Got a new hood on Saturday with the help of my dad and my boyfriend. It was on the last car in the last row at the salvage yard, a '98 Accord LX. The new hood is dark emerald, I think, but if I'm gonna plasti dip it, color doesn't matter. It's so close to the original color you can't tell on first glance anyway. Looks so much better.

Before


After


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THEN...

I took the center console out (just the black portions) and plasti-dipped them on the same day. I think they turned out pretty good for my first time! They're no longer sticky or scratched up. I also now know the inner workings of my shifter **** from having to take it off to get the console out lol. I did 5 coats after cleaning with Simple Green, Dawn dish soap and hot water. I hit each coat with a hair dryer to dry it quicker so I didn't have to wait 15 mins in between coats. Dry to the touch after about a minute of the dryer on them. Pardon the little particles of dog hair and fluff, my dogs helped again.



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Looking good . Nice work in getting things cleaned up.

 

Originally posted on another forum on November 30, 2015:

I'll start with photos of the process of my dad and I plasti-dipping the entire car, from OEM Flamenco Black Pearl with sun damage and chipping/a replacement hood that was green to graphite black pearl over gunmetal gray plasti-dip. It's not perfect but I think it looks a lot better than when I got it. The photos and text below are re-posted from my intro thread but I wanted to get them in here as well. I'll be posting updates on Selene in this thread from now on.

Taping off, base coat, grey and top coat with pearl:







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So as you can see, dad and I (mostly dad) got Selene dipped over the weekend. The finish came out a bit textured, especially on the roof, and I believe that was a combination of the sprayer not being quite powerful enough and/or my dad's never painted with plasti-dip before, haha. He was spraying a little too far away where he had a hard time reaching on the roof and center/top of the hood. I don't care about that though, I think it looks awesome! I kept the bottom trim and front Honda logo original (I taped off the whole front emblem). The rear 'H' came right off, and I have to peel the dip off the Accord emblem because I didn't want to risk breaking it trying to take it off. I stuck it back on there a few weeks ago with metal/glass adhesive and it would have been a battle trying to get it off. I have to put the LX emblem on as well, but I'm probably gonna try badge glue on that, or E6000.

Prep:

We taped it off and wiped it down very, very thoroughly with denatured alcohol before painting. My dad's first job was taping off cars to be painted, actually, haha. Before that we did body work: filled a rust hole in the left rear wheel well facing the door and primed it, you can't tell there was ever a hole there now. Filled in gouges on the hood and bumper from a truck backing into it; couldn't get it all but it looks a hell of a lot better. Filled in some little rust holes on the hood as well. I sanded the clear coat that was chipping down/off where I could with a little motorized disc sander. Hand-sanded the sun damage under the passenger side windows, rust on the rear passenger door and a little round rust spot on the driver door. That came right off, it was only surface rust left from [apparently] a magnet that was left on the car.

Plasti-Dip:

We used two gallons of black, one gallon of gunmetal gray, and two gallons of top coat: one gallon of clear that had 25g of hyper black graphite pearl mixed in and the other by itself. We didn't use all of the paint. We put on three tack coats of black, two wet, two or three wet coats of gray, one tack coat of clear and then the rest of that gallon and about half a gallon of the other clear. The wet coats used about a quarter to a third of a gallon each so I think we got the ratio down. I would have liked to get more coats on but dad has a bad shoulder and he could only take so much painting.

Anyway, since the hood and roof came out textured, I might go back up to my parent's place this weekend and try giving it a gentle misting in naptha with the spray gun and see if that evens out the texture. We had xylene to clean the paint gun and mixing stuff, but I knew they stopped recommending xylene to thin dip with.

The hood was my fault. I tried taking a swing at painting and I royally effed it up, haha. But dad fixed it as best he could. You can barely tell by looking at it in person that there's a bit of striping near the top. The photo I took doesn't have great lighting and from the angle it's at you can totally see it. Maybe this weekend I'll go up and practice with the gun so I can do it myself next time, or we can take turns. I stayed in the garage and mixed up the paint and was on air hose patrol while he was walking around the car painting. Dad couldn't believe the color actually came out "looking like the pictures" I showed him back when I was still contemplating it. The color was almost exactly what I pictured in my mind. I wish it was more glossy but we could always add more later. I'd have to fix the texture first.

I actually might get some high gloss vinyl graphics for the hood and sides...I was thinking the dire wolf sigil of house Stark from Game of Thrones; just a thin black linework of the wolf sigil and maybe "STARK" on the sides, in the font they use for the show (I'm a fan of the books). The shade of grey it turned out would look cool with some shiny black graphics on it, I think. I wasn't really thinking about putting anything on it but I'd be alright with something simple like that.

I took this photo right after putting some Dip Coat Protective Spray on her. I actually applied it with paper towels so we didn't do too terribly with the texture. It only grabbed the paper on the hood and roof a little. Otherwise it went on pretty smooth. If I had a microfiber towel I probably would have had less trouble.

 

December 2, 2015:

Got a decent photo of these this morning. I had to peel the dip off of the Accord logo but I finally got around to it. Trunk wasn't closed all the way so it looks a little misaligned.

This photo is a better representation of what the color actually looks like IRL. The other photos make it look blue or flat gray.



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December 3, 2015:

Side-by-side comparison of before and after. Notice how I've gotten less scared of curbing my wheel covers lol


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December 4, 2015:




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December 11, 2015:

Hankook I-Pike winter tires, new steel wheels, valve cover gasket, PCV valve and sway bar links. Going up to dad's tomorrow to put it all on.


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December 14, 2015:

First thing, I lost one of my wheel covers. I know you're all probably pretty happy about that, haha. I wish I could have gotten the chance to paint them and see what that looked like but now I'll just have to wait until I can get a new set. Dad says he'll keep an eye out for a new set next time he goes up to the boneyard for stuff.

Selene rides SO MUCH SMOOTHER now. Like, holy hell with the difference a new set of sway bar links and tires make. Having that bent wheel gone makes a difference too, obviously...and those Vectra tires I had on the back were super loud; I didn't realize just how loud they were until they were gone. But now I have a full-size spare in the trunk, in case I run into any trouble. The donut it comes with is so small and hard I'd be afraid to drive with it on anyway, haha. New tires are Hankook I-Pikes.

Like I posted above, the sway bar link bolts on both sides were so tight and rusted on, we couldn't get them off until we popped the actual links out and cut the bolts off, then knocked them out with an impact hammer. In the one I posted a pic of it was just the top one we had to cut, but the other one we had to cut both. I'm also curious as to what that smear of yellow paint on the original one is supposed to mean...

The valve cover gasket was literally cooked into the valve cover. Dad says he's seen that before. On engines that have been run a long time without the proper amount of oil. So yeah.

The PCV valve that was on the car was so clogged up, you couldn't even hear the valve shake inside the housing like you should be able to on a clean one. Yay for new valves!

We had a heck of a time getting the new valve cover bolt gaskets on, too. Couldn't find instructions on how to get them over the bolts without destroying them, except for one short YouTube video where the guy put them on by stretching them over the bolt with a screwdriver. There's no way I would have gotten them on without one.

In closing, Selene feels much better now!

When it "warms up" again (even though it was 70 F out last night, the hell is up with that!?), dad wants to actually paint Selene. He can get PPG automotive paint through work (which means about a 50% discount); he told me I can pick any make/model year and he can get a paint matched to it. Sooooo...let me know what colors you'd like to see on Selene!

Also, my new Sony stereo and speakers I ordered last week should arrive today! The boyfriend is going to help me out with installation since he's the only audiophile I know. He's deaf in one ear, but he's all about sound quality.

Does anyone have grille recommendations to stick into the front "holes" on my car? It's kinda weird that there's no grille on it at all. You guys think it would look better with one? And if so what brands are decent? I can imagine since the car is so old now there's a million different kinds out there. I'd put a chrome one in, most likely.

 

The paint on the bolts might be from the factory....I think there are some that they mark to note that they have be tightened.

There are a few different "tricks" to get the grommets on the valve cover bolts......I personally go with either a piece of vac hose that fits over the threads or one of those "cones" that come on like a tube of silicone....something that will give you a bit of "taper" to slide them over the "hump" on the bolts.

Color....well that is up to you. Look at different cars in parking lots and that and figure out what YOU want.

As far as a "grille"....many options including a factory style one, aftermarket or make your own.

 

Getting the timing belt service done on Thursday. No sign of a problem but it's overdue per the owner's manual. $539 for the timing belt/water pump etc at the shop my dad works at. They will have it done in one day. I believe this is the last "big" thing that this car will need for a while. I also got a service manual and reading it has been very informative and cool to see pictures/illustrations/instructions that I don't have to Google the heck out of to find a simple, correct answer! Yay for less threads about beaten-to-death topics lol.

I got the service records last night and it turns out the transmission fluid was flushed at 70K (which explains why it's still red/pink and not black like I expected it to be), the cat was replaced at about 80K (I think, I don't have the records to look at this seconds), and a few other things. Wasn't expecting to see actual work done on it.

Anway:

New Sony stereo and STP cabin filters installed over the weekend. I hurt all over. The screws in this car...they've been tightened so hard it's just about impossible to unscrew them...I couldn't get the one by myself and when my boyfriend came out to check my progress, I had him try and he only barely got it loose with all his strength. And he's a pretty strong person. Still wouldn't have paid a shop $80 to do the cabin filters though, haha.

Anyway, yay for new sound system and filters! I have to put in the speakers I got later.

 

Thanks, Enne...

We do enjoy seeing the great progress you're making with Selene

 

Very impressed!