How To: Painting Dome light
How To: Painting Dome light
I was bored today and had nothing to do so I decided to paint my dome light. I'm planning on painting it Solar Yellow to match my bezel but that will be when I purchase a can of it from the dealership. For now, it stays black. Here is a how to, just in case there are some people out there who want to do the same thing.
Things needed:
1) Flat head screwdriver.
2) Can of spray paint in your choice of color.
3) Can of clear coat.
4) Fine sandpaper (Optional. I don't remember what grit I used).
5) Masking tape.
Now the first thing you do is to take the flat head and pop one side of the lens out.
Next, use the flat head to pry the clip on the connector. Once you do that, pry and pull the connector off.
Once the light is disconnected, the dome should drop down from the headliner easily. Now jimmy the other end of the lens off of the dome. It should look like this now.
There are two options at this point. A) you can either leave the metal on and mask over it to avoid painting, or B) you can take the time to pry off all the metal and not worry about masking. I chose to take the light bulb out and mask over metal, but when I paint it Solar Yellow, I will be pulling the metal off and painting the whole bezel.
You can either start painting or scuff up the piece before painting. I chose to sand it down first with a very fine sandpaper. I don't remember what grit it was though. Once I was done scuffing it up a little, I masked it off.
Now its time to paint. Remember not to spray to close to the piece or the paint will drip.
Wait about 10 - 15 minutes between coats. I did about 3. Once you got the desired amount of layers on, then start laying down some clear, and let dry for about 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours.
When it is dry, just reverse the uninstall instructions and you should have a nicely painted dome light!
Things needed:
1) Flat head screwdriver.
2) Can of spray paint in your choice of color.
3) Can of clear coat.
4) Fine sandpaper (Optional. I don't remember what grit I used).
5) Masking tape.
Now the first thing you do is to take the flat head and pop one side of the lens out.
Next, use the flat head to pry the clip on the connector. Once you do that, pry and pull the connector off.
Once the light is disconnected, the dome should drop down from the headliner easily. Now jimmy the other end of the lens off of the dome. It should look like this now.
There are two options at this point. A) you can either leave the metal on and mask over it to avoid painting, or B) you can take the time to pry off all the metal and not worry about masking. I chose to take the light bulb out and mask over metal, but when I paint it Solar Yellow, I will be pulling the metal off and painting the whole bezel.
You can either start painting or scuff up the piece before painting. I chose to sand it down first with a very fine sandpaper. I don't remember what grit it was though. Once I was done scuffing it up a little, I masked it off.
Now its time to paint. Remember not to spray to close to the piece or the paint will drip.
Wait about 10 - 15 minutes between coats. I did about 3. Once you got the desired amount of layers on, then start laying down some clear, and let dry for about 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours.
When it is dry, just reverse the uninstall instructions and you should have a nicely painted dome light!
- gtxtreme19
- 2010 Silver Contributor
- Posts: 2061
- Joined: Tue Jan 26, 2010 3:02 pm
- Location: 43554 NW ohio
actually the dome light hasnt needed adhesion promoter... i used primer on mine with a clear and it works fine and hasnt peeled at all... now the b pillars are a whole nother story
2003 neon se crashed
1998 neon highline Sold
2005 neon sxtSold
2017 Volkswagen CC Rline Exec. 2.0t
"Sorry you are so scared of a possible mechanical problem that you will drive an ugly transportation appliance. I'll keep living a colorful life." -some guy about a camry
ya i used cheap home depot paint with automotive primer and restoleum matte clear and it works fine for parts that dont move at all, but i need to redo the b pillars with adhesion promoter
2003 neon se crashed
1998 neon highline Sold
2005 neon sxtSold
2017 Volkswagen CC Rline Exec. 2.0t
"Sorry you are so scared of a possible mechanical problem that you will drive an ugly transportation appliance. I'll keep living a colorful life." -some guy about a camry
How To Painting Dome light
does anyone know how to make my map lights turn on and off with the center dome light? please help I replaced all my lights with LEDs and would like them to work with the dome. thanks.
Re: How To: Painting Dome light
I think that should work automatically... is your map light OEM or was it wired in some other way?
2003 neon se crashed
1998 neon highline Sold
2005 neon sxtSold
2017 Volkswagen CC Rline Exec. 2.0t
"Sorry you are so scared of a possible mechanical problem that you will drive an ugly transportation appliance. I'll keep living a colorful life." -some guy about a camry
-
- Junior Admin
- Posts: 20306
- Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 12:14 pm
- Location: Ashland Ohio
Re: How To: Painting Dome light
WarnerTok's IP is from the Ukraine.
Just waiting for the spam links....
Just waiting for the spam links....
Bill
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCMOlha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester