Pros & Cons of Painting Interior Door Panels

[CluCool]

I am in the process of planing my door panels right now. Does anyone on here have painted door panels or know anyone who has?

Is it a bad idea for a daily driven truck to have painted door panels?

I am going to cut a hole about half the size of the panel and fiberglass some speakers into it, then smooth and paint the rest of the door panel as well.

I read where a guy on the S-10 forums said everyone he knows who have ever painted their door panels has regretted it. But then I see all the post in the same topic of all kinds of smoothed, fiber glassed over painted up door panels. So I don't know if he was an idiot or really knows that it is a bad idea.

What are your thouhgts?

[Dakota07]

scratches, scratches, scratches.......depending what kind of paint you use, and how well you paint, temp. differances will cause cracking and chipping...... all things I be adressing when I RE-DO my interior, lol


my dak is my daily and overall, i don't regret it. I just wish i had done it right the first time or I wouldn'thave the problems I have. andlots of people ride in my truck too, so, it's also help up pretty well, especialy on the door panels.

[DRAGN94]

my entire interior is smoothed and painted. i have a scratch on the passenger side from the window crak arm hit once..but other than that..my shit has to get dusted all the time cuz the majority of it is black..other than that love it. just gotta keep it clean

[00dakota]

Just constant cleaning and possiblity of scratches.Never heard of cracking paint,my dash has been painted for over a year and no such thing has happend.Id say go for it.If you plan to paint more i advise not to paint the dash, glare sucks balls

[djwolf37]

None of you are mentioning the biggest disadvantage............its addictive and time consuming. Once ya start you dont want to stop. Lucky for me i have a parts truck that i am "borrowing" the parts from. I have 10 plus parts in my room that are about half done.

On a serious note, take your time and do it right and you wont have a problem.

[CluCool]

Originally Posted by djwolf37

None of you are mentioning the biggest disadvantage............its addictive and time consuming. Once ya start you dont want to stop. Lucky for me i have a parts truck that i am "borrowing" the parts from. I have 10 plus parts in my room that are about half done.

On a serious note, take your time and do it right and you wont have a problem.

Well I hate to say it, but it is to late for me guys, I am to far gone. I am hooked on the glass, and I will be using it for at least a year or probably more like 3. Just trying to beat the winter for the remainder of this season cuz my garage gets cold. I have made a both in my garage with plastic sheets I have attached to my ceiling, it helps keep the sanding dust down. Now I am just perfecting the previously built sub/center council getting it ready for paint. Then I have already ripped the rear wall out and am going to start the mock up of more amps and sub. I plan on having way too many speakers in a reg cab by the time I am done. I'll try and keep ya posted, hopefully by winter I will have some progress pictures up.

It seems like alot of and a few makes fiberglass even more fun!!

[KandyDakota]

Here is my dash....it has taken me 4 times to get it that way (finally figured out what i was doing a year or 2 ago)........

if u do it, do it right the first time, it will save a lot of headaches (sand it, smooth it, make sure all contaminants (armoral etc, or completely gone which means sanding almost all the pores out of it.......

U have to be careful with heat differences (cold outside then turn on heat, or hot then turn on air (ive actually ripped all my a/c and everything out, which everything is shaved, but i didnt want to risk anything)

I love having it, mine is all house of kolor paint, same process as exterior...and when doing glasswork, make sure u set it out for a while in the sun because plastic expands and contracts when warming and cooling....

uh make sure to use flex primers and high build, apply actual figerglass to the plastic (it gives a little, bondo or body fillers do not, use them over the glass)

Also note, mine is garaged, and maybe driven 400 miles a year...so it doesnt see much use...

sorry for the long msg. ....but hope this helps....any other ???s hit me up....i can help im sure

[CluCool]

Looks freakin awesome. I will be using mine as a daily, which will be hot ass summer days and bone chilling winter days, so I am concerned about the dash.

Right now I am concentrating on my door panels first then I'll go to the dash if doors come out ok.

[KandyDakota]

Yeah i am in the middle of redoin my panels right now.....i didnt like the uphostory work on it, so i ripped them back down....i will post some pics up later....

its all worth it, u just have to take precautions and be careful with it (i always clean mine with ammonia free windex, or just show n shine stuff (Mcguires, dealership stuff, etc).....Just no armorall or ammonia...not too good for it

[crashedakota]

painting the door panels would look badass but the problem with your truck being a daily driver is that ppl getting in and out would scratch the crap outta the bottom of the door. So i would try to incorporate some carpet on the bottom Especially if you drive it in the winter.