How to Fix Rubber Coating on Console

I\’ve been piddling around with a fix for this, because
I\’ve seen a bunch of posts on this topic. I used a can of black
Plastikote rubber coating, and cut it down with thinner until it had a
paint-like consistency. I then used my airbrush and compressor to spray
several coats on spare pieces of plastic trim, and let dry. Not only does
it look really good, but I don\’t think you could chisel this stuff off.
As far as looks, it dries very smooth, and is *slightly* shinier than the
factory stuff, maybe like if you put some armor all on the factory one and
then wiped it off with a dry rag.
Anyway, they key is to know how
to airbrush. In other words, several light coats instead of one heavy
coat. My kit is for painting model cars, and I bought a \”medium\”
needle due to the thickness of the Plastikote. I prepped the plastic
pieces by cleaning them with lacquer thinner, and hitting them with a
\”tack\” rag. Then I went to town, painting all the nooks and crannies
on the first coat, and doing several thin overall coats until I was
satisfied.
You\’ll need a compressor – mine cost $99 at Lowes
(hobby air compressor, or you can regulate your shop compressor down to
about 12 psi); an airbrush kit – mine cost around $120 from
towerhobbies.com (there are cheaper ones), along with a medium needle for
$4; and you\’ll need the plastikote, which my local NAPA
carries.
Maybe several guys could chip in for the equipment and
spread the costs around, or one guy could defray the costs by charging
others $50 to redo their trim pieces. Anyway, I think this is a very
viable solution, and hope someone else tries it too. The results looked
very nice!