[BlackVsedan]

I was a little too bored yesterday and decided it was time to fix the bland factory interior in my wife's V. I had a can of Krylon Fusion Red Pepper paint sitting around that I needed to use up, here's the result. I still need to smooth it out, I just ran out of time. That instrument bezel was a PITA, and it still needs a ton of work. My wife wants to add some pink in there, but I'm not sure how it'd look. She wants the trim ring around the gauges pink, the shifter plate, and around the radio & AC controls. Opinions?

 

[BlackVsedan]

Picked up some Armano Royce 17x7s

I decided to take the family out to browse a local salvage yard last week and found a set of Armano Royce 17x7 wheels! I was able to pick them up for $150 with tires. It was perfect timing since our tires were starting to wear out and we really didn't want to buy new tires for the stock 15s. They're in pretty sad shape, one of them was peeling pretty bad and they were covered in a thick layer of dirt and brake dust. None of the tires match and 2 of them are on the indicators, but they'll do for now. We'll be buying a new set of 205/45R17 General G-Max AS-03s for it pretty soon. The handling is already a night and day difference from the stock tires. Plans are to paint them white and pink (wife's car). We want to paint them white on the inside of the spokes and wheel lip, then paint the face pink. Center caps will be white with pink lettering. Opinions?



We'll be lowering it with Tien S-tech springs soon.



I wanted to leave them white at first but my wife wanted them pink. We settled on the white/pink combo. I hope they turn out good since I'm painting over the chrome, and using Chemical Metal to smooth out the pitting and rough edges.

 

[sergmx]

Nice wheels man. Can't beat $150! Do you just plan on painting the wheels with regular paint or what? Try to make sure you clean them well before painting and primer the wheels first if you can. Do some research to see how painting chrome wheels work out too. Good luck!

 

[iluvmyVersa08]

How did you remove the instrument panel?

 

[BlackVsedan]

Nice wheels man. Can't beat $150! Do you just plan on painting the wheels with regular paint or what? Try to make sure you clean them well before painting and primer the wheels first if you can. Do some research to see how painting chrome wheels work out too. Good luck!

Thanks! I did a lot of research before I even started cleaning them. I read that oven cleaner, or bleach would "lift" the chrome off of the nickel. That's BS, but it did cut through all of the brake dust. I finally gave up on finding an easy way out and started in with 100 grit sand paper. I sanded with that until all of the flaking pieces came off and the chrome was no longer shiny. Then I filled in all the pitted areas and bare aluminum spots with Chemical Metal (like JB weld but thinner). After the Chemical Metal set I hit it with 150 grit to smooth it out. I decided to use some Rustoleum automotive primer that I had laying around, even though I had Krylon paint. I figured if it didn't work I'd just sand it down and start over. It actually worked pretty well, the only problem I had was the Krylon took an extra day or 2 to cure (found out the hard way when it peeled on me). Once it was dry I wet sanded with 220 to smooth out any runs and orange peel.

 

[BlackVsedan]

How did you remove the instrument panel?

I removed the A pillar molding (tan plastic) then the little vent cover next to the window. After that you have to remove the trim piece around the AC vent. There is a 10mm bolt behind that trim piece the holds the corner of the dash pad down. After you remove the bolt it gives you a little room to work with, then lower the steering wheel all the way and remove the black plastic panel to the left of the steering wheel bellow the AC vent. It should pop right off. The instrument panel just snaps in, pry gently around the edges and it should pop loose. Then comes the hard part, trying to wiggle it out. It's really tight but not impossible. It might be easier if you remove the trim piece off of the top of the steering column. The silver trim that goes around the gauges is held on by melted plastic rivets on the back, don't try to pry it off! Flip the panel over and cut the melted part off of the rivets. The trim piece should just pop right out after that.

 

[JoshG]

Looks good. Love the black on white.

 

[BlackVsedan]

Looks good. Love the black on white.

Thanks!

I painted the trim around the AC controls and radio with Rustoleum gloss black today. It turned out much better than the Krylon Fusion red pepper paint. The Krylon looks dull and more orange than red. In my opinion the Rustoleum sprayed much better too.






Our neighbors left while I was out. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a nice shot of the V while their car was out of the way.

 

[Tubtub]

Nice job on the paint !

 

[BlackVsedan]

Nice job on the paint !

Thanks! It's not completely finished yet I still have to smooth it out. That's how it looked right out of the can. I couldn't believe how smooth and shiny the Rustoleum was without me doing anything to it. The Krylon on the other hand is going to take a lot of sanding to smooth out the flecks and orange peel. I'm considering sanding it all off and going with Rustoleum gloss red. I'm also trying to talk my wife into getting those ebay AC knobs.

How hard is it to take the shifter apart on an auto? I'd really like to paint it but I don't want to break it. Are the trim pieces on the steering wheel hard to take off? It looks like they're screwed in from the back of the steering wheel.

 

[kallis222]

Nice modification of the color in the interior specially matching of the red and grey is very attractive..Your wife is happy with your work?Wheel is also good and looking reliable..Which one are you in used?