Interior & Exterior Styling
Colour Coding
There are many small plastic bits on the outside of the car that benefit from
being colour coded, but remember, if you colour code wing mirrors or bumpers,
they stick out from the car and any knock is going to damage the paint. Also, if
you don't do it correctly then the paint will start to flake off after a while.
Colour coding is not hard, all you need is aerosols in the colour of your car
(including lacquer if required) and a can of plastic primer or if you want a
very smooth finish then use plastic filler/primer, this will need sanding
smooth before paint is applied though. It is always best to remove bits to be
painted from the car but if you cannot do this then carefully mask the
surrounding area so that not spray can get on the bodywork.
First clean off all dirt from the item to be painted. Washing up liquid is very
good at removing grease, road dirt, dead insects, etc, and will rinse off
leaving no residue. Having cleaned off the dirt give the items a quick wipe
over with cellulose thinners. This helps to soften the surface of plastic so
that the primer has a better surface to adhere to. Next give the item a layer
of primer, build up this layer coat by coat, each time allowing the previous
coat to dry before applying the next. Continue building up the primer until no
plastic is still visible through it; or, in the case of the filler/primer,
until you have enough to sand smooth.
If you are using filler/primer then now you need to smooth the primer layer off
until the surface is smooth to touch. Once this is done give is a wipe over
with a damp cloth to remove the dust before continuing with the painting
process below.
If you are not going for a smooth finish using filler/primer then once the
primer has dried you can start to add the new colour. Do this in the same way
as the primer once again allowing each coat to dry before applying the next.
Repeat until no primer is visible through the colour. If lacquer is required
with your paint (eg. if it's a METAllic finish) then once the colour layer has
dried apply the lacquer in the same manner.
