DIY custom painted interior

steelerM2

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2011 Mazda 2
For any Mazda 2 owner with a long weekend to spare.
 

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Do all those plastic parts just pop off?
Cause you managed to keep it unbelievably clean.
However one critique, the silver ring around the vents didn't look painted on the driver side. May have been reflection but I think it would look best black.
 
I agree. I wanted to paint them like the center ones. The assembly is different and I was afraid not to put the whole dash back in time to go to work on Monday. Now that Im familiarized with the disassembly I'll get those rings one of these weekends.
 

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Dang! At first I wasn't sure how I felt but went through the photos a couple times... So clean it looks amazing!
 
Do all those plastic parts just pop off?
Cause you managed to keep it unbelievably clean.
However one critique, the silver ring around the vents didn't look painted on the driver side. May have been reflection but I think it would look best black.
Most of them only have clips and will come off just by pulling carefully. I disassembled about 75% of the dashboard and only two parts had screws (not including the head unit).
 
Nice. I'd like to do that in red which matches the red stripes on the "Touring" seats. Did you use the same paint for the plastic parts and for the fabric/doors? How is the paint applied, is that spray paint?
 
This is how I started the project and this is what I used. Let me know if I left anything out.
-Equal parts degreaser/water mix
-Small flat screwdriver
-Green automotive masking tape (little expensive but worth it)
-Regular masking tape
-Xacto knife
-Three year old holiday wrapping paper
-Latex gloves
-Plastic adhesion promoter (one 11 ounce can was enough for all 4 panels)
-Gloss enamel paint
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK. CANT RUSH IT. First part painted was the back driver side door panel, (just in case something went wrong).
PREPARATION IS CRUCIAL. Washed the panel parts with the mix. Washed it again. Let it dry. With the patience I didnt know I have, I green-taped the parts that wouldnt come off without breaking or melting something off, then trimmed with the knife, round corners are a pain in the ass. Worked with gloves, you dont want a pizza grease fingerprint to ruin your paintjob. With the screwdriver I tucked the tape in to get a sharper paint line one eight of an inch at a time (pic 1).
Wrap everything else and cover any holes. I used regular masking tape since its much cheaper (pic 2).
I sprayed two light coats of primer within 10 mins and immediately did a tack coat of paint. I used enamel paint which has a one hour recoat window, gave it about 6 light coats till it reached full color. It should be safe to touch after 20 mins, I left it overnight before unwrapping and installing (pics 3,4,5).
 

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Nice. I'd like to do that in red which matches the red stripes on the "Touring" seats. Did you use the same paint for the plastic parts and for the fabric/doors? How is the paint applied, is that spray paint?
Fortunately, it's all plastic.
 
Ok thanks. The reason I asked is that the larger (part of the) door panel you painted is covered with fabric in my "Touring" version. I guess I can remove the fabric, paint, and put the fabric back on if I screw it up. :)

And thanks for the instructions! Really helpful!
 
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Sorry guys im gonna go with WHY?
Why wreck your interior like that? WHen i saw the yellow i had a bad flashback to 1998 because painted dash boards were very popular back then. I did it to my chrysler lebarons interior back in the day. I just dont see why you would take a large investment like this brand new car and do this.
But to each his own, its your car do whatever makes you happy.
Props to the owner!
 
Since the thread was opened again, I figure I'll say hi. It looks like you did a very high quality job. Perosnally, I'm not a yellow fan, but the workmanship you did is darn good from the pictures.
 
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