DIY: Dash Painting (Gunmetal) and Din Cover

[JonHsiung]

This is for all those of you that keep asking me how to do it. Hopefully my PM box will die down, as much as I enjoy answering all your questions...

Dash Painting

1. Choose your color. DupliColor makes a good spray paint which is semi-intended to be on your dash accessories (since it says so on the can). I chose gunmetal.

Choose your spraypaint...
http://www.misswlee.com/~jonhsiung/v6p/dash1.jpg
Sorry, I only have blue, black, gunmetal, primer, and clear. :(

2. Take off all your accessories. The passenger vent pops off with a flathead, for the center console, you have to remove the clock and get the three phillips screws (one behind the clock and two at the bottom of the console), the driver side vent requires you to take out the coin tray and then take off those two philips head screws, and the top two defoggers can be taken out by inserting a paperclip so that when you pull out, it will hook one of the defogger dividers and pull directly upward.

3. Use one can of white primer. No matter what color you use, white primer is a good base because most colors come out how they intended to be. Sometimes, the paint wont stick if you dont use primer. One layer should be fine. You can sand it if you want a smoother finish. I didn't because I'm lazy and I kinda like the texture thing.

4. I sprayed three coats of gunmetal onto the accessories. Don't forget to move the vents around (up,down,left,right) between coats so that way next time you spray, it will cover all of it.

5. Spray two layers of DupliColor Clearcoat top coat.

How to spraypaint: hold the can about 10-14" away from the surface, which should be laid down on a piece of newspaper. Press nozzle so it will release a cloud of the paint and the cloud will drift evenly and lightly onto the surface. Keep until you have a nice even surface. This way you won't saturate the surface and the paint won't run.

6. Congratulations. Now you have just copied me along with the other five AV6'ers on this board who chose gunmetal...Of which I copied the directions from Viper in his blue/silver scheme. (Before the board got ****ed in the ass and now has learned to run faster.)



How to create a center console thingamajig.

1. Take the Accord emblem off the back of your ride. Or buy one a the dealership for $18. Yes. That's right. $18. haha. or somewhere around there. Floss and a blowdryer works well I hear. DO NOT TAKE IT OFF ANYBODY ELSE'S RIDE. I'll personally beat your ass if I see you jacking someone else's shiet. :D Hehe. j/k. All in good fun.

2. You can pick up some 1/4"-thick plexiglass at Home Depot or any hardware store. Mark out the area that you need to cover the din with a marker. Make sure you have a little room larger than you marked when you cut/melt it out of the board.

3. A 99-cent store solder iron works wonders to melt the plexiglass. A rotary tool (dremel) works great too. Get some sandpaper to sand down the edges so they're flat and keep sanding until it's flat and the edges match the size of the din.

4. You can buy a small piano hinge and miniature handle to drill into the plexiglass if you want it to look clean. Otherwise, you can use black vinyl on the ends and clear packaging tape across the top to attach it to the din so that it will become a door. That's the ghetto way...which I took. Now you can put all your miscellaneous crap, cd's, coins, drugs, etc. behind the door.

5. Re-double-sided-stick-tape your emblems to it.

Here's some pics when you're done.
http://www.misswlee.com/~jonhsiung/v6p/dash2.jpg
http://www.misswlee.com/~jonhsiung/v6p/dash3.jpg
http://www.misswlee.com/~jonhsiung/v6p/dash4.jpg
http://www.misswlee.com/~jonhsiung/v6p/dash6.jpg

[abram2001]

I love the gauge cluter, and indiglo's its looks really nice together, thanks for the info bro

[JDMV6ACCORD]

DAMNNN ARGH! That looks so clean. I didn't want the silver color, but that is so tyte, (I HATE SHINEY S***, IT REMINDS ME OF THE MEXICANS THAT PLAY SOCCER AND LOVER CHROME AND NIKE SIGNS), but dannnnggggggg I want to do this but I don't wanna copy you man. I like to Be OG. :D. But this is one tyte MOD, I love the gunmetal, HMMM I'll see what other colors they have. DO YOU HAVE TO SAND OR ROUGH UP THE DASH BEFORE YPU PAINT? OR YOU JUST SPRAY ON THE WHITE PRIMER AND YOU"RE GOOD TO GO?

Do you have any pics of the indiglo on? I can't get into your website w/o being a member. Also nice needles too, what kind are they also? Sorry just curious, I'd go red if i get anything.

DANG AS I THOUGHT OF IT, IM GOING TO KEEP MINES OG. THAT'S YOUR OG AND I DONT WANNA COPY IT, I'LL HOPEFULLY FIGURE OUT SOMN GOOD TOO.

[JonHsiung]

I didn't sand anything. just spray on the primer and i was good to go. if you want, you can though. it'll be a bit smoother, but it's not necessary.

The gauges were from ebay. they're probably the same thing as These (click) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33695&item=2414419445)

the needles were stripped off from their original paint by paint thinner and painted transparent blue. unfortunately, it's still not bright enough and i dont want to get the blue needle kit (too afraid to bother with needles) so i'm going to get it LED converted when i have a lil more time. it looks kinda ugly with the stock bulbs behind tho. sorry. here's some pics.

in blue mode...
http://www.misswlee.com/~jonhsiung/v6p/dash5.jpg

[Blazin036]

lol i keep my spray paint in a car board box too :goofy:

[gOtJuice_00]

man , that look nice. but i had a really bad experience with painting the interior. fisrt I start off just like you did, then it get pretty adicting, so I end up painted my door panals, and the whole interior, including the dashboard. Then later on it get really dirty( maybe it just me) now I repaint the whole interior back to black. and it look good. but hey it look good. But for me I really regred about painting my interior

[accord126]

Originally posted by JonHsiung on May 8th, 2003 at 11:56 PM

I didn't sand anything. just spray on the primer and i was good to go. if you want, you can though. it'll be a bit smoother, but it's not necessary.

The gauges were from ebay. they're probably the same thing as These (click) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33695&item=2414419445)

the needles were stripped off from their original paint by paint thinner and painted transparent blue. unfortunately, it's still not bright enough and i dont want to get the blue needle kit (too afraid to bother with needles) so i'm going to get it LED converted when i have a lil more time. it looks kinda ugly with the stock bulbs behind tho. sorry. here's some pics.

in blue mode...



yo, where did you get the metal thing surrounding your gauges...gauge bezel i think it's called...

[JonHsiung]

The gauge bezel you can pick up off ebay. be careful about this one though. there are good ones and bad ones. the one i have is okay. it's thicker than some i've seen, but still not one of the thickest. just run an ebay search for "98 accord gauge bezel" and it should be fine.

[JonHsiung]

Originally posted by gOtJuice_00 on May 9th, 2003 at 10:54 AM

man , that look nice. but i had a really bad experience with painting the interior. fisrt I start off just like you did, then it get pretty adicting, so I end up painted my door panals, and the whole interior, including the dashboard. Then later on it get really dirty( maybe it just me) now I repaint the whole interior back to black. and it look good. but hey it look good. But for me I really regred about painting my interior


yeah one of my friends' bf has cigarette burns all over his car and he painted his black. i thought about painting it black because i saw his looked okay but there was still something about it. if you clearcoat it with the right type of clearcoat, it shouldn't get dirty. this is automotive topcoat so it's similar to the coat you have outside your car. you can wax/wash it and it's decently resistant to scratches, etc. but ultimately it's still paint.

[gOtJuice_00]

see i did that. It look clean, buttttttt did you know that can't see absolutely **** when the sun is on top of ya. well trust me. I been there done that. This is a promise I made to myself is never paint any dawn thing from my interior again. but hey good luck to youm your interior look cool though, but you'll see what i mean when you painted your dash.

[JonHsiung]

really? i havent had a problem with it at all. the light reflective blue bothered me when the sun was out and the moonroof was open, but the gunmetal doesn't because it's not reflective enough. i'll take some pics tomorrow in the sun to show you guys if i remember.

you painted it silver didn't you?? :D...the headunit's a different story. damn shiny metallic flap & the organic display behind it...

i know what you mean about that wanting to paint everything though. i'm starting to get that feelin, but i really dont want to paint over the stock wood grain. :(

[DaBenz7898]

Originally posted by JonHsiung on May 9th, 2003 at 02:17 PM

The gauge bezel you can pick up off ebay. be careful about this one though. there are good ones and bad ones. the one i have is okay. it's thicker than some i've seen, but still not one of the thickest. just run an ebay search for "98 accord gauge bezel" and it should be fine.


does the aftermarket guage bezel replace the clear plastic cover/stock bezel???? is there any way to seperate the plastic cover and stock bezel??

[JonHsiung]

Originally posted by DaBenz7898 on May 9th, 2003 at 11:00 PM

does the aftermarket guage bezel replace the clear plastic cover/stock bezel???? is there any way to seperate the plastic cover and stock bezel??


it just covers over the plastic. you can take it off with no damage anytime you want. you dont even have to unplug the gauge cluster to install them. :up: sooper easy mod.

[TH23]

I wish I could have silver trim in my car but I have the retarded light grey interior. I wish it was a dark grey or black but no, light grey was the only color offered with Silver sedans. So the only trim that looks semi-decent in my car is black and wood trim. I'd like to replace the fake wood trim in with car with black but what a pain.

[JonHsiung]

I agree. Damn, Honda shoulda chose another color. I'd have a white coupe if it weren't for their beige interior.

...I'd also have a silver coupe, if they didn't run out of them at the dealership that day. :(
"do you want an LX v6?"
"no. i want the ex."
"can you wait about three weeks?"
"no. just gimme the black."
"fine. we'll throw in the spoiler and exhaust tips for free."
"deal."

[gOtJuice_00]

yeah. i use to have my dashboard white, it look good for like a month, and then it get pretty bored. I can'e even see **** when the sun is up. now it is balck, and it is ok. There is a color for you to paint just interior, and it does no shine at all, but it really good. turst me you paint one thing, then you wanna paint another, next thing you know, your dawn interior be ruin like mine. :confused:

[Viper]

good job. sorry i didnt do a how to earlier, but the other board was real ****ed up and slow, and when i tried, i was turned off from continuing it. i shaved my shifter area. ill take a pic and show it soon.

[Ninet7Accord]

Im in the process of painting my interior right now, im doing everything white with yellow accents. its coming out pretty good so far, the only thing i really have left to do is painting the dash an door pannels, ill take some pics of it when im done an show you guys

[SiLvAaCCoRdV6]

hey JonHsiung,

i purchased the guage bezel for my car, but when i went to install it stupid me broke the clear plastic cover. How did you get it in there with out breaking the clear plastic cover....was there hidden screws or someting?

[JonHsiung]

the bottom is screwed on with the star-screws.

the top is superglued on in stock form. you just need to take a screwdriver or xacto knife and pry/cut the superglue off slowly. nothing to it, it's just easier if you take the entire gauges off in the first place. you gotta be careful with it.

i had my gauges overlay replaced first so when i put on the bezel i had no problems with it. it was just unscrew it and take it off without taking out the entire assembly.

[Viper]

coool:cool: thats how ill do it now

[SiLvAaCCoRdV6]

yea i tried using a screwdriver to pry it open..but i guess i got a little to impatient an accidently cracked it :(

hey jonhsuing...wat kind of exhaust/mufflers do you have? How much and how does it sound?

[JonHsiung]

ugh. sorry to hear about that chris. :(

[Dave Morin]

Originally posted by JonHsiung on May 10th, 2003 at 01:52 AM

really? i havent had a problem with it at all. the light reflective blue bothered me when the sun was out and the moonroof was open, but the gunmetal doesn't because it's not reflective enough. i'll take some pics tomorrow in the sun to show you guys if i remember....


Any more pics? i realy want to do this aswell.. just not sure if i want a silverish color or more gunmetal...

[Suhvas2001]

Hey Guys i also know what its like to be obsessed with paint the interior but i am having problems, body shop painted some and then i found out that the dealer sold my car color in SPRAY PAINT so i been painted things i tried to paint thing around the guages like the guage cluster and it came out good in some spots and then in other spots its like it didnt wanna stick, and u know those LITTLE vents on the dash that point towards the side windows for the difrost or whatever well i was painting those and when i went to CLEAR COAT them it looks like it kinda changed color alittle what am i doing wrong? maybe my spray paint doesnt need clear coat since its a factory touch up spray paint? I would also like to paint the PILLERS front and BACK what r the tricks to painting those? or same thing just primer and spray? should it be sanded before or after primer? help me out guys thanx

[JonHsiung]

Originally posted by Dave Morin on May 12th, 2003 at 09:46 PM

Any more pics? i realy want to do this aswell.. just not sure if i want a silverish color or more gunmetal...


yeah sure, i almost forgot about that. here you go. i tried to take it in the sun with the most glare possible (started driving in circles with the windows/moonroof open to get the dash all full of glare)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p275cc618e563100c52596d05d0280e15/fc288dce.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p2b01fa0b13e6a2e68c24b5a3c81bdea3/fc288f57.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p203f3c5cfde3eab1f0b1cc3977080b31/fc288f53.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/pcfa36432448272ed59b24e6cbfa14e3d/fc288f5b.jpg

it doesn't reflect much light at all. the HU & shift knob on the other hand...

[JonHsiung]

when it doesn't stick, it because you need to use primer and clean it well.

sometimes when the paint changes color due to the clearcoat, it's because it reacts with it. i only know of some paitns that do that, but some paints come with enamel and clearcoat over it.

the pillars should be primer and spray. you can sand if you want, but i tend not to. it also comes out with that vinyl texture with the color you spray it. if you want it smooth, then you'll have to sand it.

Originally posted by Suhvas2001 on May 12th, 2003 at 10:28 PM

Hey Guys i also know what its like to be obsessed with paint the interior but i am having problems, body shop painted some and then i found out that the dealer sold my car color in SPRAY PAINT so i been painted things i tried to paint thing around the guages like the guage cluster and it came out good in some spots and then in other spots its like it didnt wanna stick, and u know those LITTLE vents on the dash that point towards the side windows for the difrost or whatever well i was painting those and when i went to CLEAR COAT them it looks like it kinda changed color alittle what am i doing wrong? maybe my spray paint doesnt need clear coat since its a factory touch up spray paint? I would also like to paint the PILLERS front and BACK what r the tricks to painting those? or same thing just primer and spray? should it be sanded before or after primer? help me out guys thanx

[112]

creative thinking man. mad props.

[Dave Morin]

what's the Gunmetal's paint code, or who is it made by? where di you get it from?

[JonHsiung]

it's made by DupliColor in a 4oz spray can. it should be in the touchup paint section of your local auto store (autozone, kragen, pepboys, etc). it's just called gunmetal.

[Suhvas2001]

Hey JonHsiung after i spray the primer if i need to sand it down what grid sand paper do i use? and whats the best kinda primer?

[Dave Morin]

IMO, i would wet sand it with a very fine sand paper i forget which #... maybe 600- 800?

I've done many Motorcycle Bodies right from scratch and wet sanding is definatly the way to go to remove any small imperfections.

[JonHsiung]

yeah i agree. for primer sanding, you just need to wetsand it at about 600 grain sandpaper. if you were going to sand the plastic first i'd with a more coarse sandpaper like 300 and then do your primer thing. make sure you get sand paper that is able to wetsand. the other kind will just shrivel up and fall apart after a couple slides.

best kind of primer? i honestly have no preference. try whatever sticks best to your plastic. i'd have to go home to check what i used but i'm at school for the next 2 weeks.

[Speedfreak]

is it possible to paint over the stock woodgrain pieces, and if so how would you do it?

[JonHsiung]

yes, sand with a very high-grit (600+) sandpaper, primer, and then just paint over it. I thought about doing it to mine, but I'm afraid of just covering it up with paint.

[gOtJuice_00]

wow it look like everyone really like to paint everything now. well good luck to you guy. but for me that it . No more interior paint again for the rest of my life. I really had a bad experience with it. and yeah make sure you use really fine sandpaper. and there is one spary can out there it call flexible primer. that might come in handy for furture purposes

[mcR]

should i sand my paint if i paint it? or thas not a good idea?

[JonHsiung]

no, don't sand your paint. clearcoat it. the clearcoat will stick.

if you sand your paint, then it'll come out with scratch marks all over it. it'll be smoother if you didn't sand it. just sand the plastic if you want a nice, smooth job. if you don't sand the plastic, you can always sand the primer, but make sure you get the sandable primer.

that other flexible primer that gOtJuice_00 was talking about is a good idea though. i think it would be worth taking a look. nice heads up man.

[Dave Morin]

Yes, sand the paint if you want a Smooth as a baby's but finish.. (i did)

step 1: clean surface
step 2: prime surface (let dry for a couple hours)
step 3 paint (let dry for 5 hours at least!!)
step 4 Wet sand (make sure the first layer is dry!!)
step 5 paint again
step 6 (optional) sand again if you are a perfectionist like i am)
step 7: clear coat over and over every 30 mins or so.. (clear coat dries way quicker and you only apply a mist of it at once)
2-4 coats of clear should be more then enough.... let it dry overnight inside a warm area

[JonHsiung]

Dave Morin - For reference, what grit sandpaper did you use on the paint? I didn't use any on mine although I thought about it.

I don't recommend sanding paint and I've done it before with good results but I just highly recommend it against people with who have had no experience with it for fear that they may run out there with some 320-grit sandpaper and jack it up. But I do have to admit that it does come out better if you do it right.

[Dave Morin]

i used some 600 grit the first time and some 800 the second time.
Remember i am wet sanding.. just get a bowl of water and dip the sand paper in, never ever let the part you are sanding dry up... Weter the better :angel:

[Redline]

I've got a question, what did you do to your needles to clear them? Is it just plastic coating? And how easy is it to read at night?

[Dave Morin]

haven't done the needles yet... i might be buying the Needle kit for our cars and then find a cheaper way to do it and help you guys out

[JonHsiung]

Must be talking about my needles.

Anyway, you have to use nailpolish remover, a couple q-tips, and patience to take the paint off the needles. they're fragile and the paint is a reflective type. Afterwards, they will be clear and light up the nasty yellow from the bulbs. i just put a transparent dye over the top (sharpies work great) but it only gets dimmer because no more reflective paint.

i plan to LED convert those needles sometime. I'll be back with the results of how they look.

[DV8]

hmmm how come ur center dash piece is in one piece.... that's not fair.... Grrr mine's not molded like urs at all :(

[JonHsiung]

oh, you have to unscrew the air controls from behind. but...it's much bigger and odder on the 2k1-2k2 exv6's. hehe. sorry!

[DV8]

hmmm... so not all primer is sandable??? uhhhh ****...

i just primed my dash pieces like 30 minutes ago..... it's a primer for flexible surfaces.

also, i decided not to paint my side vents, but I'm going to paint my center vents... wonder how that's gonna look...

[Dave Morin]

keep us posted :)

i'm experimenting with LED's right now.. let you know soon

[soulja78]

Ive got a 97accord v6 and it came with this light brown interior and i understand how to paint everything but i still got two questions
1. how do you change the coler of the leather seats?
2. can the door panels be painted also?

i dont want my dash to be white and black and still have the seats light brown.

[JonHsiung]

Originally posted by Dave Morin on June 10th, 2003 at 01:17 PM

keep us posted :)

i'm experimenting with LED's right now.. let you know soon


thanks! :)

[accord126]

Originally posted by DV8 on June 10th, 2003 at 06:22 AM

hmmm how come ur center dash piece is in one piece.... that's not fair.... Grrr mine's not molded like urs at all :(


Who's car are you talking about at what do you mean it's molded?

[1CleanAccord]

hey JonHsiung, your indiglo gauges don't stick?

[JonHsiung]

the gas gauge does if you leave it out in the cold for a couple weeks without driving it. and then it stops sticking once you hit a bump :p some sandpaper usually fixes it, but it comes back. none of the other needles have stuck repeatedly so they're all fixed now.

[Hardcore_Newbie]

Good info!

[1CleanAccord]

Originally posted by JonHsiung on May 9th, 2003 at 01:57 AM

2. Take off all your accessories. The passenger vent pops off with a flathead, for the center console, you have to remove the clock and get the three phillips screws (one behind the clock and two at the bottom of the console), the driver side vent requires you to take out the coin tray and then take off those two philips head screws, and the top two defoggers can be taken out by inserting a paperclip so that when you pull out, it will hook one of the defogger dividers and pull directly upward.



Yo Jon, i got few questions.

I've tried to do this last night, but was stuck in the beginning.
Had mad newbie problem taking out the center console and vents.

Center Console: I've found 2 + screws at the bottom. I used the minus screw driver and tried to pop the concole out. However, bottom kinda popped-out after few hard tries to take 'em out. I thought i broke it. Maybe I did, i don't know yet. But bottom is now popped out hanging, ready to be removed. but from middle-top part of the console is tightly fit in. I can't get them out. How can I take 'em out? also, that one screw you have to take out from the clock is after you take the console off? because I dont see any + screws there...

Driver side vent: took the coin holder out, found 2 + screws inside. Also found 2 + screws on the top of the coin holder, which was holding the metal piece of the coin holder. I used minus screwdriver, popped it out sucessfully. However, whole thing came out!!! scared the **** out of me. Whole air conditioning thingy and cruise control wires and all that came out.
I dunno how to go from here... do i have to disconnect all of them? Because If I dont think you've painted the cruise control & TCS button too...

I haven't even tried the passenger side vent. I got stuck in center console, moved on to driver's side vent, got stuck again, got pissed, smoked some cigs, got out of my car, kicked my tires once(thats the only part that wouldn't get scratched or damaged :D ), and went to sleep.

please help. sorry for long post.. :(

[JonHsiung]

sorry about the directions. remove the two bottom screws for the center console and you have to pop out the clock. to pop out the clock you take a flathead screwdriver,put electrical tape over the tip and slide it under your clock and pry upward. it will pop out upward and you disconnect it. there will be another + screw behind the clock. then from there you reach in and pull the entire center console out. the rest should be self explanatory to unplug the components, etc.

for the driver side vent you should unplug the tcs, cruise control, moonroof, or any switches there to get the panel off. try reaching in to unplug them with a flathead. those wires don't give you much play to reach in and unplug them.

the passenger side can be popped out with a flathead. it should be easier than even the defogger vents.

good luck.

[reccakun08]

[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p8dd6720726b8e442859e705674d3e8d3/fc35fab3.jpg[\img]

this maybe a stupid question but can u also paint the dash itself? not the vents but the entire dash? how would u do it?

[JonHsiung]

Originally posted by reccakun08 on June 30th, 2003 at 02:37 PM

[img]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p8dd6720726b8e442859e705674d3e8d3/fc35fab3.jpg[\img]

this maybe a stupid question but can u also paint the dash itself? not the vents but the entire dash? how would u do it?


http://www.duplicolor.com/products/vinyl.html

yes. try this stuff...or the other stuff they sell. i know there's some spray that you use specifically for dashes and i dont know if this one is the one but take a look at their products or other companies' products. the only real way to do it, though, is to take it in to get wrapped or suede-wrapped if you're pimpin'. not too many people have great experiences with dyes n stuff...

[1CleanAccord]

JonHsiung, i really appreciate the info.

I've sucessfully painted my center console frost white. :)

Im going to hold on to air conditioning vents.

I want to paint the door panel, not the door knob where you open and close, but where the windows buttons are... i have tan interior, so that part is ugly green like how my center console was...

do you know how to take that off? seems like it won't just easily pop off. :(

again, thanks for all the help. i really appreciate it.

[Dave Morin]

Originally posted by 1CleanAccord on July 1st, 2003 at 06:12 PM

JonHsiung, i really appreciate the info.

I've sucessfully painted my center console frost white. :)

Im going to hold on to air conditioning vents.

I want to paint the door panel, not the door knob where you open and close, but where the windows buttons are... i have tan interior, so that part is ugly green like how my center console was...

do you know how to take that off? seems like it won't just easily pop off. :(

again, thanks for all the help. i really appreciate it.


take your door panel off and there are a few philips screws that you have to take off in behind

[Plumaccordcoupe]

Man what an interior :eek: . So clean and well done. Not sure about that shifter though.

Is that little storage thing above the radio a modified one form a Civic?

[JonHsiung]

thanks! hahaha, sorry you're not feelin' the shift knob...

the storage thing above the radio is from the audio shop. it was made for the 98-02 accords, but i flipped it upsidedown.

[1CleanAccord]

so far so good. not really matching my tan interior yet. I need more white.

Thanks again JonHsiung. any idea on how to take off the door panel?

http://www.v6performance.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=71792

[Dave Morin]

Originally posted by 1CleanAccord on July 2nd, 2003 at 02:29 AM

so far so good. not really matching my tan interior yet. I need more white.

Thanks again JonHsiung. any idea on how to take off the door panel?

http://www.v6performance.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=71757


just take off the corner (triangle) piece at the top of the door next remove the plastic plug thats right below the triangle piece. then remove the screw in the door handle (slide the handle forward and bend it all outwards and push the clip on the rod off)and another in the doors arm rest. once you have those 2 out just start pulling from the inside corner all the way till the whole panel comes loose. Detach all the wires and you're done.

[chrisnick]

i wanna do this BAD, but i dont know what colkor to paint becuase of the wood grain in mine. i have a 98 coupe w/ EGP ext and tan int. i kinda wanna do a green int panel color though....

[snowquest]

VERY NICE DIY !! :)
The center console is really cool !!

[HeavenOnAStick]

Nice DIY! :)

[sammyx27]

Hey guys wasup... i'm having a little trouble here... i tried removing the center console.. i got the screw out behind the clock and the screw on the bottom right corner.. but the left corner won't come out.. its like stuck.. it turns.. but it just stays there.. yea.. so any sugguestions will help... I realllly want to take this center console out.. thanks~!

[JonHsiung]

there should be two screws on the bottom and one behind the clock after you pry the clock outward.

from there, grab the lower corners and pop them slightly out. after that, grab from near the vents and pull straight out after you get your fingers behind that area. if you need any more instructions, i'll try to do a little better in describing it.

here's my DIY painted hood. :rolleyes: yeah i'm a cheapass i guess, but no body shop would use spray tint and they all want WAY too much to have it painted (this cost me like $16 and i get to keep the paint). by what happened to my passenger side tinting, i know why. i think that will have to be redone.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid83/p8a7faebfbaa8cc8d0c8eddd362dab9e7/fad70c89.jpg
(kinda in dim light so you can barely even tell its a cf hood, but here's a pic on the car)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid83/pdfb4007309e73c262c51b3442e7c5283/fad70b8f.jpg

i tried to go for brandon99's look, but different. i put my own version of Nighthawk Black Pearl on the sides and a tinted diagonal strip next to it to follow the bodylines.

[sammyx27]

sorrie, but i don't really understand what you mean.. i got the screw behind the clock.. bottom right screw.. but the bottm left screw won't come out... no matter how much i turn it with my screw driver.. it turns.. but stays in the same position..

[JonHsiung]

this is my assumption: the threads on the console are probably just shot to hell. someone probably tried to use an powered screwdriver to put on that screw, it tightened too much, and screwed off a piece of plastic on the other side.

try to get a file under there and just pry the screw off or with pliers.

[petjuli]

It's easy to fix ... both of my bottom screws were like that when i first pulled my center console off. Get a very small bladed flathead screwdriver and pry it in between the bottom of the screw head and the plastic. Use your phillips screwdriver to turn the screw, making sure not to press down any harder than you have to, to keep the screwdriver securely in the screw head. As you turn the screw put pressure on it with the small screwdriver, pulling outwards. Eventually the screw will catch the threads and back right on out. Hope this helps.

[USDMcord]

hey I have a question regarding to your gauge bezel. Did you paint yours or did you buy allum. brushed gauge bezel. I was looking for one on ebay and most of them do fit or look like yours. They are just flat piece of metal.....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=46100&item=2451862558

thanks

[JonHsiung]

I bought that gauge bezel off ebay. It doesn't quite fit right if you spray paint the part it should have gone over because the paint adds on a layer around the dimmer and odometer knobs so i had to dremel the metal holes out a little more. Besides that, it's holding up pretty well or at least would have went on just fine.

[USDMcord]

thanks for your reply.

The one that i showed you from ebay seems little different from one you have. The one i showed you is just flat, but one your have, has little ring shape around the gauges, which makes it look more like stock. I was just going to paint stock gauge bezel silver, but i decided not to. Sorry if i am confusing you with picky questions. Is your stock bezel painted silver or your bezel is just little different?

Thanks

[JonHsiung]

the stock bezel is painted silver and then the brushed aluminum is laid over it.

[USDMcord]

thanks very much for your help.

BTW i saw your car driving by in cali. You were on imperial...i think. Looks good!

[JonHsiung]

Cool. :cool: but if it was recent, then it wasn't me ;) my car has been in the shop for the last 6 weeks.

[USDMcord]

it was last summer, when i was staying near La mirada & La habra.

something is being added in the shop i guess?