Need help painting Covans Dash

[skeeters65]

I have a "Brushed Aluminum" Covans Customs dash for my Camaro and want to paint it Satin Black..

What do I need to do to paint it??
Scuff and shoot?
Any Flex agent?

Thanks

[Steve1968LS2]

I just scuffed mine up and shot it. No drama and has held up well.

[Mike Holleman]

I have a "Brushed Aluminum" Covans Customs dash for my Camaro and want to paint it Satin Black..

What do I need to do to paint it??
Scuff and shoot?
Any Flex agent?

Thanks

You may want to use an adhesion promotor. Makes paint stick to plastics better.
Mike

[hotrdblder]

use bulldog adhesive promoter

[Alchemist]

Bulldog AP is a very good product but I would like to mention that adhesion promoters were designed for use on areas that you cannot readily hand sand like door jams where the door and fender are not removed and difficult to reach for sanding, or for products that cannot be sanded and need to be painted, for example, like rubber or chrome parts.

If there are no imperfections on your dash that require minor filling and priming, this is what I suggest:

1. Wear latex gloves and replace them as often as required!! You don't want to touch the part with your bare hands after degreasing because the oil in your hands will contaminate the part.

2. Use good quality, clean paper towels like Scott Blue Shop Towels. You don't want to use the red shop towels even though they get sent out and "cleaned" by some company. The chemical used to clean the towels leaves a residue on the towel and if you use it on a part you're painting - like I did many years ago - well - it's not a good thing; I had a frustrating and expensive experience so I'm just passing on the info!


3. Wipe the dash down with quality final wipe wax and grease remover not with the heavy initial wipe degreasers used for removing heavy road tar, bug spatter etc. FYI!! Do a small section at a time. Wipe the area with the degreaser and dry immediately with the paper towels. Good quality solvent degreasers will stay wet for longer period of time thus allowing proper dry wipe.

4. Using an orbital sander and/or by hand, sand the dash aggressively with #320 grit sandpaper making sure every inch of the dash is sanded and "dull". Any shiny spots must be sanded dull to ensure proper adhesion.

5. Blow off the sanding dust (making sure you have a moisture/oil trap attached to your air blower)

6. Apply a few passes of a quality DTM (Direct-To-Metal) epoxy primer. Allow to flash between coats. Read the directions on how long to wait prior to top-coating.

7. I like SEM's "Hot Rod Black" which I've mentioned in a few past threads. It's a single stage, two part (catalyzed) pre-flattened (flattening agent is part of the formulation) urethane satin black. Why I highly suggest this for painting dashes is that this product will not mar easily or chalk readily - while other satin black products cannot claim this. Of course there may be other products you are considering.

Hope this helps!

thanks,

Alchemist

[grumpy44]

self etching primer by SEMS is a good primer for bare aluminum, spray on and let set 4 1 hr. and spray ur color. I use alot of it, I paint inds. machinery and theres alot of aluminum in it and haven't ever had a problem with it coming off. just another suggestion.