Operation "Can't hear shit" *Pics*

[MarkIII4Me]

Small update. Finished almost all of the wiring. Got the guages in. The Lotek pod was shit. Didn't line up with the dash at all. I had to take a heat gun to it and reform. Put the glove box and steering wheel in. Facime did a fantastic job. One of these days I will push the car into the sunlight and take some hi-res pics, but for now we are at the mercy of my phone's cam which is terrible in my dark garage.

I big thanks goes out to slow_sc3 for helping out over the weekend. Thanks to him, the interior is nearly finished.

 

[aaron_arthur]

WOW is all i can say so far! i think alot of ppl will be doing this now that they can picture what the car looks like all black, I know i will be doing this. Congrads with the wife, your a lucky man to have a girl that likes cars, but to like them enough to help out! I wish i could say the same my gf hates cars Cant wait for the outside pictures! keep it up.

 

[Satan]

Coming along quite well... I used Dynamat and did the same with my '91. We also Dynamated the wife's MKIV... agree with ya on not ever wanting to do it again (if we don't have to).

Also,
I did not see the targa, but I used a "crushed velvet" type of fabric on the headliner (after Dynamating it and doing the targa leak fix).

Keep up the good work!

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I used a "crushed velvet" type of fabric on the headliner (after Dynamating it and doing the targa leak fix).

I was going to recover the targa, however, I can't seem to get the weather stripping off with tearing it to pieces; and it currently doesn't leak. I may actually attempt to tuck the same thin carpet I used on the doors under the edging on the targa and spray glue it down on top of the existing fabric. Then again, if that doesn't work I may just paint the fabric like I did with the rear ceiling panel (which came out great). Painting takes forever (we're talking like 20 coates) and cost crazy $$$; so I'm trying to avoid if possible.

 

[Satan]

Should be easy enough to do that. I used 3M spray adhesive. Make sure to tape up the plastitic and measure out the piece of fabric (bigger than needed). Then stick it on and tuck in/cut the excess.

I had to do the targa leak fix, so I replaced my seals and Dynamated the targa while I was at it.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Yeah, I used 3M all-purpose spray adhesive for the door carpet and it came out great. I'll try and use the same technique on the targa headliner.

 

[dusthead]

just finished reading the thread...great job! i know you'll be really happy with it when your done

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I took advantage of the warm weather this weekend and finished painting some more parts including the plastic parts around the front seats and their vinyl backs. I also cleaned, dyed and conditioned both front and back seats.


The seats have been wrapped up for years. When I cut the the plastic off, they were covered in mold and there was damage such as a rip in the driver seat lumbar support and cracks in the leather; pretty much everywhere.
Hard to see from the pics.

Luckily I had a helper. My wife did a great job cleaning the fronts.
She rubbed the front seats down with a damp cloth. Then she took a brush and plenty of Lexol cleaner to them. Afterwards, I let them dry and rubbed 91% alcohol on all cracks and portions were the leather's natural color was coming through. After that dried, I took black Kiwi leather dye (yes, for shoes) and applied to all areas that appeared worn. I left it on for a few minutes. Then buffed it with a cloth to match surrounding areas. Then I let them sit in overnight to properly adhere. The following day I rubbed the seats down in Lexol leather condition. I applied with Latex gloves and rubbed the conditioner into the seats the same way you would apply lotion to your skin. Some parts of the seats would soak up application after application, where as other areas didn't seem to absorb it at all. The difference of course being that some areas weren't as damaged as other. I let the conditioner soak in for around 15 minutes and then I buffed away the excess with a clean soft cloth.

The end result was quite pleasing.

I even went as far as removing the seat belt guides; shaving them down (since I'm going with a 3 point harness) and repainting.

The back seats were in really great shape. I vacuumed the rear carpet (even though I don't plan on using it since it's gray) and vacuumed the suede as well.

The suede was decently coated in mold also

Pretty hard to see in the pic

A good cleaning took care of it. I used a wet rag and scrubbed the shit out of them. The bucket of water was black when I was through. I then took a foaming fabric cleaner (came with my couch) to them, rewiped with a wet rag and then took a dry rag to them to dry them out as best I could prevent mold from reforming.

The leather on the backs looked fantastic except for a a couple of spots along the tops of the headrest. I performed the same leather treatment to them as I did the fronts.

End result, clean seats with darker leather:

Here's a quick snap of some of the painting I completed.

Hopefully will install them sometime this week.

 

[Mr.PFloyd]

Look hella nice!

 

[Neodeuccio]

So now that you're almost done, how long would you say this took? Also, how much do you think you spent on it?

 

[MarkIII4Me]

So now that you're almost done, how long would you say this took? Also, how much do you think you spent on it?

Not really sure how to answer that. I intentionally try not to get exact figures since the amount will surely depress me
Are you talking about everything? Including stripping off of factory asphalt deadener, costs of seats, seat belts, carpet, dozens of cans of paint, prepping and finishing supplies such as alcohol, acetone, sandpaper, cleaners, conditioners, protectants, etc. Plus waiting on nice days to paint, swapping of various parts from year changes and doing the same work 2 or 3 times to get it right, etc, etc.

That's a tough one. Easily hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars. However, if I had to do it all over again, I'm sure I could cut those figures in half since much of this was trial and error.

 

[Neodeuccio]

Well, I was thinking about doing this as a winter project between when I get laid off (this week, next week... I dunno) and when I go back to school in January. Mostly I'm curious about the removing/prepping/painting/replacing of the interior plastics and such. Personally I won't worry about the seats at all since I'll be changing them out, and the carpet isn't that hard to replace. I'm still up in the air about whether or not to remove the tar.

I should have phrased my question better, sorry.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

carpet isn't that hard to replace.

Uh, yeah; keep telling yourself that :evil2:

Probably the biggest pain in the ass out of all of this was installing the new carpet since it wasn't pre-molded (even tho the seller advertised that it was). It was barely big enough to fit and extrememly hard to cut since the backing cushion was very thick. I had to use tin snips. Very annoying to when cutting bolt holes for seats and seatbelts. I don't know if there are any good preformed options out there but for the extra costs I would definitely go that route and save the headache. Ask Slow_sc3 what I'm taking about. He has a roll of carpet sitting in his trunk and he's decided to try and source some factory grey carpet so he won't have to deal with the hassle.

I'd say a rough estimate would be around 50 hours and $1000 - $1500 in supplies. You may find it cheaper to recover things in fabric like the rear ceiling and targa rather than painting. The Automagic paint came out surprisingly good on fabric; but the rear ceiling took nearly 3 cans. And at $11a can and hours of time spend prepping and waiting in between coats, you may reconsider.

I can throw you a few tips I've learned along the way.

1) Keep your workplace clean!
You'll find that it doesn't take long for your workplace to become extremely cluttered with the pulling of the original interior. Take garbage out frequently and try not to paint in the same room that finished parts are stored or they will become covered in paint dust. If you must paint in the same area where panels are being stored, be sure to cover or wrap them. I found I wasted more time looking for tools or clean rags in my cluttered environment than actual productivity.

2) Prep, prep; then prep again.
Remember, if the paint chips or cracks down the road then you'll be pulling that panel and prepping and painting it all over again. Not such a big deal with some of the side panels, but things like the dash you only want to pull once. Scrub vinyl with scotch pads and comet. Rinse and rub with 91% alcohol or acetone. If you don't get to paint it the same day, then rub with alcohol again before paint. Do a very light 1st coat (light second doesn't hurt either). Follow up with a heavy 3rd coat to prevent a sandpaper feeling finish. For plastics, do the same; however, I've recently started taking 800 grit sandpaper to the panels before alcohol and experienced improved adhering results.


3) Have adequate lighting when applying paint
If painting in the garage, take the panels out into the sunlight to check for inadequate coverage. I wish I knew this at first since panels that appeared to be completely coated when viewed under my garage lights turned out to to need a few more coats. What appeared black in the garage still showed the original color in the sun. Bright LED lights also help show where paint is needed as well.


4) Give yourself time
You'll find that if you work in the garage for 6 hours straight you'll accomplish much more than if you work 2 hours a day for three days. Much of the time is spent waiting in between coats. Go ahead and clean and prep things on rainy or humid days so you can go straight to painting (after another alcohol rub-down) on nice days.

5) Make sure you have adequate supplies
Seems simple enough, yet nothing sucks worse then laying out all of your prepped panels on a nice day and finding that you don't have enough paint. Specialty paints such as Automagic are sold through resellers that are usually closed on the weekends. If you're painting on a Saturday, running out of paint can really screw you. Especially if you only get a couple of coats down. Applying heavier coats down the road on already cured paint will cause it to not adhere quite as well. I always make sure I purchased 2 more cans then I thought I needed (still was never enough :biglaugh


There's plenty more, but these are the biggies.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I was thinking about doing this as a winter project

Be sure you paint in a well heated area. Get your garage up to room temp so the paint dries properly. Make sure both paint and panels are up to temp. You may find it helpful to keep your paint cans in a climate controlled area at all times so they are warm when you need them. Throwing cold paint on any surface will not yield good results.

 

[Neodeuccio]

Well the time won't be a big factor for me, but the money looks like it's going to be a problem. I was thinking it would cost a few hundred bucks, not $1000+. I may have to reconsider doing this...

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone here. However, this is a very time consuming and expensive process. At least, to do it correctly. If you cut back on the number of coats applied and opt for cheaper paints such as Duplicolor or Krylon, the cost should drop dramatically; however, I wouldn't be comfortable recommending this when you think about long term.

To be honest, I wouldn't even recommend the Krylon Fusion I used on the plastic panels. It doesn't rub off with your fingers, but it cracks (when panels are flexed) and scratches quite easily. Luckily, all plastic panels are easy to remove and Krylon Fusion is available at many retailers. I forsee pulling and painting plastic panels many times in the future.

At least I like the contrast the Krylon provides next to the vinyl painted with AutoMagic. The Automagic only come off if you actually scratch into the vinyl. The stuff is the bomb! It just sprays very fine and doesn't coat too well. I probably spent $60+ in just painting the dash.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Accomplished a little more over the last few days.

I sourced some open cell egg crate foam to place behind the door speakers to aid in cancelling the free-standing backwaves. The main concern was to prevent mold from forming on the foam from the many showers they will take over the years. I freakin drenched both sides with Scotchguard and let dry for a day. Hopefully it will be retained in the foam and not wash off; but only time will tell.

I then proceeded to glue them inside the doors with 3M multipurpose spray adhesive.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I almost finished up the targa top. Surprisingly, it was one of the easier things I have done. I just rubbed down the factory fabric with a clean cloth and alcohol and just kept on rubbing until the white cloth was no longer turning brown. Once that dried for a day, I taped off all plastic and edges, tucked the same carpet used on the lower doors under one side of the plastic trim and proceed to spray a heavy dose of 3M adhesive directly on the factory fabric.

I intensionally left the the last 20% of the roof unsprayed so I could adjust the carpet as needed and then tucked the other end under the trim.

I let the adhesive sit for another day and then glued down the rest, tucked in the otherside and trimmed away the excess.

I pulled up all the loose edges, resprayed with adhesive and then removed all tape.

Like everything else, the shit looks factory :icon_bigg

Now all there is left to do is take some fine sandpaper to the plastic and paint black.

 

[Satan]

Nice!

 

[MarkIII4Me]

I just realized that I don't have any pics posted of the undercarriage, firewall or gas tank deadening that was done back in the day. I figure I should post them up since after all, this started as a sound deadening thread before it evolved into an interior color change thread. Undercarriage and firewall where applied with a spray gun where as gas tank and interior where applied with a either a bristle or foam brush.

Undercarriage:

Firewall: