The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hi All,

Didnt know which section to put this in so it ended up here. Have got a centre console from a 84 touring wagon which is beige/brown. Have painted it a dark grey to match the interior of the brumby that I want it to go into. The problem being that the slightest scratch removes the paint ie the paint hasnt bound to the plastic.
I prepared the plastic with wax/grease remover and then roughed it up with fine sandpaper and then applied vinyl paint (as I was already using it on the vinyl).
Ok, so what am I doing wrong here?
And is there a specific paint that I should be using to paint the plastic?

Cheers,
Corax.

Hmm, maybe vinyl paint doesn't last on hard plastic pieces. How many coats/how thick was it? I would expect painting plastic to be tricky anyway, maybe you need a different product to the vinyl paint.

I'm planning on doing mine with plasti-dip; sticks to plastic, tough/doesn't scratch and can be peeled off if required. Many colors to choose from...

There is an undercoat for plastics, used when doing bumpers etc.
It makes the top coat stick.

tambox is right, just get some plastic primer and it will stick on great.
I recommend doing very light coats and waiting for them to dry, otherwise it can take weeks to dry and the paint can come off in chunks if you try to use it before it is fully dry.

Firstly I'd make sure its the correct type of paint - What you want is a Vinyl Dye :
http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/Painting-Pla ... 403/g.html

Then you need to 'prep' by removing any contamination :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvyiK57uzuo

You may need to remove the old paint first though :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpLGWpfC-SI

If it's being really stubborn you could try this :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfEkFGxcvjo

Just be careful with caustic chemicals like these ...

Hope this helps ...

Cheers, Bantum ...

Thanks for the tips guys will give it another crack and let you know how it turns out,.

If you get automotive acrylic paint plastic undercoat, the top coat you use needs to have some "magic stuff" added to it for use on plastic, the paint mixing guys know what it is.

Have fun and let us know what you do.