Ok, so I'm totally new to this site and I've been wanting to jazz up my '98 Civic Ex coupe for a while now. Problem is, I just don't know where to start. I was thinking about maybe painting some of the interior red like the outside of my car, but I'm not sure how i would going about getting out the vents and what-not. Also, I was wondering if there are any goods sites for new headlights you'd recommend. I like the custom look, but the over-the-top Need for Speed look isn't for me, I like to keep it somewhat simple. So, I'm totally open any ideas you guys have for me or if you could point in the direction of some photos of painted interiors that'd be great. Also, I saw the "change your headliner" of whatever thread, and i really liked the results, but I have a sunroof in mine. Could I still do it? Thanks a lot guys, and I'm very excited to start getting involved.
Bye!

 

Welcome to HCF. Painting interior can looknice or it can look VERY RICE. Subtle colors look nice but no blue or red or green. It will stick out and look tacky. Do you have a sound system or anything like that? That's normally where people start.

 

if you paint your interior i would suggest black
.........red and blue are the two i have seen in friends cars... and yeah they get annoying... and make sure you put enough layers/prepare the surface well because both my friedns with theirs painted are peeling a little and it looks stupid

and a cheap thing is to buy a lip kit... it gives your car that sporty look but nowhere near over the top or ricey like a body kit/spoiler/ect...

and the head liner i would message addiction2bass bout that

 

Thanks for the quick replies, guys. First of all, i have no clue what "rice" means (please excuse my ignorance). I'm guessing it means that over-the-top look that i was talking about? And if you don't think red would look good (I can definitely see where you're coming from), what colors do you think? Like, a shiny black? And I wouldn't call my cd player a "sound system", but its good enough for me, i'm not a bass fanatic anyway. And i think there's something wrong with my driver's window so it rattles pretty bad when the base is anywhere above -2. oh, and i forgot to mention, how hard is it to buy/change the shifter handle things? i was going to search for it but i'm not sure what they're called :/. anyway, thanks again, guys!

 

rice is basically what you said over the top look, outrageous body kits, spoilers, exhaust....etc.. i'd say leave the interior color stock, is yours charcoal gray interior? if you window is rattling check your regulator behind the door panel, tighten the bolt it needed. if you want your music to sound more clear and little bit off oomph replace the stock speakers with some aftermarket ones, like pioneer, alpine, infinity... etc.. by the shifter handle are you talking about a shift know? the handle where you shift with, is this a manual or auto?

 

I would recommend not to paint the interior as well. if you do decide to paint the interior then use vinyl dye instead of spray paint. it holds up better. and also depending on the pieces you'll want to wet sand them with like 2000 Grit sand paper.

 

well if its a stick and you mean the part you put your hand on to shift, then just unscrew it off the stick, if you mean you wanted to change the shifter, like to go a short throw, then thats a little more complicated, but not bad.

the way you wrote it sounds like you just want to change the ****, any parts place, or online.

if its an auto, then i have no clue..

 

yeah, i've been looking around a bit more and i don't think i'm going to paint it. And with the window rattling, I'm pretty sure it's from someone breaking in a while ago before i bought the car. I was never told that it was, but i found some glass on the floor and the window is just a tad off-alignment. I don't really notice it though. And my civic is a manual and yeah i think we're talking about the same thing. "Shifter ****" sounds familiar. And you said to just screw it off, does that mean that they're all standard and universally fitting? And one last thing, I don't have radio in my car or even an antenna for that matter(it didn't have it when i bought it), so how hard would it be to get radio back in? thanks again guys.

 

id say lip kit and a good lower is the first things to do keeps it clean and simple but you can see a huge difference

 

not all shift ***** are the same fitment

what he means is you unscrew it. the shifter lever has threads on it and the inside of the shift **** is threaded and it just unscrews (it may take some force to loosen it at all). not all shift ***** have the same thread size/pitch. all honda/acura manual transmission shift ***** have the same thread size/pitch though.


you don't want to paint the interior anything bright.