Dashboard Removal

[CamryMax]

I'm thinking... is it worth to take the dashboard out and spray paint it, or just paint it in its place (tape everything with newspapapers and etc inside of the car)??
Anyone removed dashboard from gen3? How many hours would it take? Coz i'm hoping to paint the inside of the car in one day (without all the doors).

Thanks

[BLUEMEANIE]

Take it out... don't be boro.

[edit]
Get a Haynes manual too, you don't want to break any clips or anything. Last time I did mine it only took 45min to get it out (dash and center console) but the first time I didn't use a manual and a few hidden screws had me stumped.

[CamryMax]

Originally posted by BLUEMEANIE
Take it out... don't be boro.

lol yes sir!

[luisitol]

i painted my whole interor wit the dash in there check out the pics in the link in my sig. if you do it right it can be done very well

[epborden]

It's worth it, it is only a couple of screws to get it off. Plus it just makes it look better

[CamryMax]

Originally posted by UfoZ8myCow
luisitol... what kind of paint and sealer did you use for that? what about sanding? what grit did you use? can you kinda take me through what you did step by step? you would be the man if you did... thanks

what he said

[luisitol]

Hey guys here is what i did:

I prepped the surface by cleaning it as thoroughly as i could (acetone has been recomended for this step)
Then i masked everything i didn't want to paint
I used Duplic-Color Vinyl & Fabric Paint
Sprayed a nice even coat all around and that was that

Now i did this one freaking cold ass afternoon in January by the river! LOL I originally was just goint to paint my roof and carpet and then got the crazy idea to paint the interior as a whole. So it was done quickly and still came out really well so now I am re-doing the whole thing. Here is the process i will be using:

-Clean all surfaces to be painted with actone (make sure is all absolutely clean)
-Spray a coat of adhesive promoter (to help the paint stick although hit had no problems before and there is no chiping at all since it adheres to the vinyl)
-3 Coats of flat black Vinyl and Fabric Paint (might do a liiiiight sand after the second coat but i doubt it)
-1 (posisble two coats) of non-gloss clear coat
-Let it dry for a full day
-Armoral protectant polish

And that should lead to a show-quality interior. If you are doing a light color i would suggest 4 coats of paint and more likely to do the sanding, black is alot more forgiving than other colors.

Hope this helps

[CamryMax]

Sounds good, I'll follow your foot steps
Altough, can't you use semi-gloss black spray paint instead of flat and then clear coat and etc... or would that be too shiny? I wouldn't want too shiny interior, but not too flat either, just in between so you won't tell the difference if it was repainted. Woud flat black paint and some clearcoat at the end would achieve that??
And another question, do you know if its possible to take off that center piece in the door panel? The one with material on ir or what ever.



I was thinking, if its possible to remove I could just buy some blue fabric in the craft store and apply to that centerpiece (i'm thinking of blue/black theme).
And what about your carpet, did you try spray painting it with Dupli Color spray paint? Does it works well? Because it's not worth to buy a whole new carpet.

Thanks man.

[CamryMax]

I think I want celica steering wheel It looks awesome, I think Ratko got one. I just have no clue if air bag would still work when you do that. Or does it come with its own airbag i can hook up??

[luisitol]

As far as the fabric piece i'm not sure if it can be removed but it can be painted as well with the same paint

As far as the carpet on the floor and the roof i painted it with the same thing and it works

The steering wheel.....no it was not sticky at all. The steering wheel and shifter has had the paint rub off but thats cuz i only let it dry for 3hrs and immediately began to use the car as normal and ony did one coat with no sealant/clear coat. So that is why it is faded, every other part of the dash is in perfect condition with only one coat of paint so if you do several coats and then seal it it will be real good to go

If you do glossy black and then do a non-gloss sealant you should be fine. I personally did not want any gloss so i went with flat black. I figured when i put armoral on it would be good on luster.

[CamryMax]

thank you for addressing our questions

[LebaneseCam]

Its veryy veryy veryy easy, i did it myself with no manual.. take out the deck thingy and theres bolts all over the place just look in the right spots.

[CamryMax]

Originally posted by LebaneseCam
Its veryy veryy veryy easy, i did it myself with no manual.. take out the deck thingy and theres bolts all over the place just look in the right spots.

Oh awesome, I think you're the only one who did that. Well if its easy, then I have nothing to worry about.
Thanks man!

[BLUEMEANIE]

lol. Easy, it is (and LebaneseCam I did my whole suspension including an rsb and endlinks with no manual or prior knowledge) but with making no judgement of CamryMax's skill level I'll just say, you're better off safe than sorry. One broken clip and half the dash might not sit right. ...then again I had a small pile of screws left over the last time I did mine and its fine.
...but... on that note, I had one screw left over from my Vette and some months later I traced a horrible rattle to that exact spot but not before removing the majority of the interior again to get to it.

[LebaneseCam]

Well Bluemeanie, did you ever do your springs while the shocks and struts were still on the car? Toyota would be very proud of me! Your right though, if you do break anything on that dash it will not sit right but I wouldnt really know because I havent broken anything but those rusty bolts on the brake calipers and the stupid suspension!
But i did fix all that with some thinking.