i just bought my first car, 2004 Dodge Neon SXT, in March, i think, and ever since i drove it home, i've loved it!! I've done some stuff to it and i plan to do a lot more. So far i've gotten my a/c fixed (thank god) windows tinted (saved a life) and new wheels and tires to repair the sun rotted tires it came with (praise the lord!)

There is so much I'm interested in discovering about my car! like, removing and fixing the dents and scratches, replacing my cracked windshield, and a few tweaks to make it look "fly".

I'm currently interested in doing some interior work and was looking about for some opinions. now i've seen some people paint their air vents inside their car, and was considering painting mine red to match the red pin stripe on my new rims. think its worth it?

also, while looking around these forums, i found this:
Q: What Octane should I use in my neon?
A: Standard SOHC engines are recommended to use 87 octane gasoline
I've been putting 89 in my car. is this a bad thing??

I'd much appreciate all responses and i'm excited to get more done with my car!

 

Running higher octane won't hurt it, but you are wasting money.

 

really?? ah crap.. well thanks for the heads up.
opinions on painting the air vents though?
heres the video i saw it in, this is what also inspired me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHVsakuC9vY
skip to about 1:40.
could you see this done in red? its temping.
i was even going to paint the frame around the a/c components and stereo.

 

it's funny you want to paint some interior parts... most guys who do this got the idea from the SXT model which comes with a body colored bezel around the radio... but since you have a black car, it's already black!

Here's a shot of mine, I have an SE model, didn't come with the body color radio surrond, so i painted it myself...but I have a flame red body color... you can also see the SXT style gauge cluster I swapped out (the SE model doesn't come with a tach, and the gauges have a black background)..... (excuse the dirty stuff, floormats etc...).. it's a cheap little, fun mod to do

 

ha! thank you so much for that picture! I'm extremely tempted to do it now! As soon as I get out of school Monday, I'm going straight to the hardware store to get me some Kryon spray paint! I think thats what its called anyways.. I was extremely ignorant when i was car shopping because we had troubles keeping our black Jetta looking clean, and the summer's sun isn't the greatest either, so now I really regret the black. But again, thanks a bunch for that photo! very nice job on your neon by the way.

 

My Solar Yellow SXT has the center bezel yellow. I really like it. I'd recommend doing it then using a clear coat to make it shine.

 

thanks for the tip! i didn't even think about the shine. does anyone also know if there's a way to take out the side vents to paint them? or do i just tape them off and spray them in the car?

 

those side vents definetly come out... don't remember exactly, but just pry up the outside or inside edge and I think one side is just held on by a double stick tape... (Don't spray in the car)... the center bezel is a little bit trickier to get out, but once you do it, it's easy.. it also should be taken out of the car to be sprayed.

You have to pry the 2 center vents out, screwdriver-pry from the inside edge of each one... then u will see one screw behind each vent to remove...remove the 4 HVAC control ***** (they just pull straight out)... then the bottom part just pull/pops out

also note that you will have to mask off the writing around the HVAC ***** once the center console is out of the car, other wise you'll be painting over the writing

 

How bout i just paint over them and draw animations on with a sharpie? hahaha. i recall taking off the middle mask to install my stereo (did it myself! :] ) i'll just have to play with the side vents until they pop out. i'll post a before and after image when i finish the job :]

 

I wasn't sure which vents you were talking about...
I have those two window vents as well as my HVAC/Radio bezel painted. It's a nice, easy way to dress up the interior a bit.

The window vents will simply pop out if you gently pry up on one side. As for the HVAC bezel, cover the HVAC panel with masking tape, and then use a razor blade and trim the tape using the little crevice around it as your guide. Pretty straightforward stuff.