Dash Board Spraying

This is a guide to help you spray some of your interior any colour you want! I used other guides to help me. Thanks to Craig Cummings whose guide I used.

Here is the stuff I bought to do the job with.

Start: Take one last look at your interior as it was!

You'll need a cross and a flat head screwdriver. Remove the screws on either side of the caddy between the two front seats.

Remove its lid by unscrewing the two screws at the back when you life the lid.

Unclip the caddy from the front just where the gear stick is. It clips right off. Remove the piece completely.

This will expose two further screws.

Remove these then remove the plastic clips from either side.

Unplug the wires from the ash tray and lighter.

Remove the part completely. From the back unscrew the ash tray to remove it completely. Unscrew the screws at each side to the right and left of the ash tray and lighter to remove the side panels. I didn't want to spray these. You might.

Once this has gone it reveals another screw just below where the stereo sits. You do not need to remove it.

Next, remove the panel between the door and the dash on the drivers side. This was removed with force (and a flat head screw driver). It doesn't come away very easily so be careful. Undo the two screws if you can. I didn't have a short enough screwdriver to remove the bottom one but I found I didn't really NEED to remove it.

The panel that you just unscrewed will come down.. revealing a screw either side of the steering wheel. Remove these.

You'll now be able to pull the dash towards you. You'll need to disconnect the switches to remove it completely.
Once done, unscrew the vents and clock parts and remove them. Also, remove the switches. (They unclip very easily)

Now everything is ready for cleaning.

I used methylated spirit but I'm not sure if there are better cleaners or not. I cleaned thoroughly but when I sprayed the first small bit of primer I found that it wasn't enough so I sanded everything a bit. This did the trick. I applied the primer all over. Don't do it in your house like I did! It's just a bad idea! I now have partially colour coded PlayStation joy pads! Never mind!

You're meant to wait 24 hours I think but I lasted about 24 minutes before I decided the primer was dry enough to spray!
Shake paint can very well. Apply once again in thin coats rather than a single thick one. After first coat:

Once you're happy with the paint coverage and it's dry start lacquering. I did two coats in total leaving 20 minutes between coats for drying. After an hour I fitted every thing back into my F using the steps above in reverse:

Like everyone will tell you when it comes to spraying; patience is key! I didn't do a particularly fantastic job of mine but I'll know for next time. I'm pleased with it for a first attempt and if I can do it anyone can!!
 

Simon.