Interior piant finish

Replaced the fuel filter and PCV with my son today.... quick and easy.

Also pulled the old broken AM/FM/CD radio out to send to the rebuild guy and put in a temp other donor radio for now. Marred up a corner of the dash a little more in the process although I was super careful.

I swear this "soft paint" finish that is on the dash, "door swooshes" and console must age poorly as it has gotten so soft that just about any brush with something moderately hard gouges it. And some of it has turned so sticky you can leave your finger prints in it. I don't know if every older 95-99 Riviera is like this or a previous owner wiped mine down with something that softened it up, but this finish is awful.

I don't feel too bad about dinging it again as it really is bound to happen with this coating it seems.

I had already planned to strip the console top and paint it, and may just do the same and/or get a Sherwood wood kit for the dash and door pieces.

Al

my 97 isnt soft at all

Both of my 97s are soft and very prone to tears/nicks. Im guessing one of the major factors in this would be if it spent its life in a garage or out in the sun, and also what cleaners were used on it in the past. Im sure sitting in a field and getting cooked constantly by the sun didnt do yours any favors.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

Both of my 97s are soft and very prone to tears/nicks. Im guessing one of the major factors in this would be if it spent its life in a garage or out in the sun, and also what cleaners were used on it in the past. Im sure sitting in a field and getting cooked constantly by the sun didnt do yours any favors.

Yep, I'm certain you are right.

I havent tackled the whole dash yet, but i sanded all that junk off the center counsel release latch thing behind the shifter and it looks much,much better. I think im going to end up sanding it down and plastidipping it (and the door "swooshes") on the new car. I think it will look good.

Sir Psycho Sexy wrote:

I havent tackled the whole dash yet, but i sanded all that junk off the center counsel release latch thing behind the shifter and it looks much,much better. I think im going to end up sanding it down and plastidipping it (and the door "swooshes") on the new car. I think it will look good.

What did you use to sand it down? My sandpaper just sort of gripped and "stuck" to the coating since it is so rubbery.

Al

I tried a few different things... Bear with me here... My FINGERNAILS worked better than anything to take off the most of it! Hahaha im sure you could use a scraper blade too, though. Then i used steel wool. You can tell its not factory, but if you go all in one direction it looks pretty nice.

OK, well I've now tested a few paint products and techniques and think I have settled on humorously what is probably the most inexpensive and consumer oriented as likely the best    

I picked up several colors of pro-quality paints from manufacturers like SEM and their finishes turned out very good.  But there was a lot of prep required (strongly suggested) using their special pre-soap, adhesion promotor and finally color coat.  

Since the dark "teal" color of my car is somewhat odd to match there wasn't anything off the shelf that was an exact match or even a standard color that was complimentary... I've settled with a semi-gloss black which goes well with other surfaces in the car that are black such as switchgear, vents, instruments, shifter, etc.  And of course, blacked out dash panels are pretty typical, particularly starting with the 1965 Riviera.

Anyway, again, after testing a few products, I ran across a recommendation on some Jeep forums for the Rustoleum Textured Plastic Paint.   This is a consumer rattle-can that doesn't require any special prep (other than reasonable cleaning of course) or adhesion promotors.  It leaves a somewhat "grainy" almost light sandpaper type texture and has a low sheen.

The various reviews from the Jeep crowd were very positive both from an application and durability perspective, so I gave it a try on one of my spare door "swooshes" and the results look very good IMHO.  Again, it has a nice semi-gloss (really semi-flat) finish and the texture creates a slight sheen/glow that adds a little interest.  The texture looks a lot like the texture in the black plastic "accordian" slider around the shifter in fact.  I think it will look very factory to anyone that isn't very familiar with the stock mono-chrome interior and dash.

The Jeep folks have been using this paint on the interior and exterior and have said it is very durable.  I can attest that after applying this to my trim piece, I ran my fingernails down it, hit it with some keys and just generally abused it.  Yes, especially the keys, did leave some small dents of course (more in the plastic substrate than paint) but the paint didn't chip or scratch.  And with its textured finish the small blemishes are almost imperceptible.  In fact, I was able to rub my fingernail scratches completely off.  And according to the Jeep folks, if you do get a ding, you can just respray this stuff over and it will blend very well.   This stuff is tough.

So, for anyone thinking about a black insrument panel and door "swooshes" you might want to consider this paint.  It is easy to apply, very forgiving (I sprayed it in near dark at 50F which is NOT recommended, but still turned out great), looks good and is durable.... and cheap.

In my case, the only reason I'm painting the instrument panel, door "swooshes" and center console top is because my factory coatings are defective/ruined and have turned to soft goo somehow.  So this is an easy fix.

I haven't painted all the parts yet, nor installed them, so I don't have any photos of how it looks complete.  But I'll do so once done so folks can get an idea what the finish looks like installed and what a blacked out dash and console looks like on a dark interior colored car.

You can see what a blacked out dash looks like on a light interior colored car at the thread below.  I don't think the owner used this textured paint in his application (not sure) as his looks more akin to the semi-gloss smooth finish I achieved with the SEM paint.  But this can help one get an idea of the appearance.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t5357-new-wheels-and-all-new-pics


Here is a photo of the passenge side door "swoosh" panel with the Rustoleum Textured Plastic Paint applied:





Here is a link to the Rustoleum product:

http://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/specialty/textured-paint-for-plastic-spray/


Oh, and to "strip" the old factory paint finish off the plastic parts first, soak them for about 15 minutes in the following 'Super Clean' degreaser and the old built up "padded" paint on the panels will just wipe right off.  It's pretty amazing really, and you end up with cleaned parts in one whack

http://www.supercleanbrands.com/products#17

i like! dash redo time!!!

Interesting

BTW, the 98 that was in the wrecking yard today exhibited the same "sticky" paint on the cupholder door and flip-up ashtray door.... so there must be some predisposition and perhaps some environmental catalyst for the "rubber" paint on these surfaces to fail on some cars.

Al

Al, thank you so much for doing this dude... my 98 has a few pieces that I'd like to paint and some parts (especially the door swooshes and the cigarette lighter cover) have the gummiest paint ever on mine. It was that way when I bought it 8 years ago! I wonder if the gummy paint quality has to do with humidity? It's insanely humid up here in Spring/Summer

Humidity? ....could be, not sure. Hot & humid here too!

I have a 1997 with a "Bordeaux Red" interior. Does anyone happen to know if an interior paint is available in that color? I have searched pretty thoroughly with no luck. I ordered an SEM product hoping it will be correct but at $16 per can it could be an expensive experiment. Thanks!

KenBluder wrote:

I have a 1997 with a "Bordeaux Red" interior. Does anyone happen to know if an interior paint is available in that color? I have searched pretty thoroughly with no luck. I ordered an SEM product hoping it will be correct but at $16 per can it could be an expensive experiment. Thanks!

Ask at a full line auto parts store near you, such as a NAPA or Advance Auto, or a gearhead at a larger auto repair shop -- to find out who mixes custom rattle cans. Then with the paint code for Bordeaux Red they can mix it for you.

Albertj

KenBluder wrote:

I have a 1997 with a "Bordeaux Red" interior. Does anyone happen to know if an interior paint is available in that color? I have searched pretty thoroughly with no luck. I ordered an SEM product hoping it will be correct but at $16 per can it could be an expensive experiment. Thanks!

I put a great deal of research into finding the right SEM color for my interior, and I think I got it right but it was a little off due to 20 years of aging. Find an SEM store near you and they should be able to stick a device on your paint that will scan it and tell them how to custom mix a can that actually will match your paint as it currently is.