Well here goes...decided to paint some of my interior parts

[Andrew]

I finally decided to get off my ass and paint some of the interior trim in my car. The piece that goes over the gauges, the bezels around the vents and the cups behind the door handles. I've yanked them all out but I can't decide whether to paint them gloss black or silver.

Opinions requested

Blue 4dr w/blue interior

[A Dawg Jr]

WTF ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! BLUE INTERIORS KICK ASS!

But I think a good matching color is white or an off white man. Silver is too.... shinny But if you're going to paint, go with white i think. And good luck. And I want to see some pics!!

[Justin86]

Silver. When ever I decide to do mine I want to repaint the interior a dark blue and possiblie the black trim paint silver.

[Justin86]

Originally posted by A Dawg Jr
WTF ARE YOU DOING?!?!?! BLUE INTERIORS KICK ASS!

But I think a good matching color is white or an off white man. Silver is too.... shinny But if you're going to paint, go with white i think. And good luck. And I want to see some pics!!
Oh shit I totaly forgot about white. White does accent a blue car pretty good.

[Mike89Accordcom]

white and blue are great....

[Andrew]

I'm not painting the whole interior, just some of the small parts. The vent bezels and the cluster face is also already black, I was just trying to decide gloss black and silver. I think this would highlight the blue interior and give it a bit of a custom look. Silver would have more impact.

[Justin86]

Silver and white would be good choices. You can't go wrog\ng with either, and silver is a lot easier to paint on the white. I have had real trouble with white spray paints.

[Mike's89AccordLX]

I would use a self etching primer and then spray the white.

[Justin86]

Originally posted by Mike's89AccordLX
I would use a self etching primer and then spray the white.
self etching. How is it diferent from a regular spray on primer.

[86AccordLxi]

I would prefer silver since it still contrasts with the blue, but not as much as white. Whatever you choose, it will look good.

alex

[NXRacer]

doesnt self etching eliminate the need for sanding??

[Mike's89AccordLX]

Yes, I think so. I will have to ask my dad.

[gameoner]

andrew, i painted my shit in my interior with silver, and i have the same car u do, a 88 accord lx blue/ with bliu interior,and it looks sick.i tried whtie and it didnt turn out that well (and i know how to paint because i do graffiti) so i would say run with the silver:werd:

[Andrew]

:super: hey gameoner :super:

I decicded to go with silver, I've actually already done it. I'm just waiting for the paint to cure a little before I try and re-install the parts. I've got a bunch of pics on my website. I also figured out a way to make all the warning lights light up in blue only.

Will post more pics when I am done.

http://www.geocities.com/a_asmundson/88LX.html

[Andrew]

Hey Guys

Finished up the paint job on my interior. You can check it out at the following URL:

http://www.geocities.com/a_asmundson/88LX.html

[danronian]

Looks great, that silver paint really shimmers well, I wish I could do something like that to my interior but since the body is black and the interior is already two-tone black and tan I really don't know what would look good. I painted the speaker grilles black but other then that I don't think anything else would look good a different color.

[Andrew]

You might consider "High Gloss Black" for your trim, that was the other option I was considering. It would give it a more 'custom' look. Might be a lot of work for the difference though.

[jonrichert]

about a year and a half ago i painted all my dash vents and clock trim with plastikote white, turned out great, looks really cool with the white shift boot i made and my white gauges

[NXRacer]

how hard is it to pull out the trim? I've been thinking of doing it, but dont know how exactly to pull it out. Does it pop out? Whats the trick to get it to come out the easiest?

[Osiris]

Originally posted by NXRacer
how hard is it to pull out the trim? I've been thinking of doing it, but dont know how exactly to pull it out. Does it pop out? Whats the trick to get it to come out the easiest?

All of the interior parts come out pretty easy. The doors are a bitch to get back on tho. Here are some of mine...

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/383000-383999/383034_16_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/383000-383999/383034_17_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/383000-383999/383034_18_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/383000-383999/383034_19_full.jpg

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/383000-383999/383034_20_full.jpg

Heres the center console i swiped from another car and painted later...

http://images.cardomain.com/member_img_a/383000-383999/383034_29_full.jpg

[Andrew]

Shit! That looks great! I did most of the same parts except for the speaker grills the door handle and the top of the console. There's a few parts I missed the first time around, I'll be doing those awhile after I get it back on the road (busted a couple of wheel studs).

[A Dawg Jr]

I've got the black and tan interior too. I was thinking of just painting the shit that's black, blacker and make it look real crisp and clean.

You guys don't go into much detail about getting the vents and stuff out of the car, how do you do that? and how do you get the door pannel things off?

[A Dawg Jr]

edit

[Andrew]

I started by removing the cover from the guage cluster, then I remove the vents on either side of it. To rmove the cover over the guage cluster you have to pop out the swithches and the blank switch plates and undo the screws behind them. Then you pop the cover off the back of the cluster and remove the two screws up there. To romove the clear lens in front of the cluster you need to remove the cluster by unplugging all the wiring and the odometer (a pain in the ass to put back on. ) Once you have remove the cluster you just push down on five clips and pop the lens off.To To remove the vents you have to lift up on two little clips that drop into small holes at the bottom of the vent (use something flat and about a 1/4" wide. Then you pull the vent out from the bottom. you do the same foor the right hand vent and the center vents as well.

Hope this helps, hard to describe without pictures.

[Andrew]

I wrote up some better instructions with some simple diagrams on my web page, check it out at the following link:


http://www.geocities.com/a_asmundson/88LX.html

[Osiris]

If you look at the vents they all and removable panels, they all have small slots on the bottom that you can stick a flat head in and pry out. The center vents are different tho. You have to remove the gauge cluster housing and slowly pry it from each end. If you have more questions, let me know.

[danronian]

Originally posted by A Dawg Jr
how do you get the door pannel things off?
First take out all of the screws, 3 in arm rest, 2 near the bottom, 2 near the vent, one really small one on the black plastic insert for the handle, three for the speaker grill, and there might be one under that, and im not sure if I counted the one that has the plastic cover on it. Then take out that plastic insert for the handle, wiggle and push towards the back and pull while the door handle is pulled open. Then either use a door panel clip remover or just get a big flat head screwdriver with a rag around it and get it between the door panel and door closest to each clip and pry them off. If any clips get stuck just pull them out with a wrench and stick them back on the door panel after it's off. Then unplug the power window plug and the courtesy light plug from the door panel. Then stick the same big flat screwdriver below the chrome strip on the door panel and above the actual door and pry up and pull up like all hell on the panel until it comes off.

To install it is easy except for the top of the panel which you have to pound on to get it to stick.

[NXRacer]

damn andrew, now all you need are some gauges and you'll be set!

[moose]

i've been wanting to do some interior part painting, but i don't know what color would look good. i have the brownish/gold color exterior with the brown/black interior. what color do you guys think would look best?

[Swan]

ok, so silver looks good in a blue interior car... but what could I use in my butt-ugly brown car? which, it really wouldn't matter, because I'm making serious plans to completely redo the interior (carpet, cover the dash and doors in tweed, crush velvet, vinyl, or something of the sort) and get some seat covers custom-made... I just need an idea of what would look good until I get eveyrthing else done

[Andrew]

With those colors I'd stick with black, high gloss black, it would look better than the bare plastic but might be a lot of work for very little return. I wonder what gold would look like? Or dark grey?

[Justin86]

It looks pretty good. Also that is a nice write up you got on your site. It should help out the people here that want to be tuners, but can hardely take off there wheels. :)

(Forestales E-1044 :))

[gameoner]

i like that. i did the whole vents silver though instead of the silver and black. i got some white guages in there with blue lights, and it looks ill. hopefully have some pics soon

[Neuspeed007]

Originally posted by Mike89Accordcom
white and blue are great....

werd thats why my interior looks like so...

[Nate2310]

I have a white accord w/ white interior and green for the offset things it looks pretty badass i just have to use the green and white vinyl i have to cover the seats and get new carpet and it will be done

[Justin86]

GREEN. I hope not lime green. Some guy had his 3g in a car show with lime green accents. UGLY

[Dibbs]

White Hatch, blue interior w/ white accents. I think the white gauge bezel looks bad ass at night. Kinda like a poor man's Indiglo. My two front seats are a matching blue vinyl w/ white inserts (center part). The inserts have 1" pleats sewn with blue thread at a 45 deg angle. I shaved the headrests too. I've also done my headliner in blue as well. I want to paint the large pieces of interior trim surrounding the windows in my hatch. They're this light color gray and I want them blue. Then after I replace the seal for my windshield (leaking) I'm going to replace the carpet w/ a navy inboard/outboard marine carpet. It has blue metallic strands woven in. It's a very nice look. After that....it's on to the back seats and door panels, then my masterpiece will be complete.

[Nate2310]

i'ts not lime green, it's a darker green it's looks good

[Justin86]

Ok a dark green looks much better