusion blue, just way too blue...

**monkeyracer** · 08-07-2007, 04:12 PM

I think the original poster was wanting to make the interior panels look the exact same as the outside sheet metal. Which would mean they would want the perfectly smooth surface that is on the outside. If they wanted to paint just certain pieces, then what you did is perfect.