How To: Remove and Paint your AC and Defog vents

[BlackNWhite]

Ok. So I don't know how many of you remember what domdada did to his interior pieces to two-tone the interior. He painted his ac and defog vents, his speedometer, and the gear shifter pod.

This is the link: http://forums.altimas.org/zerothread/353235

Well I bought a can off of him and I decided to do this project. Here's some pointers for people that don't know how to remove the ac and defog vents. I don't have the courage that dom has to remove the speedometer and I'm content with the color of the shifter pod.

First off, materials you will need:Spray can of the paint you will use, Grey Primer Filler, 100 grit sandpaper, masking tape, flathead screwdriver, phillips head screwdriver, cardboard.

First off is the defog vent.

If you have a VERY stubby flathead screwdriver, it will come in very handy for these vents.

You stick the flathead screwdriver in between the dash and the vent at the part closest to the windshield. You want to bend the screwdriver towards the windshield so you can make a gap to fit your fingers into. I actually went all around the vent trying to loosen up the whole thing and finally was able to get my fingers in. As you're holding it from the part closest to the windshield... pull it up and towards you. The vent has a clip that holds it to the dash.

So that's why you need to pull it towards you. At this point you just need pure strength. You might think you're going to break it... but just as you think that it slides out nicely. Now this is what you should have.

Repeat same procedure for the other defog vent.

Now for the ac vents:This gap is where you want to stick your flathead screwdriver into. If you start at the top of the vent and go all the way around loosening it like the defog vent when you get to the side that touches the door, you might just pop off half of the trim. What you need to do is stick the screwdriver in the gap at the top of the vent and make enough room for your fingers to get in. Once you have a hold of it, grab it from the top and the side and pull.

The whole vent slides out:

There are two clips on each side of the vent and also a screw.

Remove the screw and unclip it at the clips and you have what you were after.:

Repeat same procedure to get to the other side.

Now, let's paint these bad boys... but don't forget to primer!

Take your 100 grit sandpaper and give every area of the trim pieces a good rub down.



You can pretty much give the ac trim pieces a good sanding and the primer filler will fix any imperfections.

However, I got too rough with the defog vents and let's just say a new pair is in the mail. 3.00 mistake that you can avoid if you either A. Don't prime(Not recommended) or B. Sand very lightly.

Once you're done sanding you'll want to rinse off all the residue and dry them thoroughly. Once they are dry, heeding domdada's advice, I masked off the inner part of the defog vents because it is very hard to sand the inside.

Prime and paint these in very light coats. I tried to rush this and had to resand and primer my left ac vent twice. Slow down, very light coats gets the job done. I waited around 15 minutes between coats. If you have more time to wait, DO it. A minimum of 15 minutes is what I recommend though.

After you have them primered, use the same very light and thin coats to paint them and once everything is dry, reassemble in reverse order and you end up with something like this:



Will take more pictures this weekend. I want to thank domdada for inspiring me to do this simple 'mod' to the interior. He was very helpful with all the e-mails I sent him. Much of my directions are just his reworded. If you have any questions feel free to ask or e-mail me.


Modified by BlackNWhite at 9:58 PM 8/25/2008

[domdada]

I much appreciate the kind words you have said. Honestly, If I had the time to take and snap pic of this mod while I was doing it, I would have. I'm glad that you did that and hope that this helps the others who wanna do this mod. The paint looks great on there, great job bro. Also, You guys can email myself as well if you have any questions and I also have one can left if anyone would like to buy it off of me.

[Rolling Estonian]

that's sweet, nice job. I might have to try in RED.

[mikegtr06]

i like it... now all we need to do is get rid of the beige headligner......

[BlackNWhite]

i like it... now all we need to do is get rid of the beige headligner......

Seriously.

[AppleBonker]

Wow, looks good. I was going to ask domdada for some more pics so I could see if I wanted to do it, but I think I'm gonna go for it now. Once I get around to fabbing up a dash panel for around my stereo, I'll probably pop all that out and take it into work and rock some automotive paint and color match it to the shifter/steering wheel myself. Once I'm not being too lazy about it, there will be more info. Good job, though. You made up my mind!

[LongBeachCoupe]

NICE JOB!Email me if you dont have cards already. and if you want a custom title.

[skrappy82]

Looks good!! I think I just found my weekend project for my 3 days away from work. Nice job.

[adidas2go]

NICE JOB!Email me if you dont have cards already. and if you want a custom title.

I have created an article out of this. Thanks for the writeup

[BlackNWhite]

[marlin29311]

Ooooo this looks like a fun project....i love the stuff people think of!

[LongBeachCoupe]

And theres BlacknWhites custom title!Ya damn RIGHT!

[Makavellimw]

I want to thank BlackNWhite for his tutorial with pics and DomDada for helping BlackNWhite. I followed BlackNWhite instruction and here is pics from my own and first DIY project.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3017053/3

[BlackNWhite]

I want to thank BlackNWhite for his tutorial with pics and DomDada for helping BlackNWhite. I followed BlackNWhite instruction and here is pics from my own and first DIY project.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3017053/3

Woah man, glad I helped you out. You went all out on this, good job!

[domdada]

Looks great, I'm glad that that I can be a help and again, BlackNWhite, Great job on the pic of the tutorial....it's rubbing off on everyone here.

I want to thank BlackNWhite for his tutorial with pics and DomDada for helping BlackNWhite. I followed BlackNWhite instruction and here is pics from my own and first DIY project.

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3017053/3