How to prep plastic (yuck) for paint?

Not much plastic on traditional rods, I know however, I'm in the upholstery phase on my '54 Ford and I'm going green and white. I'll be using some Pruis buckets (many reasons why I'm not using the stock bench) and I need to prep these plastic side pieces for paint. I was going to scuff with a 3M red pad but is there some sort of adhesion promoter in a spray can I could use? I just don't want the paint to fall off when you look at it. How would you guys prep this?

 

go to an upholstery shop, they sell it in all colors... clean and spray and done..

 

also If you are re doing the seats the shop will spray them whhhhhile apart..

 

I've used Krylon Plastic paint on parts after they were wiped down with cleaner. You want to make sure they don't have any silicon based based stuff like Armorall on them. Interestingly enough the one thing I used the adhesion promoter on, a mirror cover for my truck, the paint all cracked!

 

I scuffed the plastic in my seats with red scotchbrite and painted them with cheap flat white and no problems at all

 

Probably needs to be in the OT forum.
Painting plastic is EZ.
Clean it. Nothing beats dishwash soap and water.
You can scrub it with a scotch brite pad as mentioned and sand and clean basically at the same time.
Dry it off.
I use a separate adhesion promotor. A generic product is bulldog adhesion promoter. Follow the instructions.
Then paint as usual.

 

I use VHT aerosol vinyl spray!

For prep I clean it with soapy water, then spray or brush on some M.E.K until the surface is sticky. [don't rub it too hard]
The M.E.K allows the paint/dye to soak in deep.

It'll take a few days for the solvent to totally evaporate

 

Definitely start by scrubbing the **** out of the parts with dish soap in case someone ever used armorall on them. One of the worst contaminate paint can have. Id scrub before sanding

 

Plastic adhesion promoter, spray it on and it basically eats the hard surface of the plastic and makes it kinda gooey to touch. Spray with interior paint while tacky and once dry the paint will not come off without a fight. Do not sand or wipe with solvents or you will remove the grain stamped in the pieces.

 

My daily for the last 20 years is a Chevy Avalanche I bought new. As everyone knows, there is a LOT of textured plastic around and covering the bed. Most fade to 14 different colors in the sun. Mine looks perfect because I paint it with SEM bumper coater every three years.

My fool proof method:

1) Scrub everything with 409 w/ Bleach using lots of paper towels.
2) Scrub everything again with Dawn dish soap and a short scrub brush. Really scrub it. Let it air dry.
3) Scrub with denatured alcohol and a lint free towel.

Never had it flake or lift. Not using an abrasive means the texture isn’t damaged. I re-do every third year because of fading, not failure.