GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

After wayyyy too much procrastination and worryin i'll screw it up, I've decided to finally go thru with my plans to paint the dash trim.Here are the pieces I'll be doing. All Gloss White (like you didn't know! )

My first problem is wondering what I'm gonna do about the dome lights that shine thru the white lines here.....Thinkin I may just have vinyls made out to see during the day, and just forget about seeing it at night.lol I know these things like the back of my han anyways and it's not like I ACTUALLY look when I'm turning the knobs. I just know where everything is on this car so it won't bother meAny ideas?

The other option is, you could always tape off that whole rectangular section so it's still the original color, and spray everything else white. That might not look too bad.

it'll be the ONLY piece in the interior that color tho Everything else will be painted or wrapped

You know what you COULD do?If you were going to get the vinyls made as an exact copy, and overlaid them exactly, you could put them on BEFORE you paint, and then peel them off after you paint so the "see through" part is showing again. Kind of like "precision taping" lolThat's rough, though. I'm glad on the '09s they put the writing on the DIAL instead of on the DASH.

I had thought of that but I think I may just do black vinyl and get different fonts and change the lines up a littleMake it all look nicer but not cheesy

I noticed you left out the window controls surroundings, just wondering why? Also On the topic of what to do about the shine throughs, I would measure how much room the shine throughs need to be exposed, I'd then cut out a perfect circle using tool of some sort of course, put them over the holes during painting covering up the parts when the light will shine through, and peel it off when done. It'll leave a little bit of the gray still there but you have the full perfect circle so it won't look tacky, it'll still shine through, along with keeping the stock paint there so friends can still mess with your a/c without any confusion or not knowing just what they're messing with, lol.

Another thought would be to just leave the top part gray. That way it's easily perfect problem solved. Just a thought. I'm throwing that idea out there cause it's probably what i'll be doing so just a thought. Very excited to see the finished product.

Quote, originally posted by bassrocker032 »I noticed you left out the window controls surroundings, just wondering why? I wrapped that piece in White fake leather from my left over headrest covers. Looks really nice.And thanks for the suggestions. I'm gonna think on it for day or two before I do anything

Quote, originally posted by A Psycho Martyr »My first problem is wondering what I'm gonna do about the dome lights that shine thru the white lines here.....Place scotch tape over them and cut out the excess so you have the lighted portion covered. Paint. Then peel away the remaining scotch tape and still have your lights!!! Tedious I know... but doing it right the first time is much better then having to tear it all apart and do it again

cutting the tape on this plastic will leave scratch marks even for the lightest of all cuts. I know that from past experiences. I might have found the solution to my problem and yours as well martyr if you like it and don't mind spending around $50. The over lays you have know come in a white carbon fiber along with parts that cover the small curved pieces on the door panel, the steering wheel logo, and the red part on the door locks. With that black and white carbon fiber look added in with the white, it would look sick (to me, this is your car and different opinions will always exists) with the surroundings being white or black, whichever color you want to pull out from the dash. The way I've been looking at it is white will make the surroundings and other parts pop. It'll make someone go "wow, that's cool", while the black would make a smooth flow from the dash to the radio. AHHHH BEING DISCONTENT SUCKS!!!! I guess i'll just have to do it white and go from there.

Quote, originally posted by star_deceiver »Place scotch tape over them and cut out the excessNot a bad idea. I'm scared of scratchin it tho. I may try a small spot and see. Thanks for the idea

Ok, the weather was decent so I sanded it all down with 800grit sandpaper today. Then I washed it with Dawn Ultra to help remove any crap I ever cleaned it with. THEN I let it air dry while I went to the beer store (Cullman is a dry county )When I got back I wiped it all down with rubbing alcohol.Took it out and laid a couple coats of Adhesion Promoter to help with bonding to plastic.Then when it was time I did two coats of gray primer to cover where I sanded past the original silver.Then two coats of Gloss White.Maybe Saturday or Sunday I'll do clear coat.About a week later (it sitting in the sun) I'll wetsand wih 2000grit.Then I'll buff it out and reinstall.All is going smoothly so far

Oh, and tomorow I'll post pics of my progress so far

SUPER EXCITED about how this will turn out. Can't wait for the pics tomorrow. Good luck with this. I should be doing my parts soon, if not within the next two days.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

sigh....sorry guys Don't have time to do pics today.It'll be tomorrow. I had to run all day and pay bills and now I gotta sleep for work tonight

Ok here's the progress so far. Still got a good bit left to do....Got everything sanded with 800grit sandpaperThen in hopes of light shining thru, I decided to remove the foam-ish stuff on the back of the climate controlThat didn't work in the end so it was pointless.lol But ANYWAYS, After sanding I washed them with Dawn and then prepped with rubbing alcohol and hit em with grey primer. Then a couple coats of Gloss WhiteNow I have it all clearcoated and out back in, but I don't have pictures YET!I'll get some pics up soon. I'm also having to go back and paint the piece with the plug outlet in it. I originally wrapped it, but it looked too thrown together so I'm painting it to make it match better. More pics tomorrow

That looks pretty sharp, can't wait to see it installed back in. I was thinking of doing something like this but I can't figure out a good color to contrast with my fusion orange metallic.Keep up the good work.

Can't wait to see it all put on. Great job so far. And I've noticed you do primer, paint, then clear coat just the way it should be. With my past experiences on interior car paint, when I did multiple layers like that, it got to thick and gave it a weird look. I've noticed yours came out clean and I was just wondering if you ran into the problems I did when I did more and more layers.

Hey!!! we are waiting for pics sir!!! LOL

Hey man, I finally got mine all finished up except for a couple of pieces. One question though. HOW THE HELL do you get the center a/c cluster part out? I've gotten it completely out being held only by wires but where do I go from there?

Quote, originally posted by bassrocker032 »HOW THE HELL do you get the center a/c cluster part out? There's a screw under the middle knob. You can unplug everything when you get that part pulled forward Quote, originally posted by bassrocker032 »I was just wondering if you ran into the problems I did when I did more and more layers. You just gotta make sure you do thin coats. Dont expect it to get covered in one coat. And you can't can't can't rush it!

I know especially with spray paint, the second you get impatient is the second you volunteer to do everything again, and I know about multiple coats being required to cover it and not to expect one to but when the first coat spots then it can lead to uneven coats later so I was also wondering what kind of paint you use to get such an even coat.

Here's what I used:Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter (bought at Auto Zone)Krylon Grey Primer (bought at Wal-Mart)Krylon Gloss White (bought at Wal-Mart)

I figured krylon was what you used. Can't beat the best, lol. Got any installed updated pics yet?

gimme a few minutes and I'll upload some. Still got one tiny piece to paint

Here ya go!

Wow that looks really good. Great job.

thanks

Absolutely phenomenal job. I can't say it enough.

Niiiiiice work!!!!!

Double thumbs up, I love it!

Quote, originally posted by ponta2147 »Double thumbs up, I love it!You are scaring me! How can you give double thumbs up and type at the same time? Psycho, looks good and well placed!

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »You are scaring me! How can you give double thumbs up and type at the same time? Psycho, looks good and well placed! Hey, that still leaves 8 other fingers

if today were opposite day, i would say your interior sucks major goat. being that it is NOT opposite day, i must say your interior is looking very frickin nice!!!!!it's all so clean. great job. i especially like what you did with the vents.i think something should be done with the glove box just to give a little more balance. i have no ideas for it but im positive you can come up with a few.

Very nice. I'm very happy we chose different sections to be painted, lol. Very nice job as usual though. Nice and clean just the way the psycho ordered.

And I'm thinkin I'll have the handle for the glove box covered with vinyl. I use it too much to paint it and don't wanna see it scratch up all the time

Looks awesome! Great job.

Looks killer!!! What about these???

Attached files

Looks great! Well done

Looks awesome.Did you figure out what you'll do with the climate setting you had to paint over?

Have vinyls made out to show the settingThey'll be gloss black and probabbly in a neat, but legible fontAnd I'll just tuff fit out in the dark

Hey man, I finally finished painting all mine. Pics up in my garage. I went with black on the window controls on the door panels to keep a slick stealth look but whited out most of the rest. Tell me what you think. I also fixed the small paint chip that was on my driver side vent construction.

very awesome bro! im going to be doing mine here shortly, a flat black with red accents, and for the AC controls, ill be using the VHT Nightshade tint on it and maybe get my tail lights as well.!

looks nice. I did that in my VGT many many yrs ago and then had them all redone professionally. Hope yours don't scratch as easily as my DIY job did.

Oooooh! VERY sharp. Great job! It sure gives it a lot of personality!

I meant to ask this for a while and I noticed it when you did your window control cover if you had automatic windows but you don't so my question is, is how do you have manual windows with an automatic car? Did the car come like that or did you de-mod your car to have them?

Was like that when I bought it used w/40k miles on it in 2006