What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Painting the interior

Aero_Octaveus

Well Known Member
So, I intend to paint the Interior of my RV7A rather than install side panels. Trying to save weight as much as I can. Will I be OK with using my current priming process to paint the interior?

Currently I am using an automotive grade 1K self etching primer to prime. http://www.proformproducts.com/en/products/paint-related-products/primers-50-state/1k-self-etching-primer/
What I plan on doing is using this primer throughout the fuselage build, and then use an automotive grade 2-part finish paint overtop for the cockpit when I am ready to paint the final finish.

My concern is will the 1K self-etch primer do a reasonable job as a base. (I am not looking for professional quality, just average durability and relatively easy to touch up when needed)

I figure I may have to remove some primer and re-coat later. I also want to paint the rivet heads as well on the interior so I imagine I will need to prime these after assembly. Or am I better off not priming anything any leaving the interior bare until I am ready to paint the interior.
 
Last edited:
I'm just leaving the interior all primer gray. Its easy to touch up, its easy on the eyes, doesn't reflect sunlight. Its fast and relatively inexpensive.

The SEM gray self-etching primer will give a nice eggshell finish if evenly applied and fully wetted-out over 2 to 3 coats. Let it cure in 70+ temps and it seems to me to be fairly durable. It won't stand up to acetone or MEK. But, I'm not planning on getting a lot of that stuff in the cockpit once its ready to fly.
 
I primed the parts of my cabin interior with NAPA (Martin Senour) 7220 self etching. I have a friend who owns a couple of body shops, and he kept asking me when I wanted him to paint. I thought I was close to being ready to paint the interior, so I called him. He said he'd be over in 45 minutes (!?). I scrambled to lay out all the loose stuff on window screens, hangers, etc in an open hangar in the middle of a thunderstorm. He brought a quart of PPG Concept Acrylic Urethane & sprayed everything. No air drier on the compressor, no special filtering, just his spray gun on my old school compressor, in the middle of a storm, in an open hangar.

In close to 10 years of me crawling around in the fuselage (can you say 'slow build'?), dropping hardware and tools, the only places that show damage are the forward top longeron gusssets, that I forgot to clean properly and prime before assembly.

FWIW....
 
I?m on my third attempt at exactly what Charlie described. It was a total failure. No matter what I did, the hangar environment was just too contaminated to get a nice slick finish on my interior side panels. I kept getting lots of trash in the top coat. So this time and hopefully the last I?m taking the panels to a body shop and let a professional shoot them in a paint booth.
 
I do have some trash in mine, too, but honestly, the only things you'll really see once you're flying are the caps on the top longerons and the instrument panel. I stressed about the impurities in the paint for about a week, then forgot about them, and now they're invisible to me. :) Of course, I never planned on having an OSH winner; just a well built, good flying a/c.

My post was more about paint selection & painting conditions vs durability, rather than appearance.
 
I had good luck using PPG epoxy primer and both single stage and bc/cc. As far as when to paint the interior, I painted my current project early on. Now that its almost ready to fly I am having to go back and re paint a bunch of stuff that got scrathched and scuffed during the build. It?s a lot harder now because the switches and avionics are installed. I think it?s best to prime as soon as possible before anything is installed.
 
Paint primer compatibility

Just my .02
I also painted planning no panels for weight reasons. Jet Flex SB over P60G2.
I would discuss primer with the paint supplier. Also, recommend not spraying primer on paint areas till it's time. You want maximum adhesion. That means the area needs sanding, cleaning prep just before spraying primer for best mechanical bond and the paint needs to go over primer within the time window for maximum chemical bonding.
So, since you want rivets painted, spray only mating surfaces before assembly.
Personally, I sprayed everything prior to assembly so the rivets would show. Looks cool.
 
Spray can Spraymax 2K Urethane Clearcoat over base coat

I painted the interior with a base coat and clear coat - Sherwin Williams base coat, and a 2 part catalyzing urethane clear coat (satin). Clear coat has a separate chamber in the can that one punctures to activate the paint, good for a day after it is activated. Easy to do, very tough, looks good.
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada
 
I painted the interior with a base coat and clear coat - Sherwin Williams base coat, and a 2 part catalyzing urethane clear coat (satin). Clear coat has a separate chamber in the can that one punctures to activate the paint, good for a day after it is activated. Easy to do, very tough, looks good.
Bill Brooks
Ottawa, Canada

Ive used the Spray max 2 part epoxy primer at the start of my project. Insanely good stuff and tough as nails. I did a torture test on it once. Good call on the clear coat.

Awesome input guys, thanks for all the info. Think i'm going to forge ahead as you suggest.

Yes wirejock I've been following your build log. I hear you on the max adhesion, that was on my mind.
 
Back
Top