Painting the Factory Radio to match interior and exterior

[nicave13@gmail.com]

Bear with me, this is my first DIY and I will be attaching images instead of placing links after text, so I will do three at a time so it is easier to follow.

Project goal was to remove all the gray plastic inside my car and color match it to exterior. I drive a 2010 SS/RS IOM, so the color was gonna look great!!! I am by no means a painter, did models as a kid, and got to learn on my own car. I am by no means an authority, but learned a lot and hope to use it in the future. Plus my tips might help others.

First step is remove radio from car, very easy by popping up plastic transmission surround using any thin pry tool. Start at the front and work your way back. Then simply remove the two bolts at the base of the radio and use your pry tool again starting at the top of radio and work your way around. No pics of this, their are other DIY's on it and is very easy.

First step is disassemble radio. Learn from me only remove the back, the small fill piece at the bottom and the two large HVAC knobs. Each of these items have two screws to remove and the knobs have to small plastic release clips. Also remove the chrome CD surround, which just pops out. Careful when re-installing it as it's teeth with cut grooves in the paint... Trust me when I say the rest of the buttons will not come out. I took out every single screw and released the top pry clips to no avail. The Power and Menu knobs are soldiered on and hold the board in. I was not removing the solder. Make sure to note the length of the screws attaching each item and the backing plate. Most long outside and on the knobs but there are 4 size screws.

[nicave13@gmail.com]

The first pic is my crude drawing of where and what sizes the screws are. No nasty comments, it worked :P

Really take car when masking. I admit duct tape was not the best choice, but didn't want to scratch the screen when sanding. Use masking for better edges and seems. Take great care with the power knobs and the CD tray. The details here are very important.

How I was taught to paint you follow these steps. This will apply to any painting project, but mostly plastic. All spraying is done 8-12 inches away and in short bursts for small items like this.

1. Clean with soap and water.
2. Scratch up smooth surfaces with a scuffiing pad or sand rough surfaces with 320 to make as smooth as possible.
3. Spray on two extremely light coats of adhesion promoter, it will build up and streak if to heavy. Wait five minutes b/t coats. Ten before priming.
4. Apply two to three coats of primer. Light colors for light base, dark for dark, red for red. Five b/t and thirty before sanding.
5. Sand primer with 600 grit. Pay special attention to how it looks and feels. It should feel perfectly smooth and not have any surface irregularities.
6. Fully dry and clean surface, no chemicals, and apply base coat. Do at least three coats or until it is fully covered. Lighting is important from here on. I painted a lot at night and things may appear covered, but in the sun you can see shadows behind the paint. Wait min five minutes b/t and when applying go fairly thick on most paints to get a slightly wet shiny look. Use a tack cloth or other means to take out dirt or debris buildup on paint. Final product will look better, but do not go to heavy to get runs or build up. Takes time, and for metallics last coat can be lighter to really let the sparkle out.
7. Allow min thirty minutes to dry before clearing or wet sanding. If u choose to wet sand I used 2000 grit and soapy water, this didn't do much for me, you can also try 600 or higher but you may burn through paint and need more coats.
8. Clearing next to sanding/prep is the most important step. Nobody explains just how thick you have to apply clear to make it look good. What it looks like when done spraying is what it will look like dry. Light coats leave speckles and a rough surface. Additionally here in Vegas you can't spray an entire piece b/c the start will begin to dry and not look correct by the time you get to it. Keep in mind it's 90 plus with no humidity. I had to break up the item to sections and did the places most likely to get missed first, ie cracks and corners. You may have to make a spray pass 2-5 times per section to get the glossy look. It seems like a crazy amount, but for me thats what it took to get the shiny look. Wait min ten minutes b/t coats and min thirty minutes before handling. Wait 48 hours b4 wet sanding or buffing for proper paint drying.
9. You may buff and then polish to your liking, but I found you can't buff crap to a jewel. Nice thing is anytime you want you can sand and go back to a step before. For me, leave little imperfections because you may cause more harm chasing perfection then by leaving well enough alone.

[nicave13@gmail.com]

Yes, the hard part is over, but there is more to do. Yes, I used duct tape to mask because I didn't want to sand through it and scratch the screen. Mistake I made was not using masking on other more detailed areas. Yes, I make mistakes to. Masking, blue is best, but white is fine, makes cleaning smoother transitions and is much thinner. Proper masking is extremely important as I had some rough edges around some of the buttons. You will need to take great care to mask around the bare circuit boards, buttons, screen, the CD slot and the knobs. Take time here and learn from my mistakes.

In these pictures you can see what it looked like before I reassembled it. I love the contrast between the new paint and the bare circuit boards. Use alcohol to remove any adhesive on any non painted items. Otherwise rub it off or clean as best you can. The gray paint will come off, see my CD Aux button. Yes, the fan and temp controls no longer light up at night, but the rest is factory looking. I made my own "stickers" for the covered items. I found special Papillo brand paper than is clear and only ink jet printers can print on. I laminated it, but regret it as it became more foggy and to thick. The ink could possible rub off, but is rarely if ever touched on the surface of the radio. It's not like the buttons, which you don't paint. You could always go without as we all know the functions of the unit. Like my shifter I left blank intentionally.

Be careful on dis-assembly as well as re-assembly. The unit and especially the buttons are extremely fragile. You can however buy another radio on e-bay for $100-150 used. I think the finished product is awesome!!! and well worth the work

[MikeMoach]

Finally found someone tht wanted to do this besides me, looking good man only question I have is will u do the buttons? Nd if so how will u cover the symbols? It's the only thing stopping me from doin this mod

[MikeMoach]

Ok guess u didn't

[The Stig]

I want to do this but don't want to lose all the icons. Well done though.

[nicave13@gmail.com]

These are just to show off my final product. Some may notice the masking mistakes or any other mistakes. The causal observer will think the car came this way! Which it should have All this stuff is now just like the outside of your car and should be treated as such. No scratching it, or you will have to rub and buff it out. After 30 days you may wax for protection.

Because of the light shining through the rest of the gray buttons I can not see painting them to match. It would be next to impossible especially because the big row of buttons will not come out. If sanded and prepped a great air brush artist and masker could do something with this. Now that I would love to see!!!

I'm not sure anyone else will or has done this or to this degree and not just simply Plasti dipped it. But I would love to see results, especially in other colors!!! Imagine Synergy green!!! I welcome any questions and comments, but please keep it positive. We are all here to enjoy our car's

[nicave13@gmail.com]

I so wanted to do the buttons, especially the top row. They just don't come out, and making the paint see through for the labels would have been next to impossible. I thought of making black covers with clear or white labels in Transformer font like the #'s and even made them up. But I would have needed them removed and applied each one and used an exacto knife on each one to get close. I decided I was never gonna get a good enough appearance. Thanks for the comment!

Originally Posted by MikeMoach

Finally found someone tht wanted to do this besides me, looking good man only question I have is will u do the buttons? Nd if so how will u cover the symbols? It's the only thing stopping me from doin this mod

[dogbytesman]

Kudos, man....that's beautiful. Now it's time for me to find the right paint.....

Thanks,
Brad

[nicave13@gmail.com]

Stieger, If you like this look I say go for it!!! You got mad skills so I bet it would turn out great!!!

Originally Posted by stieger

I want to do this but don't want to lose all the icons. Well done though.

[nicave13@gmail.com]

I used automotivetouchuppaint.com $20 per 12 oz can. Used 70% of one can for this project. 2 can's for entire interior.

I can't wait to see results!!! What color is yours?

Originally Posted by dogbytesman

Kudos, man....that's beautiful. Now it's time for me to find the right paint.....

Thanks,
Brad

[hvychvy970]

I'm not for highlighting that area. That's why I went with Plasti-Dipping it to blend the dash together and look uniform. Do I appreciate the detail and time you invested? Yes. To each his own. Congrats!!!

[MikeMoach]

Originally Posted by nicave13@gmail.com

I so wanted to do the buttons, especially the top row. They just don't come out, and making the paint see through for the labels would have been next to impossible. I thought of making black covers with clear or white labels in Transformer font like the #'s and even made them up. But I would have needed them removed and applied each one and used an exacto knife on each one to get close. I decided I was never gonna get a good enough appearance. Thanks for the comment!

Tht wud b awesome, my body guy said I shud have a local pinstripe guy come nd paint the symbols nd something else I want painted on my bow tie,the guy said he cud do it but I don't wanna take out a bank loan to pay him lol

[jeepguy_1980]

Originally Posted by MikeMoach

Tht wud b awesome, my body guy said I shud have a local pinstripe guy come nd paint the symbols nd something else I want painted on my bow tie,the guy said he cud do it but I don't wanna take out a bank loan to pay him lol

What if you sand the whole radio, then have a local pinstripe guy paint some clear onto all of the icons, or maybe even wax them. Then paint the radio, and and wipe the paint off of the icons.