As long as I've owned my Insight I've also known that the stock silverstone metallic was the wrong colour. While I won't ever say the car didn't wear it well, it seems every second car in the world is some sort of silver and the Insight deserved better. Of course if I had my choice on the initial purchase I would have gone for citrus yellow, but with so few citrus yellow Insights produced, any Insight purchaser knows it is sometimes a case of accepting what's available.
So for 10 years I've been talking about repainting the car. For the last three years I've been deep into the total restoration of my '76 Mazda Cosmo but at the same time, thinking more and more repainting the Insight. It was a minor collision outside of Dundas Ontario this past spring which made the decision. Apparently I'm crazy enough to take on a total colour change on the daily driver while knee deep in the restoration of my Cosmo.
It took some time to find the perfect green (about 10 years!) but I have found it in the colour "snakeskin green" as used on a limited number of 2008 Vipers. It's a wonderful iridescent lime green with an undertone of subtle gold/yellow. Quite honestly I think it's the perfect colour for an Insight.
I took a 3 day weekend at the end of September to prep the car before it went off to the body shop. In that time I did as much work as I could. The entire car was wet sanded with 600 grit, with Scotch Brite used on all the curved panels, edges and areas like the door sills. All the exterior trim (think A pillar trim above the doors, wheel skirts, rockers, etc.) was removed and areas underneath prepped. The headliner and most of that area of the interior was removed (needed to remove the antenna and rear window squirter). All the door seals, door panels and other bits as well. A few dents and dings were filled and smoothed with glazing compound. It was a LOT of work for a weekend. I then delivered the car to the body shop the following Monday.
This was a proper colour change in that all visible areas of the car were prepped and painted. Bumpers and fenders were removed and painted, under the hood was painted, hatch removed and painted. The only compromise I made was to leave the rear quarter windows and windshield installed. The rubber seals were pulled away from th body and taped to the windows, then the glass was masked. Additionally, the engine bay remains silver as pulling the drivetrain was a bit beyond what I wanted to do. The shop (Fine Touch Collision in London Ontario) did a superb job in the final prep and spraying of such a challenging colour. The metallic is even without any hit of blotches nor tiger striping.
Compared to the silverstone metallic (note the damage to the drivers door which started this whole adventure) I couldn't be more happy! It's a beautiful colour, ready to show off all its variation and shading as the light changes. There's a depth to the car now that just sucks your eyeballs in. The Insight has always attracted plenty of attention. Now however, people driving by stop to look and pedestrians swivel their heads as I go by.
So for 10 years I've been talking about repainting the car. For the last three years I've been deep into the total restoration of my '76 Mazda Cosmo but at the same time, thinking more and more repainting the Insight. It was a minor collision outside of Dundas Ontario this past spring which made the decision. Apparently I'm crazy enough to take on a total colour change on the daily driver while knee deep in the restoration of my Cosmo.
It took some time to find the perfect green (about 10 years!) but I have found it in the colour "snakeskin green" as used on a limited number of 2008 Vipers. It's a wonderful iridescent lime green with an undertone of subtle gold/yellow. Quite honestly I think it's the perfect colour for an Insight.
I took a 3 day weekend at the end of September to prep the car before it went off to the body shop. In that time I did as much work as I could. The entire car was wet sanded with 600 grit, with Scotch Brite used on all the curved panels, edges and areas like the door sills. All the exterior trim (think A pillar trim above the doors, wheel skirts, rockers, etc.) was removed and areas underneath prepped. The headliner and most of that area of the interior was removed (needed to remove the antenna and rear window squirter). All the door seals, door panels and other bits as well. A few dents and dings were filled and smoothed with glazing compound. It was a LOT of work for a weekend. I then delivered the car to the body shop the following Monday.
This was a proper colour change in that all visible areas of the car were prepped and painted. Bumpers and fenders were removed and painted, under the hood was painted, hatch removed and painted. The only compromise I made was to leave the rear quarter windows and windshield installed. The rubber seals were pulled away from th body and taped to the windows, then the glass was masked. Additionally, the engine bay remains silver as pulling the drivetrain was a bit beyond what I wanted to do. The shop (Fine Touch Collision in London Ontario) did a superb job in the final prep and spraying of such a challenging colour. The metallic is even without any hit of blotches nor tiger striping.
Compared to the silverstone metallic (note the damage to the drivers door which started this whole adventure) I couldn't be more happy! It's a beautiful colour, ready to show off all its variation and shading as the light changes. There's a depth to the car now that just sucks your eyeballs in. The Insight has always attracted plenty of attention. Now however, people driving by stop to look and pedestrians swivel their heads as I go by.