sbrimer
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Scott
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2019
- Threads
- 18
- Messages
- 185
- Reaction score
- 273
- Location
- Pensacola, FL
- Vehicle(s)
- 2023, 392 Rubicon XR
- Thread starter
- #1
I have a 2020 Sarge Green JLU Rubicon with the grayish color dash. It seemed kind of boring and I have seen several videos of people removing the dash and painting the panels. The best and easiest for me to follow was one by CJ Off Road. I'm sure most of you have seen it, but here is a link to the video in case you haven't.
Dash removal took me about 40 minutes taking my time while watching the video.
I did have a few changes in the dash for my 2020, I did a couple of things different and I want to highlight some things that were not talked about in the the CJ video..
1. Disconnecting only the main battery does nothing. There is still power to the vehicle because of the small auxiliary battery. I have the 3.6. I did not disconnect the aux battery. I understand the risk of the air bag, but I proceeded anyway. You can do so at your own risk.
2. When I removed the 8.4 head unit, there were 7 plugs on the back, but it was possibly to plug 5 of them back in wrong. The male connections were colored and so were the female connections on back of the unit; however the colors did not match. Did not make sense, so I took a picture and plugged them back in the way the were.
3. The dash panel on the drivers side was held on with both screws and snap connectors.
4. There is a small air bag panel behind the passenger grab bar that appeared to be difficult to remove because of the small space. I took an additional 5 minutes and removed the grab bar. Simply remove the cover on the right side and a 10mm bolt on each side holds the bar. Made things much, much easier.
5. There is a discussion about a zip tie on the small air bag panel and its purpose. My panel did not have a zip tie, but instead a small plastic anchor. This needs to stay in place. I simply pulled it off before I painted the panel and replaced it during reassembly. I assume the anchor is there so the piece will not become a projectile during an air bag deployment.
The dash removal might seem intimidating, but it is really not difficult at all. Follow the video and dash removal is easy.
I did not use the same paint as CJ Off Road. I used Mopar Sarge Green, paint code PGG. If you use Mopar paint, BUY 2 CANS. These are small ounce cans. It took 2 coats to completely cover the panels and additional spot spraying to get full coverage and used almost 2 full cans.
I removed the shiny trim around gauges and painted them black.
I also removed the vents and separated the shiny trim and painted them black also. The vents are held on by 3 T15 torx screws. All 4 vents and trim rings are different and will only go on one way. If you look, they are all marked.
Before I painted I used 600 grit sand paper instead of 400 and sanded all pieces.
I then used white Rustoleum Bonding Primer on all pieces. After 1 hour, I started painting.
After I painted the panels green, I waited 1 hour and applied 3 coats of Rustoleum Clear High Gloss Top Coat.
I used Rustoleum Flat and Primer in one for the vent rings and gauge ring, waited 1 hour and applied 3 coats of Rustoleum Clear Dead Flat Top Coat.
When applying the clear coat, wait no more than 5 minutes between coats until you apply the next coat.
I then waited 24 hours for the clear coat to dry before reassembly.
Normally the area around the gauges is black with silver trim rings. I did not maintain the black area. Instead, I carried the green all the way through the gauges and simply painted the trim rings flat black.
I like the contrast of the high glass green and flat black and the color all the way through the gauges.
The primer and paint dries fast, but the clear coat does not. Because the clear coat dries so slow and I am not in a dust free environment, there is some dust that dried in the clear coat in a few places.
I am very pleased with the end result. Although not perfect, I do like it.
Dash removal took me about 40 minutes taking my time while watching the video.
I did have a few changes in the dash for my 2020, I did a couple of things different and I want to highlight some things that were not talked about in the the CJ video..
1. Disconnecting only the main battery does nothing. There is still power to the vehicle because of the small auxiliary battery. I have the 3.6. I did not disconnect the aux battery. I understand the risk of the air bag, but I proceeded anyway. You can do so at your own risk.
2. When I removed the 8.4 head unit, there were 7 plugs on the back, but it was possibly to plug 5 of them back in wrong. The male connections were colored and so were the female connections on back of the unit; however the colors did not match. Did not make sense, so I took a picture and plugged them back in the way the were.
3. The dash panel on the drivers side was held on with both screws and snap connectors.
4. There is a small air bag panel behind the passenger grab bar that appeared to be difficult to remove because of the small space. I took an additional 5 minutes and removed the grab bar. Simply remove the cover on the right side and a 10mm bolt on each side holds the bar. Made things much, much easier.
5. There is a discussion about a zip tie on the small air bag panel and its purpose. My panel did not have a zip tie, but instead a small plastic anchor. This needs to stay in place. I simply pulled it off before I painted the panel and replaced it during reassembly. I assume the anchor is there so the piece will not become a projectile during an air bag deployment.
The dash removal might seem intimidating, but it is really not difficult at all. Follow the video and dash removal is easy.
I did not use the same paint as CJ Off Road. I used Mopar Sarge Green, paint code PGG. If you use Mopar paint, BUY 2 CANS. These are small ounce cans. It took 2 coats to completely cover the panels and additional spot spraying to get full coverage and used almost 2 full cans.
I removed the shiny trim around gauges and painted them black.
I also removed the vents and separated the shiny trim and painted them black also. The vents are held on by 3 T15 torx screws. All 4 vents and trim rings are different and will only go on one way. If you look, they are all marked.
Before I painted I used 600 grit sand paper instead of 400 and sanded all pieces.
I then used white Rustoleum Bonding Primer on all pieces. After 1 hour, I started painting.
After I painted the panels green, I waited 1 hour and applied 3 coats of Rustoleum Clear High Gloss Top Coat.
I used Rustoleum Flat and Primer in one for the vent rings and gauge ring, waited 1 hour and applied 3 coats of Rustoleum Clear Dead Flat Top Coat.
When applying the clear coat, wait no more than 5 minutes between coats until you apply the next coat.
I then waited 24 hours for the clear coat to dry before reassembly.
Normally the area around the gauges is black with silver trim rings. I did not maintain the black area. Instead, I carried the green all the way through the gauges and simply painted the trim rings flat black.
I like the contrast of the high glass green and flat black and the color all the way through the gauges.
The primer and paint dries fast, but the clear coat does not. Because the clear coat dries so slow and I am not in a dust free environment, there is some dust that dried in the clear coat in a few places.
I am very pleased with the end result. Although not perfect, I do like it.
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