[jjpark]

Anyone out there have any info on cleaning the factory coating off various pieces of interior plastic trim that have degraded in time then repainting??

Mine have a gooey film on them and I'm assuming it's due to age and the coating breaking down. You can scrape it off with your fingernail and I'm looking to clean them and repaint them black.

The plastic trim piece on the steering wheel column that is right below the instrument cluster, plastic bezel around the drivers door master switch panel. Pieces like that.

Anyone?

Thank you

 

[Kittera]

I used the scrubby side of a regular sponge. I've painted a lot of my interior black to add more dual tone to the whole thing. Every piece was taken out and prepared with a scrubby sponge. I then painted with a black and then a matte enamel top coat.

Here's a link to some photos of what I did.

 

[jjpark]

Looks good Kittera

Did you use both types of spray on the pieces? or one for certain pieces and the other for different pieces?

How's it holding up, how long has it been since doing it?

Thanks

 

[captainfantastic]

I sanded the trim pieces with standard emery paper. Subsequent they were covered with WTP

 

[Roostre]

I used SEM Color Coat to paint the grey B5.5 console black when I put it in my B5. There is a 2 or 3 step process that they walk you through. It seems to have held up really well. The only scratches that I have are where the seat belt buckles bump against it.

 

[jjpark]

I sanded the trim pieces with standard emery paper. Subsequent they were covered with WTP

What is WTP?

 

[Electron Man]

Anyone out there have any info on cleaning the factory coating off various pieces of interior plastic trim...?

Try some rubbing alcohol - the 70/30 variety.

Thanks for the tip on SEM Color Coat, Roostre.

 

[Mtech]

What is WTP?

white toilet paper ? white two ply?

 

[Kittera]

Looks good Kittera

Did you use both types of spray on the pieces? or one for certain pieces and the other for different pieces?

How's it holding up, how long has it been since doing it?

Thanks

I used the black paint+primer first on each piece, two coats for each. Let that dry then put on two coats of the matte enamel top coat. Each piece I painted was taken out of the car, disassembled and masked as needed. It yielded a very close color match to the factory black elements already present.

I just couldn't stand the bland greyness. Had it been a tan-interior car I'd have probably been fine with it. Black and tan go better together than black and gray in those proportions. So what I did was just to break things up a bit kind of harlequin style(just with only two colors).

I have a few spots where abrasion has worn the paint off. Namely, a scuff on the glove box, one on the passenger side of the center console, and one where the driver seat belt buckle rubs against it. Other than that it's held up well enough. This is far from a professional job; someone else here may have more tips on protecting these paint jobs from scuffs like mine have suffered.

Since those pictures my seats have also gotten worse. They looked fine when I got the car but there's so much fake-leather-repair on thme that's breaking down.. the seats are definitely not as soft as in my stepdad's '03. So I might be trying for black seats from a pick-n-pull yard.

 

[jjpark]

I'm wondering if using a good clear coat as the final coat would keep my pieces from getting scuffed. I'm going to stop at the body shop and auto paint store and see what they recommend. Many years ago I did trim pieces in another car and it came out next to perfect but I can't for the life of me remember what I used other than a good clear coat.

I'll look into the rubbing alcohol and SEM

As far as seats? A good set of seat covers works wonders and is much less expensive then replacing them.

 

[sipes216]

the best thing to avoid scuffs is to just not scuff it.
i don't mean that smart-assedly, rather, any kind of coating or layering you paint on if gets scraped can and likely will go through the layers over time.

 

[captainfantastic]

WTP------> Water Transfer Print oke:

 

[Kittera]

the best thing to avoid scuffs is to just not scuff it.
i don't mean that smart-assedly, rather, any kind of coating or layering you paint on if gets scraped can and likely will go through the layers over time.

This. I could put 15 coats of matte enamel coat on my pieces if I repainted them, and eventually they would be scuffed again, either from regular wearing against the piece by something like the seat belt buckle, or something colliding with the piece hard enough to scrape paint off anyway. The only way to get color permanence would be to go to a junk yard and find good pieces out of a black-interior passat. If the plastic itself is black ,then scratches only go through to.. well, black plastic. Thankfully the only challenge that presents is the lock cylinder in the glove box. I don't know how that one gets changed out.

 

[jjpark]

My apologies. I failed to mention I have the black interior so the scuff marks won't revel any different color since I'm repainting with black.

Thank you