richberman

Awesome! :) You'll love the airbrush and that clear, it works so well! And the drill attachment should work fine for polishing- anything to mimic doing it by hand just a little faster will work. To remove the center console, on the bottom left and right there's a panel that can be removed using a flathead screwdriver (clips only). Then you'll see 3 10mm bolts holding the console to the bottom frame, on both sides. Then the console should be able to be lifted up. But there's a wire (with a ball on the end) that goes from the console to the frame of the car (controls something, forget what). Just unhook the wire from the frame. At this point you should be able to remove the console from the car. Then you can mask off and paint etc. Putting it back in the car's a bit of a challenge with the wire and all, but it's not that bad. And for the rear seat cup holder, if you open it, you'll see two screws on the bottom (i think?) just pop those out, and it should come right out (maybe with help from a flat-head, i don't remember exactly). As for the chrome sliver on the wood cupholder piece, i actually had to make my own and put it back on. Bought some chrome tape from autozone (comes in a roll, used for pinstripes etc) and cut out a piece the same size, and put it on the clear. It's not embossed under the clear, but it looks great :) Now that you've got the airbrush and hard clear, you can try painting the steering wheel too :) As soon as you've got it off the car, you're half-way there. I then tighten it in the vice (see it on my workshop), mask off the leather (which can take about a half hour, gotta get it perfect!) wetsand the clear and paint and clear. If you start in the morning, you can have it painted, baked and un-masked by the evening- might be best so you don't have to do without the car for long :) cduluk, I love the way you redid your 400h. I just bought a 2007 400h in Bamboo Pearl and tan/birdseye maple interior. The wood tone, especially of the steering wheel, is a mustard yellowy. I have seen this same interior with a more orange tone to the wood. If I wanted to tone the wood to a darker orange or orange-red what would you use? thanks, rich

I just bought a CPO 2007 RX400h which I love, but the birdseye maple trim is an ugly mustard yellow color (car is bamboo pearl with wood trim/ tan leather interior). I read the thread on dying the wood, but was wondering if I could just replace the trim pieces from another car with nicer wood tone. Does anyone know which steering wheels will fit this car as I have seen some ES and GS wheels on ebay? Can the trim pieces be found? Has anyone had experience with the B&I trim and/or steering wheel kits. B&I kits I am concerned that the stick on kits might not look nice enough. thanks for the advice. I saw a 45100-33760-eo from a 2009 ES350 on ebay for $50. Would this fit as an interim wheel while I refinish my original?