Going to tear apart my interior-anyone painted/cleared their aluminiumum parts?

I didn't do it myself, but my cars previous owner painted all the aluminum a very glossy black. Can't even tell it was aluminum. Although imo the door trim looks plasticcy due to the extreme gloss. Although it was very well done, at times I wish it were left alone....or hydrographed/wrapped in CF vinyl.
There's a guy in this forum that hydrographed his with a cf pattern. The pics look great.

I'll try and get you some pics of my black parts so you can decide for yourself, you likely saw some of it in my scarlet thread.

 

Here you go, sorry low light + cellphone= poor quality
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b88/bigphatgoalie/cars/2A812341-7A60-4A39-8907-98054633A744_zpsh6fgvgaw.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b88/bigphatgoalie/cars/03A60402-712D-4A47-813F-CE8CF6605A05_zpsyq6wzfva.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b88/bigphatgoalie/cars/6ACF423E-2474-47CB-8B4E-C14CC991E5DE_zpszm09hqte.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b88/bigphatgoalie/cars/A09D96A8-1AD8-48C5-8496-90BB1ADD6B75_zpsgu5u7oja.jpg
http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b88/bigphatgoalie/cars/1496C890-1C8E-4546-84C4-C720F34341D2_zpsdxpnzekh.jpg

 

Matt - are the parts actually aluminum or are they plastic with an aluminum / silver paint?

If the later - we could likely refinish them although it would require a custom color match.

 

Some parts could also be white metal, which gets used a lot for these sort of things where strength isn't important.

 

If you care about the protection, why not just powder coat it? You could use a 10% gloss, 90% matte mix and a good powdercoater would be able to match it. Or you could darken it or something. I can't imagine clear coat paint would do anything but scratch more than the existing paint. They're metal so powder coating is an option.

 

I have painted aluminum motorcycle parts with VHT Aluminum paint. It is really easy to work with, goes on like a matte finish and then you can lightly rub it with a rag to get the desired amount of sheen. I would think you could spray some clear on and bake in over on low heat with good results.

 

'Shot Rustoleum 500° cast aluminum and then 2000° clear gloss on an Edelbrock Performer 2105 intake for my 390FE. Really easy to clean, no discoloration, and tough as nails.

If there is any "trick", it's multiple light coats and a very thorough cure time. Don't be in a hurry!!!

For the F-car, I'd use a BC/CC system with about 25 percent of flattener to get that "just right" sheen. Interior pieces should be around 'satin' to avoid the cheapo, ghetto look. Do some spray-outs to get nail down the recipe prior to shooting your parts.

 

When I did my interior panels, my 99 has the matte silver finish on them. I took them out, lightly sanded them (maybe) and then sprayed them with a can of Toyota platinum silver touch up paint from Auto Zone. Looks perfect. If I wanted a gloss on the parts I'd simply paint another coat of clear.

The factory didn't overthink things as much as we do here.

 

I bought my 360 with the interior pieces already painted body color, not sure if I would have made that decision, but after seeing it, I'm really really glad that the owner before me did. It sets it off while tying it all together in some weird way, most that have seen it love it.
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Sorry to go off topic, but what's the deal w/ 360 passenger airbag covers? Why do they all crumple up like that, and what is the fix?