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How to Paint Engine Plastics
by Isaac DeCoursey @ EverythingCelica.com

Wash with simple green.

UPDATE from Burgh_Mike: Wash with dish soap and water AFTER washing with Simple Green. The dish soap will further help to remove any oils from your plastics.

Dry really well.

Apply a thin coat of your paint, wait about 15 minutes and then repeat 3 to 5 times until the color is even and you can no longer see through the the plastic.

Wait at least 24 hours and then apply a thin coat of clear acrylic, wait 15 minutes and then repeat with another thin layer of clear coat. Do this about 3 to 5 times.

wait 24 hours or longer before installing back in your car.

After painting with your chosen color, a wait time of at least 24 hours is necessary or else your clear-coat may "melt" your paint and the results will be uneven.

After adding the clear-coat, you should wait another 24 hours before replacing in your engine bay. I say this because pebbles and dirt like to get attached to your fresh coats of paint. And your plastic clips will stick to the freshly painted plastics and will be a difficult to remove next time you take the plastics out.



I used 1200 degree "Chevy Red" with 3 LIGHT layers of paint across the large passenger-side and smaller front plastics. I chose not to use clear coat on the paint.

If you also choose to not clear coat your painted areas, each time you wash your car, wipe them off with a damp cloth to avoid leaving water spots.

you can start over WITHOUT sanding...

get a bottle of TESTERS "thinner" from any hobby shop... about $2.25 (or less)

THIS... (but the larger 1oz bottle) for enamel paint
http://www.testors.com/Product.asp?product%5fid=1148

This is the one that I've always used...
the prices are the exact same if you were to buy it online or in a hobby shop - but you don't have to pay the $4 S&H if you bought it in the hobby shop

OR THIS for dried Acrylic paint... (I've never used this before)
http://www.testors.com/Product.asp?product%5fid=50495

...
you can also buy these from Toys R Us, KB Toys, Micheal's or even JoAnne's or where plastic models or paint crafts are sold
...

now go to Pep-Boys (or target or walmart) and buy a bag of WHITE rags (not red)

open the bottle of thinner and place your rag on top of the opening... now turn the bottle upside-down so that you get some thinner onto your rag (it only takes a small amount of thinner)

... now rub this rag all over the ENTIRE plastics area (it will be uneven if you only do a small portion of the plastics)

the whole point of this is to REMOVE most of the paint.. so that you are back down to plastic ONLY... or a thin layer of paint

... this is fairly messy, and you WILL use all of your rags... rub them around, trying to get most of the paint off.

don't worry if there is still a slight tint of paint left... just make sure that it's even, and when you repaint your plastics - it will look smooth

... the thinner evaporates - so do this stuff within a 30 minute session and at a well-ventilated area such as your garage.

I suggest laying down a bunch of newspapers before beginning this "strip" project.

stripping total cost should be NO MORE then $6, and about 30 minutes of your time.

after stripping the paint, wait about an hour then hose-down and scrub your plastics with a clean SOFT towel (soft, because the paint that *YOU* are using is a clear paint)

completely dry your plastics and begin painting as you had been before... but take your time (as you should have done the first time

Just take your time and don't try to cut waiting time... make this a project to be done when you don't have anything else planned for the time

This method also works for when you paint your dash and you screwed-up and need a "RE-DO"

Does anybody know about an exact color match for the blue celica (8M6) that is available in spray can? To pain dash, console, engine plastics... etc. I brought the center console to a place and they want 150 to paint it... Im doing the other pieces myself.

How do they paint the pieces? i have some leftover paint from previous bodywork... is there someway to get it into a spray gun or something? not sure about this... or can I find an exact spraycan match from toyota?

Randy- Randy123SD@yahoo.com

Hey... I was wondering what kinda paint i should use?

I would wash with dish soap and water after washing with Simple Green...believe me, lesson learned!!!

i painted mine but i dont think i added enough color to one of them and i clear coated it and it doesnt match the other pieces if i paint over the clear coat will it be okay or do i have to strip it all off

Um.. pretty much the only thing you can do is to repaint it with a darker blue. So, you should scuff up the paint that's on it now with some 0000 grade steel wool, and then you can just spray your darker blue coat over that, no need to re-prime it, the paint will bond to the ruffed-up clear coat nicely.

Burgh_mike, what kind of red did you use?

great job on your plastics guys, i'm gonna be doin' mine so i was wondering what type of paint i should use for this project

I did a sweet metallic blue with a touch of spray glitter so there is a sparkle to it when I pop the hood in the sun. It looks pretty sweet.

what do you paint it with? does the paint come in a spray can or do you use an airbrush or what?

hahhaha nvmd i guess i shudda read the other posts first. What color do you guys recoomend if i have a black celica, maybe red or shud i just go with black

a good look is to mix a pearl ex powder with your paint...the powders are at most craft stores...trust me it works well...i will post pics when i have access to a digital camera

pearl ex powders at http://www.jacquardproducts.com/products/pearlex/