Finally got up the time to do my interior painting. I used SEM bumper coater, Light Titanium Metallic, and clear over that. Came out really nice, IMO. The color change is a little tough to see in the pics, but it is very close to the exterior color of the car (Sunlight Silver). I didn't care about a perfect match - I just wanted it nice and bright. It is significantly brighter than the stock color, trust me. I painted everything that was originally "champagne" colored, including the door handles. Plus, I painted the gauge surround (inside and outside), and also sanded the texture off of the E-Brake trim piece and painted that, too.


Shift surround and e-brake trim:


Gauge surround:


Close up of the gauges (and you see that mileage! Over 26,000, and still trouble-free):


The SEM stuff is great paint. The color is very nice, and the application is easy - the stuff dries very fast - I was able to paint everything with 3-4 coats each piece, and 2 coats of clear, in one night - about 3 hours or so. The I let it sit for about a day and a half - the instructions say it reaches maximum adhesion in 48 hours.

I've got a can of Medium Titanium Metallic (looks like gunmetal) all set to paint up my emblems - hopefully next weekend.

Comments welcome - and if you've got a question, feel free to ask.

~HH

 

looks nice, can you explain or describe the exact paint you use and possible color number? Also, did you paint that silver part around the radio and air controls? And, did you sand everything down or just that peice near the E-Brake. Also, for the guage one, did you sand that bad buy down too?

sorry for all the questions, but i just might join you with a similar mod.

 

You know, I have to apologize to Azrakain (he did the red painted interior). After seeing this silver, I realized I made a harsh comment about the paint. I like the silver and have thought about doing something similiar to mine. At least the instrument bezel. I thought about just painting the outside of the rings to give the gauges a border, but now I like the full painted look.

Good job hihoslva. I am going to look into doing this, if you have any more info about the paint, let me know. Where did you get it, etc.

 

Damn good job, it looks sweet. I am looking into interior stuff to do and will consider something like this but I must finish all my mechanical stuff first , good job

 

sweet paintjob! nice clean job! i was thinking about a gloss black? or maybe a silver like yours? or maybe a grey or something... dunno yet.

 

The paint is SEM "Bumper Coater" - the color number for the Light Titanium Metallic is 39283, and the clear I used is called simply "Trim Clear", #39043. You should be able to get this stuff at any body shop supply place - that's where I got it. It was about $6 or $7 a can, and I did use two cans for all the parts - but I also sprayed VERY lightly, with a lot of overspray, letting the paint set up, and then doing it again - until I got the color even. You could say I "dusted" each piece on each coat until it built up well. You won' find the SEM stuff at hardware stores - try the body shop supply, or ask a local body shop to get you some - they'll probably even have some color charts, so you can see other shades and colors.

I did paint everything that had that "silvery" stock color - so that includes the radio surround (I taped off the "carbon fiber" sides, so that stayed), shifter surround, armrest pieces (with the window switches), and the door handles (all four - and only the original champagne parts - not the "cups", just the latch handles). Plus, I did the e-brake thing and the gauge thing. It is tought to see the new color in the pics, except for the stuff that wasn't painted to begin with, but the color change is awesome - much brighter, but with nearly the same "flake" size - it's just about the same "sparkle" as the original, just a brighter silver color. Exactly what I wanted - I'm pumped!

The e-brake trim was a pain to work on, but I'm glad I did it. I had to use 60 grit paper to get the texture out of it, and then work it down to 400 grit. I didn't sand it enough at first, so there were tons of scratches and i looked like **** - I wound up putting probably 10 coats of paint on it, sanding with 150 grit and 400 grit in between coats to get all the scratches out. But eventually it came smooth. It was a lot of work, though - this was the first piece I painted, and I actually did it last week - kind of an experiment - it's the easiest piece to remove, so I figured I'd try the paint on that first before any other part.

I gave every piece a light sanding with 400 before applying any paint. Not a complete sanding, and some pieces I really just swiped a few times and then sprayed - you'll want to make sure there is no dirt or oil or anything on each piece. After each light sanding, I wiped the part down with a little alcohol to remove the sanding dust and any other crap on the surface.

On the gauge surround, I sanded the exterior piece very lightly, but not much, and the "interior" one was basically the same thing. I did spend a little extra time on the top of the inside piece - the "hood" for gauges, if you know what I mean - it's fairly smooth, and I wanted to make sure I had some "tooth" for the paint.

Just be wary of the fact that the shifter surround (center console) has a texture to it already - so if you sand like nuts, you might get areas where the texture is different. I just quickly did that one and then cleaned it real well. The outside gauge surround has a nice texture as it for painting, so I think the only sanding I did was just very light. The radio surround and the window switch pieces are quite smooth and glossy, so I'd recommend sanding those a little more thoroughly to roughen the surface for paint. The 400 worked perfect - and everything but for the e-brake part was very simple to sand, and didn't take long at all.

Oh yeah - and the "black" sandpapers work much better. When I did the e-brake part, one problem was that the "brown" sandpapers left a "****" on the plastic. - like it was hairy. I was able to get it out with the 400 grit stuff - but the "black" (maybe they are wet/dry papers?) works better.

And Hawaiian - you gotta go Yellow, man!! And thanks for the compliments everyone.

 

dude, thanks so much for the well explained and very detailed information. Just what we needed. I always feel more confident when i actually know what im doing. haha.

yea, hawaiian, go yello or something. I think im gonna do everything except the dash part. Ill probably do the guage plate thing but not that sourrounding area. Ill take some pics after im done but it will be a while, i have a few little mods like this one and the neon under seat, and the pull amber reflective out of clear corner, and wire mesh in grill, and vynl eyelid mods. All fairly easy but im gonna wait till i get my rims n stuff on, which, i will be ordering from rishie tomarrow(if everything works out right hopefully)!

 

Zacky - I just ordered some 2000 Celica clear bumper lights. They are not a direct replacement, but with very minor mods, they fit the P5 bumper really nicely (I've seen some pics).

The P5 lights are pop-in units - the Celica lights screw in, so all you'll need to do is put something inside the stock hole to bolt to, like some radio backstrapping or something.

Looks like an easy, easy mod that many P5 owners seem to want to do. I'll have a how-to as soon as I get it done.

Just figured I'd give you a heads-up on the Celica clears fitting on the P5, if you didn't know already.

I got mine from ProCarParts.com for about $37 shipped - they should be here on the 3rd, and I'll post my results.

~HH

 

awesome, yea i think ill do that if the celica ones are similar in size to the p5s cuz i got the Eclipse '95 ones and i was going to mod them to fit but theyre a little bulkier than the stock p5s and i didnt like it too much. I got them for i think like 25 bucks of procarparts too. THeyre actually for sale if anyone wants to buy them. just PM me.

But yea if the celica ones are similar or even smaller in size then ill do it. But im still gonna try to do the amber removal. Ill have an How-To with pics also but i know not many people are looking into that(i think). But this will be after i get rims, so we will see.

THanks again man, hope to see the celica clears how-to.

 

I don't know if the amber can be pulled out of the bumper lights.

I know some ppl with the sedans have pulled the amber out of the corners, but that's not the lights we are talking about.

Anyway, it does require heating the lens, and pulling it off at the seal. I don't know if I'd take it apart without being sure that the amber can be removed - lots of work if it can't be done, plus the risk of phucking up the light or not sealing it properly whn putting the lens back together.

Dunno tho - I'll have a detailed write-up on the Celica clears once I get them - should be Wednesday, according to UPS.

~HH

 

Dude! You are damn awesome with paint! Are you a professional in painting (or at least autobody)? I don't think I can do this myself, how much do you think a body shop would do this for me for?

thx!

 

Looks very nice and clean! keep it that way.

 

Hehe - I'm no professional - in fact, I think I'm a professional amateur at a lot of things .

I can totally understand the desire to have someone do this for you, rather than do it yourself. BUT - IT'S DAMN EASY!! There really is no special skill involved, just a little patience.

I know Azrakain (on this board) offered to paint anyone's interior for them. I can't remember the price, but I know the materials (paint) were kinda steep - but I'm pretty sure you'll get a very high-quality job.

IMO, though, if you are going to take the time to remove all the parts, why not just D.I.Y.? Seriously - the SEM paint is SO easy to work with - all you have to do is clean the parts well, and give them a very light sanding - jut to get rid of the gloss, so the paint will stick better. Then just do VERY light coats. This paint dries so fast, you will rarely even see the parts get wet if you do it correctly. Just lighly coat them over and over until the color is complete and even, then do the same with some clear for protection. Like I said, I did all of my pieces in one night - the SEM paint can be re-coated within 5 or 10 minutes, so you can get a lot of paint on in a short time. And, I sprayed my parts outside, and would move them inside (air conditioning & less dust floating around) to dry for a while. I only had to wait a couple of minutes before they were safe to carefully pick up and move.

A body shop would probably charge you under $100 if you take the pieces off, and significantly more if you want them to remove them.

Give it a try! It's easy!

Oh, and I also painted my chrome emblems a gunmetal color. You can check them out in this thread: http://www.protegeclub.com/forum/sho...&threadid=8374

-HH

 

I can take a few pics if you want, but they don't really show the color change very well - it's MUCH nicer in person!

I masked off the "carbon fiber" strips on the sides, and just painted what was already "silvery".

If you want a pic or two, I'll post them, but like I said - it doesn't look like much because pictures don't show the color very well.

Lemme know if you'd like them posted.

~HH

 

mathew....... or any other of you P5 guys that are thinking of interior painting....... i am looking for someone to trade me a plastic peice for one in my car. it is the part just below the shifter(manual) and the cup holder. this is all one peice i believe. in the p5 pictures i have seen this is silver to match the stereo surround but in my sedan it's just flat black. since you are painting it, it should'nt matter what color it is. so if you'd consider trading with me, send me an email. i'd probably pay you for it too.

omardahl@yahoo.com