i have a 00 cavalier and im planning on doing my interior this winter and i know that the vinal on top of the dash can not be sanded down smooth but i am going to be doing the door panels. i know that the bottom half is definetly plastic and can probably be sanded to take that texture out of it for paint and clearcoat, but the top have of the door panel seems to be almost like vinal or maybe its just a softer plastic, im not sure so if anybody could tell me if its possible to sand this smooth for paint and clear thanx
I have an 02 and both top and bottom on my door panels are plastic. I'd say stop by a junk yard and pick a pair up as they will be a lot easier to sand and stuff than ripping the vinyl off or having them glassed over. I'd think you could get them pretty cheap too!
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
thanks for the advice im gonna be stoppin by a junkyard soon n e ways to see if i can find some ls lips so ill see what i can find
Tom DiGrazia wrote:i have a 00 cavalier and im planning on doing my interior this winter and i know that the vinal on top of the dash can not be sanded down smooth but i am going to be doing the door panels. i know that the bottom half is definetly plastic and can probably be sanded to take that texture out of it for paint and clearcoat, but the top have of the door panel seems to be almost like vinal or maybe its just a softer plastic, im not sure so if anybody could tell me if its possible to sand this smooth for paint and clear thanx
Yes the top of the dash can be sanded down smooth, you have to use a certain grit sand paper, and its easier if you use a power sander,
2000+ door panels should all be plastic.
Strip the vinyl off and fiberglass the dash cover for best results
what grit sandpaper do you use to sand the top part of the dash? was your top part of your dash vinyl too ashley? have any pics of your dash painted?
Jake Hershey wrote:what grit sandpaper do you use to sand the top part of the dash? was your top part of your dash vinyl too ashley? have any pics of your dash painted?
I am not 100 percent sure, I used so many different grits for different areas, I want to say 80 or 120. You can see pics on my home page here on the org or go to my cardomain page. My dash had the vinyl just like yours, you just have to basically sand it down right and it will paint without a problem or you can sand and then fiber glass it.
but on your cardomain page, it says that your dash is glassed!!!!
use 120 to start and then go from there as it gets smooth work your way up, I went to 400 wet sanded on mine but that was b/c I want it to be perfect and I'm using a weird kind of pain that doesn't use a normal primer so i had to make sure there are no scratch marks etc.-
is that while keeping the vynil on dash?
Magik1109 wrote:but on your cardomain page, it says that your dash is glassed!!!!
My car has been through different stages, I didn't say which stage, I have done both!!
Magik1109 wrote:is that while keeping the vynil on dash?
No i was talking about the plastic pieces: doors, a pillars etc..
I thought that you could pull the vynal and sand the plastic underneath for the "glasslook"... am i mistaken?
^ yes you can, however you will lose some thickness due to the fact that the vinly is missing. You will have gaps from it.
sndsgood wrote:i never sand any type of vinyl material. i just clean it and spray it. if u want the fiberglassed look your going to have to pull the vinyl and fiberglass it.
No you don't because i didn't
