How do get paint to stick to plastic?

[FlooredAccord]

I'm thinkin about painting some of the plastic trim and covers on the car. Is there a way that you guys know of to get an exact color of the the original factory paint in a spray can? If so, how do I get it to stick to the fucking plastic?! My buds, tryin the same thing on his car, so an answer would help us out both. Perhaps there is some prep work I just don't know about?

[pdiggitydogg]

wipe w/ wax&grease remover
carefully sand it
wipe again
primer it
paint it
lightly sand it again
paint it w/ final coat
=Good method

clear coat if you want...get a flexable clear coat.

Be sure that you want the color there FOREVER becuase you will not be able to remove the paint. The paint remover would eat the plastic too.

oh and get color match paint from www.paintscratch.com - perfect match...paint in a dry/controlled environment like the basement - humidity will ruin the paint.

[FlooredAccord]

Thanks bro, Ill try it out

[blind34_1]

Originally posted by pdiggitydogg
The paint remover would eat the plastic too.

^^Very true. I tried it just to see if it would work. not a good idea on plastic.

Everything he said above is right, except a couple things need to be stressed:

make sure you remove everything you want to paint. I know this seems basic, but I've seen more than a few horrible paintjobs done out of laziness.

if you can, do it all at once. This way you're sure to paint everything with the same brand of paint, under the same weather conditions, etc. follow the instructions on the paint can about humidity. don't do it in direct sunlight.

Third, i know this is hard, but TAKE YOUR TIME. Let a full 24 hours after your last coat pass before you reinstall the pieces. The amount of time you take cleaning and prepping the pieces will pay off in the quality of the end result. Don't be surprised when it takes you three days to do everything. Be sure to be real gentle and patient when removing and installing pieces.

Taping stuff off that you don't want painted doesn't work well. The paint will bleed under the tape and it won't look nice. If you don't want certain things painted, take them off and set them aside. I would not recommend painting vent's louvers; I've had bad luck with them. It can be done, but unless you have backup pieces of everything I wouldn't do it.

And get a tray or a box to hold everything in so you don't lose them (or step on them!). Use a seperate box to hold your drying pieces.


I think that's everything. As you can tell, i've done a few of these jobs, and screwed up my fair share. but that's how one learns!