Painted interior and engine bay plastics - not 56K friendly
07-27-2008, 08:43 PM
#1
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Clearwater, FL
Posts: 62
Painted interior and engine bay plastics - not 56K friendly
Hi all,
Well I just got the XD all put back together after painting some of the interior plastics, the engine cover and fuse box covers.
I also installed the Weapon-R Secret Weapon Air intake, but that is not covered here. I will write that up later in another post with it's own pics.
Here is a quick write-up, not too detailed, but enough to get you going if you want to do your own. Pics follow at the end.
Please note, I am not a mechanic or anything like that. I am also not responsible if you try this and screw it up. I am just describing my own experiences and how I did it. If you decide to try, you are on your own.
First I removed the large engine cover by grasping at the corners and just lifting it out.
Removing the two fuse box covers is self explanatory.
Then I removed the plates behind the four door handles on the interior. You just pull the door handle open, place a flat screwdriver in the gap and gently lever out.
For the door panel pieces that house the switches, the first one I did, I removed the entire door panel by removing the screw behind the door handle and the one on the hole you grab the door by to close it and I then pushed it out from underneath. The door panel can then just be pulled off by grasping an edge and pulling to release the bayonet fasteners. However, after seeing how it was assembled, for the rest I just left the door panel on and removed the screw in the hole of the plastic and just pulled up to release the switch housing. Much easier and waaaaaaaay less hassle. Just be careful when pulling it up not to break any of the tabs. To remove the window rocker switch module, just insert a thin screwdriver under the tabs on each side holding it in and pull it through downwards. The front passenger door has two switches.
The Driver's door is a little bit easier as it is held in by three screws that are easier to work with.
You can take off all the door panels, but it is much easier leaving them in from my experience.
To remove the steering wheel plastic bits, I disconnected the battery to deactivate the airbag, waited 15 minutes then loosened the two screws behind the steering wheel using a Torx 35 screwdriver. I pulled the airbag forward and then undid the phillips screw on each side of the wheel holding in the plastic pieces I wanted to paint.
The one with the switches needs to be unplugged from the two locations on the steering wheel. DO NOT TRY TO GET THE SWITCHES OUT AT THIS POINT!!! The pieces themselves just pull off once you remove the screw with a firm pull to pull the bayonet type lug out.
The steering audio switches practically have to be dissassembled down to the components to remove. I took it inside where I was in the AC and had better control over the little pieces so I didn't lose them. First remove the two screws and remove the cover. Remove the PC board , pull out the diaphragm that is the mode switch and then just pull out the four white plungers. After that you can pry the rocker switches off. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and found this to be a major pain in the butt to work out how to do as it is totally different from all the other switches on the doors that were a complete unit that you could keep intact and just pop out.
For the center console I took off the top piece of the waterfall around the vents first by gently pulling at the edges taking care to pull the actual plastic piece and not the dash itself. Unplug the clock section and take it out by removing the two screws and then take the vents off by removing the two big screws and twisting it up.
The lower console housing the AC controls was even easier as it just pulled off, then the three switches just pop out by using a screwdriver on the tabs. Remember which way they go, I didn't and had to look it up in my user manual like a dork.
The lower piece that goes round the gear shift lever is the easiest. Just unscrew the ****, lift out the trim ring and shift boot and then gently pull the entire unit out. By the way, I think it is obvious I have an MT. The AT might be different.
There ya go, all done. One big lego set!!!!
OK, from here you can go two ways, you can either have someone else paint it (much more intelligent choice). They should charge about $150 to $200. With the professional setup they will probably do a much better job and you can _____ at them if they don't.
I however decided to go the much harder route and do it myself. I am a pretty OK painter and wanted the sense of achievement of having done it.
First I scuffed up all the pieces with a mild scuff pad. I used the red smoother one that needed a bit more elbow greae, but gives a smoother finish. It is available at any hardware store. I then masked off the Scion logo and Dual VVTI symbols on the engine cover as I wanted to leave them as they were. I didn't bother to mask anything else.
I painted them using a four layer process.
First I sprayed an adhesion promoter to get the paint to stick properly to the plastic so that it doesn't peel. Then I sprayed two coats of a base red. I then mixed up a red based clear with a ton of pearl (I really like the original pearl finish) and sprayed a coat of that. After drying and a very little wet sanding I finished with two coats of clear on most of the parts and three coats of clear on the pieces behind the door handles and on the steering wheel to protect them a little bit better against fingernails etc.
You could bypass all of the coats etc by using Krylon Fusion of Rustoleum spray paints, but have used them before and i wasn't happy with the finish. Those products are an adhesion promoter, paint and gloss all in one. I way prefer the finish of a proper spray gun.
After that it is just a matter of reversing the whole process to reinstall all the bits, and Whola! It is done.
The spray job isn't perfect. It has some little snots in the clearcoat and a mosquito embedded in one place where it landed on the clearcoat, but I like it and I can say I did it myself.
Let me know what you think and I hope this write-up helps you with your project.
[/img]
Well I just got the XD all put back together after painting some of the interior plastics, the engine cover and fuse box covers.
I also installed the Weapon-R Secret Weapon Air intake, but that is not covered here. I will write that up later in another post with it's own pics.
Here is a quick write-up, not too detailed, but enough to get you going if you want to do your own. Pics follow at the end.
Please note, I am not a mechanic or anything like that. I am also not responsible if you try this and screw it up. I am just describing my own experiences and how I did it. If you decide to try, you are on your own.
First I removed the large engine cover by grasping at the corners and just lifting it out.
Removing the two fuse box covers is self explanatory.
Then I removed the plates behind the four door handles on the interior. You just pull the door handle open, place a flat screwdriver in the gap and gently lever out.
For the door panel pieces that house the switches, the first one I did, I removed the entire door panel by removing the screw behind the door handle and the one on the hole you grab the door by to close it and I then pushed it out from underneath. The door panel can then just be pulled off by grasping an edge and pulling to release the bayonet fasteners. However, after seeing how it was assembled, for the rest I just left the door panel on and removed the screw in the hole of the plastic and just pulled up to release the switch housing. Much easier and waaaaaaaay less hassle. Just be careful when pulling it up not to break any of the tabs. To remove the window rocker switch module, just insert a thin screwdriver under the tabs on each side holding it in and pull it through downwards. The front passenger door has two switches.
The Driver's door is a little bit easier as it is held in by three screws that are easier to work with.
You can take off all the door panels, but it is much easier leaving them in from my experience.
To remove the steering wheel plastic bits, I disconnected the battery to deactivate the airbag, waited 15 minutes then loosened the two screws behind the steering wheel using a Torx 35 screwdriver. I pulled the airbag forward and then undid the phillips screw on each side of the wheel holding in the plastic pieces I wanted to paint.
The one with the switches needs to be unplugged from the two locations on the steering wheel. DO NOT TRY TO GET THE SWITCHES OUT AT THIS POINT!!! The pieces themselves just pull off once you remove the screw with a firm pull to pull the bayonet type lug out.
The steering audio switches practically have to be dissassembled down to the components to remove. I took it inside where I was in the AC and had better control over the little pieces so I didn't lose them. First remove the two screws and remove the cover. Remove the PC board , pull out the diaphragm that is the mode switch and then just pull out the four white plungers. After that you can pry the rocker switches off. I didn't have a clue what I was doing and found this to be a major pain in the butt to work out how to do as it is totally different from all the other switches on the doors that were a complete unit that you could keep intact and just pop out.
For the center console I took off the top piece of the waterfall around the vents first by gently pulling at the edges taking care to pull the actual plastic piece and not the dash itself. Unplug the clock section and take it out by removing the two screws and then take the vents off by removing the two big screws and twisting it up.
The lower console housing the AC controls was even easier as it just pulled off, then the three switches just pop out by using a screwdriver on the tabs. Remember which way they go, I didn't and had to look it up in my user manual like a dork.
The lower piece that goes round the gear shift lever is the easiest. Just unscrew the ****, lift out the trim ring and shift boot and then gently pull the entire unit out. By the way, I think it is obvious I have an MT. The AT might be different.
There ya go, all done. One big lego set!!!!
OK, from here you can go two ways, you can either have someone else paint it (much more intelligent choice). They should charge about $150 to $200. With the professional setup they will probably do a much better job and you can _____ at them if they don't.
I however decided to go the much harder route and do it myself. I am a pretty OK painter and wanted the sense of achievement of having done it.
First I scuffed up all the pieces with a mild scuff pad. I used the red smoother one that needed a bit more elbow greae, but gives a smoother finish. It is available at any hardware store. I then masked off the Scion logo and Dual VVTI symbols on the engine cover as I wanted to leave them as they were. I didn't bother to mask anything else.
I painted them using a four layer process.
First I sprayed an adhesion promoter to get the paint to stick properly to the plastic so that it doesn't peel. Then I sprayed two coats of a base red. I then mixed up a red based clear with a ton of pearl (I really like the original pearl finish) and sprayed a coat of that. After drying and a very little wet sanding I finished with two coats of clear on most of the parts and three coats of clear on the pieces behind the door handles and on the steering wheel to protect them a little bit better against fingernails etc.
You could bypass all of the coats etc by using Krylon Fusion of Rustoleum spray paints, but have used them before and i wasn't happy with the finish. Those products are an adhesion promoter, paint and gloss all in one. I way prefer the finish of a proper spray gun.
After that it is just a matter of reversing the whole process to reinstall all the bits, and Whola! It is done.
The spray job isn't perfect. It has some little snots in the clearcoat and a mosquito embedded in one place where it landed on the clearcoat, but I like it and I can say I did it myself.
Let me know what you think and I hope this write-up helps you with your project.
[/img]
07-28-2008, 12:36 AM
#4
Senior Member
SL Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 3,506
Wow that is really bright! Are you able or willing to take some different ones? lol
Either way that looks pretty good. I too painted my engine cover a few weeks ago, but I painted the whole thing silver. Looks good.
Either way that looks pretty good. I too painted my engine cover a few weeks ago, but I painted the whole thing silver. Looks good.
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