At least you'll know the right search words. The article isn't about technique as much as materials used to do all kinds of paint jobs, from Pearl to Colour Shifting FX. http://www.autospeed.com.au/cms/A_110579/article.html
You liked that, eh? How about edible paint? http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/2006-10-01/Make-Safe-Natural-Paint.aspx Can't understand why paint goes for $30 to $40 per gallon, when gas goes for under $5. Those recipes will keep my interior decorating costs within the national debt!
Speaking of custom paint. How many cans of SEM did you use on your interior? I need to make an order and I was thinking 5 plus 2 cans of adhesion promoter.
The carpeting took 3 cans, but I'd by new carpet next time. The thing is the door panels and cargo carpet needed a pick-me-up refresher. My carpet is in fine shape, but SEM isn't roadsalt proof - it's blotchy in spots (on the passenger floor). For the trim, 5 sounds right. Make sure you clean off any soap residues or use their cleaners/soaps. A can of the cleaner is more than enough, and their soap doesn't leave residue.
TBird, buy one more can for touch-ups. I had a part can left over that helped out where the Mustang Dash swap caused a few cracks and repairs and scrapes. I think they mix their standard colors in batches, so ordering what you could foreseeably need all at once, will help keep things matched up later. I did my headliner (vinyl hoop type, not the insert type), my door panels, all the carpet and all the trim, as well as the inside and outside of the dash frame with 11 cans.
I'm going to repaint the steering wheel, dash top, and all the trim. I will not be painting the carpet or door panels. The carpet and door panels are in excellent condition. Even thought the replacement seats are a medium blue I'm sticking with the darker blue on the trim metal and plastics. The SEM Pacific blue seems to be a close match. Their custom mix computer matched colors are way expensive. ON the old rotted plastic currently in the car I painted with the Krylon plastic and vinyl Navy blue but the sheen is awful and the color isn't close. Now that I bought un-rotted plastic replacements last week I want to do 'em up right. I even took three of the door seals that were in good shape. Thanks,
Now I'm thinking five cans is perfect with the painting I'm not doing. My lower dash if fine. Do you thing 2 cans of the adhesion promoter is enough? OH, I fogot to mention that I also got the rear speakers and grills in perfect condition.
Don't know about the steering wheel staying pristine with the SEM stuff. An Epoxy paint would be better for durability of the paint. Speaking of VW Bugs, here's a great DIY on the wheel: http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqstrg.htm EDIT: He's got a bad link to his DIY Paint article, here's the good one: http://www.thebugshop.org/bsfqpnt.htm END EDIT. This may not be the finish you want, but there's some ideas worthy of a good read-through: http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/0705ct_steering_wheel_restoration/index.html
The steering wheel has held up perfectly with the Krylon paint. I was hoping the SEM would be just as durable. It's just that the color is off from the rest of the interior.
Lucky on the cargo speaker grilles. They were a mess on mine. I fixed them, but they're missing a chipped tooth or two! 2 cans is plenty. You only need a good coat, versus several of the paint. Heck of an article on that guy's DIY Paint page. Could have saved me hours of fiddling. I didn't have to paint mine, because it's the soft sport wheel (black jobbie), but with the adhesive coat, the SEM would hold up. My dash pad had done fine so far. The sill plate trim takes a real beating though. I don't think any paint could take big winter boots (not your problem ), without a touch-up every other year or so.
