interior dress up

[whalejr31]

Hey guys, I am curious if anyone has taken out the trim pieces on armrests and around the stereo and gearshift. My trim is silver and it is the one thing i can not stand in my compass. I tried for a month to see if it would grow on me but no luck so i did some research to see if anyone sold different color replacements and the only thing i could find were vinyl stickers to change the color and i dont know about that. I am thinking about pulling those pieces out and painting them with the plastic spray paint or maybe with an airbrush depending on how i feel at the time but was wondering if anyone had taken those pieces out or had done this to their compass yet and could offer up any advice! Every little thing i can get would help since this will be the first time i mess around with the interior of the compass

[Cherokee]

I have seen some people paint the bezels/interior trim and I think it looks great. A guy on a truck forum I'm on has a black interior and painted all his trim in red, came out looking pretty sweet.

- Cherokee

[Lunch Box]

Yeah, Its pretty easy to get most of that stuff to come out. A lot of it just pops off, but be careful, some are screwed into place so dont force anything.

[whalejr31]

Well since it seems to be a pretty basic task i will probably take the time and remove it all this weekend and maybe paint it if i have time the only this is i have to figure out what color to actually paint it instead of the horrible silver! Thanks for the help guys

[Skyeye]

I have a silver Compass so I like the silver. I would imagine to make your paint job hold up you would have to clearcoat them a few times. I would like it if they had a cheap wood grain applique that you could get.

[whalejr31]

Well they sell vinyl sticker type decals for the silver trim in the interior and i believe they have a wood looking one if you wanted to go the sticker route which im trying to avoid currently but with yours being silver i think it would look fine to me tho in my dark red one it just seems out of place and stuck in there so i want to change it.

[whalejr31]

Ok guys sorry but i need your help :-/ I started pulling all the silver trim around the sifter and the radio and the doors tonight from my 2007 compass and it started off pretty simple with the gear shifter silver piece popping right off (dont know how to get the gear knob off?!?!?! ) but regardless i got that part off with 2 bolts. so then i was working my way to the big piece around the radio and such and holy cow didnt even think everything would be attached like that so i have no idea how to pop that section out of there let alone even slide the radio out :-( i tried working on the door arm rest pieces but they seem glues on there or something and i didnt want to pop them off and have to glue them back on. starting to think this project may be a little over my head since im use to my old cj's single piece of sheetmetal for a dashboard :-( any help?!?!?! anything is appreciated! Thanks guys!

[Cherokee]

That's a good question, and while I haven't taken any of those pieces apart myself, I am wondering how the guy on a truck forum I'm on took the bezels out of his Ram to paint them, because it really looked awesome when he was done, and I'm sure yours will, too. Let me see what I can find out. Working on some interior bling in my truck soon as it warms up long enough to do it. I would think it would be too much hassle to mask them off and just leave them in to paint. I take it your plan is to spray them?

- Cherokee

[Skyeye]

This could end up to be a messy and costly DIY project! If I were you, I would get friendly with my dealer or a trim shop and let them show you how to remove all that polyethylene. Nonetheless, buena suerte!

[smokey01]

I don't know if this will help but I found the dash and door pictures in the parts manual. Hopefully it will give you some insight to what you're looking at. Everything looks like it just pulls apart.

[Cherokee]

I found a couple helpful hints as well, and I find that pictures really do the trick, so let's see if we can get this to work. Just not sure about the door trim panels, couldn't really find anything on that, so hope this helps you out some.

If you need any more help, just ask and I'll see what else I can find, but I owe the credit for those to a friend on another forum, so I will only take credit for looking into it.

- Cherokee

[Skyeye]

Looks like the trim stick is the thing to get! I was wondering how to remove the gearshift knob too! How could it be that simple? Thanks Chero!

[smokey01]

The cap of my gear shift came off and when I went to the stealership to get another one they quoted a half day labour to remove the shift knob and put another on. I can do that in less than 30 seconds. I'm going to have to ask them why it takes them half a day to do it.

[Skyeye]

Anybody change their shift knob to an aftermarket one? I am thinking of getting a billet one from Pep Boys and wonder if it will fit. It comes with several adapters.

[smokey01]

I have noticed that the stock one has some tangs inside that lock it onto the shifter when it's pressed down. I'm not sure what the aftermarket ones have but if you could find one with a set screw that might be the best way to go. I haven't looked at aftermarket shift knobs but I am looking for an aftermarket boot for the shifter. Mine keeps getting ripped from being used in the cold.

[Lunch Box]

Ah, I had to do this when I put hooked all my audio stuff to the back of the head unit. You have to take the knob off first (simply by pulling, and I mean pulling). Then you take off the cover that has all the gear positions written on it (if you have the CVT). Doing this exposes several screws that helps hold down the paneling in that area, as well as the screws that hold the head unit in. Hope this all helps! =D

[whalejr31]

Hey guys thanks for all the posts! i do have a cvt but not the one that you can "control" so idk if it will be different but i pulled the shifter knob off and the PRNDL cover off and then the silver trim around that came out with 2 bolts and i couldnt find any other screws maybe im missing some? any more info LB would be great...from the pics that you guys posted it looks like 8 tabs around the outside and then the only other thing that concerns me is the knobs for the heat and AC and such because i would like to take the 3 knobs off and paint them too, plus i think those need to come out to remove the silver trim around the whole section also. I am busy throughout the weeks and my next 2 weekends r taken up so i wont be able to get back on my project for a few weeks :-/ but thank you for all the info and ill be sure to take pics while im pulling it all out and let you guys know how its going. Still have to figure out the door part but i found from TORX screws in the cup holders which i may take out to remove them, hope that works :-/ just wanted to let you guys know this is awesome forum and you guys are extremely helpful!

[smokey01]

In my experience the heat and AC knobs will pull off with a little force. I haven't pulled the Compass knobs off but that's usually the only way to attatch them to the shaft.

[Lunch Box]

Well my recommendation would be (especially if your into DIY maintenance and such) that you buy a shop manual. Theyre a bit of an investment (something like a hundred dollars), but its three volumes and has literally EVERYTHING in it. They can tell you how to do any job imaginable, from wiring, to changing the oil to removing parts of the body, servicing the engine and transmission. It also as a lot of diagnostic stuff in it too if you can't figure out whats wrong and you're not in warranty anymore. In short, a very good investment if you ask me.

[smokey01]

Good recommendation LB. I would love to get my hands on a good set of shop manuals. Does anyone know where in Canada I may be able to find them or order them from?

[Feel for life]

For starter..........try this link it might be helpful...

http://www.manualnguide.com/download...p-compass.html

[Lunch Box]

Originally Posted by smokey01

Good recommendation LB. I would love to get my hands on a good set of shop manuals. Does anyone know where in Canada I may be able to find them or order them from?

Just go to the dealership. I don't think they keep them in stock but they can order one for you and sell it to you. At least thats what I did in the states, and I can't imagine why you couldn't do the same thing in Canada.

[whalejr31]

Hey All! Finally been able to work on my compass a little bit since for the last week i have been driving all over the state but i started finally pulling off the silver trim in the middle thanks to the pics Cherokee posted mainly the picture but i wasnt able to get it all the way off...maybe lack of brain cells on my part but i was hoping some of you could help explain the top 3 clips to me the little ones shown about the heat vents in that pic? i had everything else out those just fought me to no end and it bothered me and i didnt want to pull to hard but i popped up the tan piece behind that thinking that would help but that only popped up the plastic on the dash around the defrosters and i couldnt help but think there is no way i have to disassemble the entire dash just to get this trim piece off. Any ideas? expecially from those of you who have taken it off before for radio work and whatnot?...Otherwise once that is taken care of its looking like it will be a fairly easy job. The HVAC control knobs pop right off and the whole assembly will come off the back with 4 hex head screws and then ill just have to tape the bin under the head unit and maybe the vents if they r not removable.

On a side not i was thinking tonight maybe someone knows a kit of a way to change the green lights in the dash and on the shifter to a different color?!?!?! maybe im just getting too crazy now.

Even if i end up not painting it due to all this hassle i would still like to get the piece off simply for the fact that when i bought the car my "recycle" button for the HVAC system the light is dead in it or there is bad wiring or something have yet to trouble shoot it but i would like to try and resolve that small detail at least... THANKS EVERYONE!

[lochinprc]

Just a tip: In Australia you can order shop manuals from Kmart, they have a good range which you can order from the Auto section. Again, thats in Australia so I have no idea what Kmart is like in Canada...

[whalejr31]

Hey guys i finally got to ripping it all out and i have a word of caution. In order to get the center silver trim piece out of first generation compass interiors (mine is a 2007), you have to remove the tan square piece that is about if on the dash to get access to the screws but it does not come all the way out! There are the usual clips on the sides and in the front along with 2 tabs in the front that are under the trim piece and then the back has had a tab melted onto a metal swivel i guess you can call it and from the looks of it you are able to slide it out of the way to gain access to the 2 screws under it. I say this because i pulled on it and broke that tab off...dont really see any drawbacks yet from the damage done and will post pics when i am able to...just thought i would give a heads up ;-)

Anyone have problems with the drives window control dying? (every window control except my driver window the little green light doesnt light up...little details bother me haha)

Also i am going to look at it when i have the silver trim off again but my defrost and recycle air buttons dont light up :-/ any ideas? i am hoping they are just dead bulbs but that is kinda fast to die only being from 2007 :-(

[Skyeye]

I think the only window push button that is illuminated is the drivers. The others are just lenses without LED's.