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Paint to use on vents

Varsity

Don't need no stinkin 4WD...yet
Joined
January 4, 2011
Messages
614
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30
City, State
Chicago, IL
Year, Model & Trim Level
'00 Sport
My last search on this topic saw a dead thread and I didn't think I would get any responses, so pardon this post.
I want to paint the air vents in the dash black as I think it would make a great contrast to my tan interior and match all my black accessories and trim. However, I read that some people used special or unique paint and my question is, do I need to use special paint? I have a can of Dupli-Color Bumper Coating for my bumper as well as some model paint and was wondering if either spray paints would cut it? I don't like to take the cheap way out normally and I know it sounds bad, but this isn't a show truck. With that being said, I don't want to be spending $30-$50 on special paints for silly little vents if I could use something at home or some cheap touch-up paint. If I have to touch it up in a year or two, I'm fine with that, but anyone have any tips or comments on the subject? I really do appreciate the help and answers.
 



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Thanks for a quick response. Its showing like $7 so its hard to argue with that with what my expected results would be. Thanks!
 






i used Krylon Fusion (made specifically for painting plastic) on ALL my exterior plastic pieces like : wiper cowls, bumper plastics, side quarter panel trim piece, tail gate trim piece etc etc etc. its held up great for two years now. never painted anything inside with it...yet...

let us know what paint you use and how it turned out.
 






Oh I definitely will. However, I just got a new driveway so it may be a few weeks before it sets enough for me to maneuvering my truck around to wash it and stuff. I will bring back this topic with my finished results so other people can benefit from it.
 






Sorry it took a month, but in case anyone was wondering, I finally did finish painting and I am definitely impressed with the results. Less than $4, I made a huge difference in my interior. Still have to do the driver's vent though.
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I used Rustoleum Textured Black for Plastic for this. I was going back and forth between that or Rustoleum Gloss Black, but my vote is by far the textured. Hopefully this helps someone out!
 






That nicely sets of the interior Great Job
 






i actually finished off an old can of krylon fusion today, gotta get me some more, i sprayed my two vents on the dash, and one door handler cover lol.. it really does set it off. nice job!
 






i used krylon fusion (made specifically for painting plastic) on all my exterior plastic pieces like : Wiper cowls, bumper plastics, side quarter panel trim piece, tail gate trim piece etc etc etc. Its held up great for two years now. Never painted anything inside with it...yet...

Let us know what paint you use and how it turned out.

fusion does great stuff
 






Update request

fusion does great stuff

BUMP for a few reasons:

1.) subscription
2.) Request update from Varsity - how is the paint work holding up? Would you do anything different?

Thanks. I want to do this to my X as well and I'm also looking at painting all the external bright work flat/semi flat black as well. I like the look of Aldive's (RIP) grille and bumpers. Not sure about all of it, but thinking about it.

Hoping you'll have time to update Varsity. :exp:
 






BUMP for a few reasons:

2.) Request update from Varsity - how is the paint work holding up? Would you do anything different?

Hoping you'll have time to update Varsity. :exp:

The paint seems to be holding up just fine for now, I have no complaints. I really can't say how durable it is from touching it and stuff because one of my vents is busted. You go to adjust the direction of the blow, and the shades collapse and fall out of alignment, so I really don't touch it now. I'll be picking up a new one from a J/Y eventually so I guess that's when the real test begins. However, I might or might not have bent that little tiny vent by the radio bezel, so I ended up pushing in that guy to go in and in the process, some paint came off so I ended up respraying it.

My guess is that unless you are constantly rubbing or doing something to the vent, the paint should be just fine. The only downside is that I'm a little more careful when cleaning my dash so I just put some cleaner on a rag and clean around the vent rather than just spraying the dash directly and risk spraying stuff on the vent. I don't think there's too much else to do differently besides put some kind of protector on, but that's getting a bit crazy for me personally.

So far, nothing negative to complain about, but in my case I really don't touch them or handle them too much so I can't make promises if you have indecisive passengers. For me, if something happens I'll just take them out and respray them again, no biggie but I don't think everyone wants to do that. Whatever happens good luck! If anything happens, I would post it here. This is probably one of the coolest things to do for less than $5. :thumbsup:
 






looks good keep up good work
 






Looks Great! I've always wondered what functon the mini vent on the left side does :rolleyes:

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The mini vent is for a thermometer on truck that have auto climate control
 






The mini vent is for a thermometer on truck that have auto climate control


Ahh! My explorer has manual controls but I still have the mini vent. Hmm I wonder if I can do something creative with it?
 






How did you get the vents off?
 






The big one next to the airbag just lifts out with a gentle pry with a screwdriver, although be careful because there's little clips on the sides which hold the "cover" to the actual vent. But otherwise, a gentle little pry around the edges should be fine.

The medium-sized ones on top are the same, just a little pry with a flat screwdriver. If I remember correctly, there's two decent sized plastic "clips" on the top and bottom sides which are what holds the vent to the dash. If you look in the picture of the vents on the washing machine, you can kinda see the little feet on them. Those are the things you want to be careful around because they're kinda wiggly and not too tough. But if you carefully work those out, they should just pop right out.

The vent next to the instrument cluster is difficult. You need to take that whole part of the dash out to get to it. Yeah, pretty involved. Once you get the panel off, you'll see little screws holding it in in back. Unscrew those and the vent should just pop out. I think I have a picture I didn't upload yet of that one done, if I have it, I'll post it too.

I'm no help on the little guy to the far left. That stupid little thing was bent from the start so it literally just popped right out for me, and to this day it's not in 100%. There are two big clips on the top and bottom of that one, but they are really, really fragile and bend super easily. I honestly don't know what to say about that one, mine was busted so I don't want to give bad advice or do anything to ruin your truck.

If you're still kinda nervous about the vents, go investigate around a junkyard. Try prying them out there and take some home and paint them. Get the right color/texture before you try em out on yours. I was lucky.

Like I said, mine were busted from the start, so be careful on yours.

**EDIT** Don't have a pic of the driver's side, but it looks pretty good too.
 






I did the exact opposite of you, I painted my dash and left the vents stock. I like the look of yours though, looks good.
 






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